Cloudy water!!!

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J

jeremydu

0
Jun 24, 2008
77
MOBILE, AL
I have had my pool for about 5 years and have always had a sparkling pool and have been using the BBB method from day one. I have never had a green pool but this year I didn’t start adding bleach to the pool at the right time and I got a slight green tint to the water. I have since gotten my water parameters at the correct level but the water is still cloudy and has a tint to it. I cant say that it’s a green tint but it just isn’t as clear as it always has been.

Water parameters are as follows:
FC-4
PH-7.2
ALK-70
CYA-30

Any idea why I would still have my cloudy tinted water?

On another not, I just received my Liquidator Saturday and I am hoping to get my water cleared up and install it sometime this week. I am looking forward to not having to add bleach on a daily basis now.
 
Have you tried an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test? Check Pool School on how to do this.

Natural assumption is that you have a good test kit, like the TF100 or K2006. If not, please get one (the TF100 is the best buy!).

You may need to SLAM (again, pool school) to clear your water.

We would also need to see a full set of test readings to properly help you.
 
The CYA isn't going to make it cloudy, but it will let the Chlorine levels drop. When you test the pool, are you seeing low FC levels and raising them to 4, or are you seeing a minimum of 4 each time you test.

I suspect you have algae growing, and you have just enough FC to keep it from blooming into a green mess, but not enough to kill it off. If you wait much longer, the algae might overcome the FC and bloom anyway. As recommended above you probably need to SLAM the pool. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do the overnight drop test, but that will put you another day behind, and there really isn't much harm in following the SLAM procedure even if it isn't algae. Chances are it is.
 
Charlie_R said:
Have you tried an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test? Check Pool School on how to do this.

Natural assumption is that you have a good test kit, like the TF100 or K2006. If not, please get one (the TF100 is the best buy!).

You may need to SLAM (again, pool school) to clear your water.

We would also need to see a full set of test readings to properly help you.
Click to expand...

What other readings do you need? I have the TF 100 kit. I will check to see what my overnight chlorine loss is today when I get home and report back. I will also go ahead and buy some bleach to SLAM it.
 
TreeFiter said:
The CYA isn't going to make it cloudy, but it will let the Chlorine levels drop. When you test the pool, are you seeing low FC levels and raising them to 4, or are you seeing a minimum of 4 each time you test.

I suspect you have algae growing, and you have just enough FC to keep it from blooming into a green mess, but not enough to kill it off. If you wait much longer, the algae might overcome the FC and bloom anyway. As recommended above you probably need to SLAM the pool. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do the overnight drop test, but that will put you another day behind, and there really isn't much harm in following the SLAM procedure even if it isn't algae. Chances are it is.
Click to expand...

^^This.^^
 

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Well I tested it overnight and the drop was .5; that being said I messed up and put bleach in after my wife did yesterday and instead of it being at 15 for shocking its at 20 and dropped to 19.5 overnight. If this isnt algae what could it be? :confused:
 
Have you ever had Calcium issues in the past? I wouldn't expect calcium to precipitate with your pH and TA where they are, but if Calcium Hardness is high enough, I suppose it could be possible. If you can test for Calcium Hardness that might help rule it out as a possibility.

Since you have already elevated the FC levels, I would say ride out the SLAM process. I still think you are most likely dealing with algae.

Another consideration would be your filter. You can kill off all of the algae in the pool, but if the filter isn't catching it, your pool will stay cloudy.
 
Smykowski said:
What is your pump run time?

Also, do you know if there are any metals in your water? Cloudy points to algae, but green tint right after adding chlorine points to iron. IIRC, Duraleigh had a similar problem on opening a couple years in a row.
Click to expand...

This is a good point. My head went straight to algae, but if the water is mostly clear with a greenish or even yellowish tint to it, it very well could be iron. Algae usually clouds the water as it turns green, but metals will just tint the water. What does the backwash water look like? If its coming out rusty, you have iron.

Often a pool will be clear when you open it, but once you add chlorine it will develop a green tint. What is happening is the dissolved iron is being oxidized by the chlorine and microscopic crystals are forming in suspension. These crystals are far too small to see, but will give the appearance of a yellow or green tint to the water. They will usually filter out in a matter of a day or two.

It would probably help you to run your pump 24/7 until you get things to clear up.
 
Smykowski said:
What is your pump run time?

Also, do you know if there are any metals in your water? Cloudy points to algae, but green tint right after adding chlorine points to iron. IIRC, Duraleigh had a similar problem on opening a couple years in a row.
Click to expand...

My pump run time is at 14 hours per day, there shouldnt be any metals in my water as I have never had an issue before.
Also the water isnt really green after adding chlorine to it, its more so just cloudy now.

TreeFiter said:
Have you ever had Calcium issues in the past? I wouldn't expect calcium to precipitate with your pH and TA where they are, but if Calcium Hardness is high enough, I suppose it could be possible. If you can test for Calcium Hardness that might help rule it out as a possibility.

Since you have already elevated the FC levels, I would say ride out the SLAM process. I still think you are most likely dealing with algae.

Another consideration would be your filter. You can kill off all of the algae in the pool, but if the filter isn't catching it, your pool will stay cloudy.
Click to expand...

Never even tested calcium, I thought it was only tested in plaster pools. What would be my source of calsium in the water if I have a vinyl pool? I can test it this afternoon and report back. I will keep my levels elevated to see if it clears up but if that doesnt work I am thinking about a drain and refill. Not looking forward to that and shouldnt be necassary I hope.
 
TreeFiter said:
This is a good point. My head went straight to algae, but if the water is mostly clear with a greenish or even yellowish tint to it, it very well could be iron. Algae usually clouds the water as it turns green, but metals will just tint the water. What does the backwash water look like? If its coming out rusty, you have iron.

Often a pool will be clear when you open it, but once you add chlorine it will develop a green tint. What is happening is the dissolved iron is being oxidized by the chlorine and microscopic crystals are forming in suspension. These crystals are far too small to see, but will give the appearance of a yellow or green tint to the water. They will usually filter out in a matter of a day or two.

It would probably help you to run your pump 24/7 until you get things to clear up.
Click to expand...

My water out of my backwash is clear other than just dirty from pollen getting in the water. Yesterday I turned the timer off so I am running 24/7 until this is cleared up. I am going to add DE to my sand filter this afternoon to see if I can filter out the small particulates. As for turning green when you open up for the season, I keep my pool up and running all year since I am in the south but this year I didnt add chlorine in time after the temps started rising. Thats when the water turned cloudy. I promptly started adding chloring but it seems it hasnt been the same since.
 
I think we have our answer. You didn't add chlorine in time and you started to have an algae bloom. Maybe not full blown, but the beginnings. FC levels were below the min for your CYA level.
I would maintain SLAM level until the water clears. Adding the DE should help as sand filters take the longest to clear up the water. ?
 
Calcium could come from the source water. Certain chemicals will raise calcium levels over time. The thing about calcium is that it accumulates over time. So even if there is only a small amount coming in, it has the potential to build up. Its not all that likely that this is the problem, but I would test for CH just to rule it out.

If the greenish tint went away when you added chlorine, I'm convinced this is an algae issue. Continue to SLAM. I would suggest leaving your pump on 24/7 until it clears up. Not only do you need to kill the algae, but you need to filter it out. Longer run time = more filtering.
 

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