Hazy water, and stinging eyes?

[steveg_nh]

So the pool's getting some use now that temps in NH are climbing, and the heater is running. Overall, things looks good, but I still have a haziness in the water after its been used. Not sure what it is. I wouldn't say it's cloudy, just not crisp. So hazy. And my 9 year old was complaining his eyes were stinging a bit but ph is good. the other kids said their eyes were fine.. No signs of algae at all though. Water readings are as follows:

FC; 5
CC: 0
ph 7.5 (I really hate color match tests, but my son and I agree, 7.5)
TA: 100
CH: 80
CYA: 60
Salt: 3000
Temp: 84

Things seems pretty good form a chemistry perspective, so why isn't is just sparking after some use? Is it normal to see this?

Thanks

P.S. I hope it was ok to start a new thread for this, vs my initial opening thread since it's been open since late April now and has been balanced. Seems like a new issue so I figured new thread.

 

[Akronstax]

According to pool math, the FC range for a cya of 60 is 5 to 9. You are right at the floor if you are testing at 5. You might want to raise it closer to 8 or 9.

 

[supermatt9]

I'm having a similar problem with almost the exact same numbers. I gave it a good vacuuming today and that helped, but it's still not as sparkly as its been in the past.

Sent from my TouchPad using Tapatalk

 

[wjr75]

My cartridge filter likes a few ounces of super clarifier in the pool after I clean it. Helps when I see the a little hazieness. After parities I will also throw a bag of non chlorinating shock in the pool to crisp it back up.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

According to pool math, the FC range for a cya of 60 is 5 to 9. You are right at the floor if you are testing at 5. You might want to raise it closer to 8 or 9.

OP has an SWG so the lower FC is ok.

 

[Casey]

You're going to have to run a higher FC than 5 for a CYA of 60. Don't be afraid of it. Your pool is telling you it needs it! Another week of the low ball numbers and you could be harboring algae, if not right now. Once the kids, family and friends start using the pool on a daily basis, it's going to become an eating machine! I had 3 people in my pool yesterday. 2 of us for 5 hours just sunbathing and I raised my FC from 6 to 10ppm (I believe I have 45-50ppm CYA because I added it about 3 weeks ago). My point is, FC is consumable and it needs replenished. Brush the pool, run a higher FC on a continuous basis and your pool should clear to the crispness you desire.

P.S. I would still run a higher FC since the pool is getting good use (bather load) and it's hazy.

 

[steveg_nh]

With a SWG I thought a FC of 5 was solid, no? Looking at the cya/chlorine chart I'm right at the high end.

 

[Smykowski]

Do you run the pump while you have swimmers in the pool?

 

[steveg_nh]

Yes always. I'm stumped. This is the second time this has happened. It cleared after a while last time but I've never seen this before.

 

[Butterfly]

Maybe you are on the verge of an algae bloom. The CYA test is +/- 15 ish, so you could possible have a higher CYA? Naturally that would require a higher FC.

I suggest to increase FC to about 10 or 12 and see if it starts to clear. If not, I'd do a SLAM process. Should not take long catching it early......

 

[Smykowski]

Here's my theory (with no basis other than my own experience)...during high bather loads, you temporarily put too high of a stress on your (otherwise sufficient) FC levels. The FC gets too low and the bather waste gets too high, causing the haziness and discomfort. This condition is exacerbated by anyone who puts sunscreen on and doesnt wait 20-30 min before getting in the pool. Because your pool starts clean and you maintain it properly afterwards, it will recover on its own without a SLAM after a few days.

If your situation is happening after very low bather loads, then I too am at a loss. If it is happening after high batherloads, I would do two things before the next swim party. First, insist that anyone wearing sunscreen allow plenty of time after application before swimming to allow it to soak into the skin and not wash off in the water. Second, I'd either bump the SWG bit before the swimming, or manually add some bleach. Try getting the FC up 2-3 points to act as a buffer before the pool fills with people.

 

[steveg_nh]

Thanks for the ideas. I did an OCLT last night and passed. Lost 1ppm. CCs are 0. I could bump it up as I know it's safe to swim up to shock level. I actually did put some bleach in this morning to bring FC to 6 quickly (I was at 4 this morning after overnight with pump and SWG not running) and then the SWG will do its thing today. Weird though.

 

[steveg_nh]

Just retested tonight. Had about 6-8 people in and out of the pool all afternoon till sundown. Still hazy/cloudy, mostly noticeable in deep end only. Water feels great though. Son's eyes were fine today. I boosted FC earlier today with about 100 oz of bleach. At 9:30, FC is 6, and CC still 0. I did retest CYA and was more careful this time. I did it a few times an averaged it. Closer to 50 than 60.

My father in law, who doesn't believe in pool stores either mentioned something call "sparkle up" and he said it would do the trick, but I'd rather know the underlying issue.

I plan on leaving the pump running all night. It won't shut off now till 6pm tomorrow.

 

[chem geek]

I presume you have a DE filter given your signature. It should be able to filter out very fine particles unless something is wrong with it or some valve bypassing water into the pool. Do you have floor drains and have you tried pointing a return down to circulate the water in the deep end.

 

[steveg_nh]

Yes two floor drains and a 60 sq ft DE filter.

 

[Casey]

Well, I would SLAM the pool, brush it n run the filter for a 24 hour period and then check water quality. It seems you have a high bather load and you may have to *boost* your FC. This is my theory.

 

[steveg_nh]

I just bought enough bleach to bring it up the slam level so we'll see what that does. I'll first try maybe going half slam and see if that doesn't do it vs all the way up. Is that crazy talk? Lol

 

[steveg_nh]

So just brought the FC up to 13...about 1/2 slam. Also noticed that my pressure on the filter has jumped 2 psi in a day. Anpther 2 pounds and I need to backwash again. Did it about 2 weeks ago only...hmmm...

 

[steveg_nh]

Ok, so have a little faith in the TFP way I guess...at 1/2 shock level, the pool is already clearing the cloudiness, so that tells me I likely did have some algae trying to grow, but at FC of 5, I was likely just keeping it at bay. Would you agree? So the question is, should I go all the way up to slam level now? I put in another 121 oz, so I should be around FC of 15 or so...Funny thing was, I was already passing OCLT and CC tests, it was just the cloudiness that I guess technically would fail the slam criteria. But cloudiness is subjective I guess...But I'm wondering where to go from here...If CYA is around 50 right now, and I was running FC of 5, how could algae grow? Or is it like I said, maybe I had some and never really killed it off fully, so it was lingering? And as FC was used up, it would grow a bit, resulting int he cloudiness? But then slowly die off slowly again?

 

[chem geek]

Yes, I would, since it does seem like algae had started and you might as well knock it out quickly.

You measured 5 ppm FC with 60 ppm CYA which normally would be more than enough to prevent algae in an SWCG pool so did the FC drop lower before the water turned hazy or could the CYA be higher than you think? Something doesn't sound right about this situation.