Pool Stays Cloudy and Now Green

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Pool Tool

Pool Tool

0
May 15, 2014
761
Western Chicago Area, IL
First post - thanks in advance. I hope the pictures work, if please let me know.

Good afternoon, troller here that has learned immensely from the site and for a while had gotten confident maintaining my pool. Opened the pool for the first time in May (new home owner of lagoon) after receiving TF-100 and within a few weeks actually saw that the pool came with a main drain ;) Eventually the water cleared, albeit never crystal clear, but the sides, bottom and the dirt on the bottom were clearly visible for several weeks.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sebcnv7t1xgduco/20140516_081952.jpg
Don't worry, that white stuff is 100% metals free pool filler.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e3n3gw8moa8byj5/20140606_195205.jpg

Between the pollen, dirt, etc. the water has never been sparkling, mostly dull. I tried the DE, which didn't seem to impact the clarity - pollen was substantial this year. So I opened the filter up for a deep clean and realized I was missing sand. I added ~75# of sand to "top off" the filter a few weeks ago, pressure seemed to be 1# lower (hovering ~20# vs. 21#) than before. This was about 20% of 350# required. Feeling over-confident with my new "understanding," we added 1 quart of Utikem Clarifier over a week-10 days with little results.

Striving for perfection... July 2, I added MA to bring PH down to 7.2 from 7.8 prepping to add borates eventually. Late July 3 a slight green tint was starting to develop - I immediately raised FC to 12. Then the morning of July 4, I turned on the heater, checked chemicals, etc. and left for a parade only to return to the heater having shutoff and the water showing a slight green tint. Expecting guests (free aeration to raise PH) I let FC fall to 7 ppm but the color was slightly more obvious (see pic). Test results and pics are below - basically I am confounded between this being algae or copper. Possibly due to a failed heater, time/schedule has not allowed to delve into that yet. Pool color and clarity have only gotten worse since that while FC levels have remained high (probably too high, likely problematic on it's own -corrosion?).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oky7u65qe79bzys/July Test Results.JPG

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4p6nc2u542t51hm/20140705_185056.jpg
July 5, 2014
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vrjy3gaxa3p13e/20140706_175043.jpg
July 6, 2014
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k92qs6rjjq5juxp/20140707_200936.jpg
July 7, 2014

I have concern whether this is organic or metals. At this point I can not tell if slamming is helping or hurting. I am likely going to come down to normal FC and recheck PH to be sure it is not over 7.8. Btw, I know my CYA is low and have been maintain shock levels with trichlor tabs. Otherwise bleach is the only chlorine source.
 
By top off, I hope you don't mean you filled the filter completely with sand. It is only supposed to filled to where the diameter starts to tapper so it maintains a large surface area.

But if you are just bringing it back to the full level, then the question begs, where did the sand go? Could mean a broken lateral.
 
Good point, I left the recommended free board space in the filter, just below the taper, per the manual. I have noticed a trace amount of sand in the deep end, but I think that is more from feet, etc. Definitely not 75 lbs worth. I have never seen sand come out a return or anything. This is my first season with the pool so no history available on the sand situation.

I thought the lateral might be an issue, but was hoping the sand shortage was the problem. It is now looking like I will be vacuuming out all the sand to inspect the laterals and stand pipe.
 
Robbie - you're right CH is a pain. Speedstir would help for sure. I definitely had my sample go purple and stay purple for several drops before turning and staying blue. So i repeated the test, starting with adding 5 drops of R-0012 first, then working through the rest of the steps. I added around 6 additional drops before the sample was a steady blue.

5 + 6 = 11 => CH = 275. I don't believe I saw purple again on the fading endpoint test, but I will try to repeat tomorrow after getting some distilled water. I don't feel like boiling water to catch the steam as my wife already looks at me funny while doing these tests.
 
Any thoughts on the "fading endpoint" during the CH testing leaning this situation towards a metals issue? Color and clarity is definitely worse this morning than yesterday. FC remained elevated yesterday with CC at 0.0.

I will be allowing FC levels to return to normal to complete a proper PH test and go from there.
 
I will try again tonight - I tried an OCLT on July 7th but FC went up 1 ppm. I cant explain, other than I pulled my night sample a little too soon before everything was completely mixed. Unlikely as I'm generally cognizant of timing, but then being visited by the chlorine fairy doesn't seem all that likely either.

I lean towards cloudy green (see pic), but I have been at high FC levels for 5 days and conditions have significantly worsened. POP was maintained during cloudy blue water, but it's dying quickly as the green grows.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6x7ngfn3sma4t69/20140709_070640.jpg

Thanks, I will report back.
 

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OCLT results FC - 8 ppm @ 11 pm 7/9 (CC = 0.5); FC - 7.5 ppm @ 6 am 7/10 (CC = 0.0). Success - maybe, failure - no. But a step in the right direction I think.

Other news, 32 ozs of Polyquat 60 algaecide was put in yesterday evening, which appeared to have a noticeable effect on color within a few hours. Hard to tell if it was the algaecide or chlorine finally making an impact. The OCLT results seem to lean toward no organics, but probably more likely that the algae present was killed off or significantly dying before last night.

At this point, I am considering whether or not to buy new laterals to have on hand to break down the filter. Without DE, I almost never have any pressure increase from 21 psi even with cloudy water. Pump pressure was about 3 lbs higher this morning, which was probably from the clarifier/floc in the algaecide. I prematurely backwashed knowing that it would be unattended for a large portion of the day. I think i recall folks picking filter parts up online and will start checking into that now. Any recommendations for laterals, spider gasket, etc.

At any rate, details will follow. I am hoping to get home to see a cloudy, but not green pool. Thanks to all.
 
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