I had a minor algae bloom. The green went away and i can see my feet in the bottom (4 feet deep). but the water doesn't easily go crystal clear. I was told by someone that when adding chlorine too much will tend to make the water cloudy. When the chlorine gets to a low level it will be clear an you have to "walk the line" of adding small amounts of CL to be beneficial but not too much to make it cloudy?
When you shock your pool does it go cloudy before it gets crystal clear
- Thread starter steppinthrax
- Start date
No - not really.
If you have an algae bloom you want to SLAM your pool, not a one time shock. A SLAM is a continuous process, not a one night addition of chlorine. You should read the directions on SLAMing your pool in the How To section of Pool School and follow that procedure completely to the end.
Once you hae killed whatever is in the water if you keep the recommended ratio of FC to CYA you should have a clear pool with no "line to walk".
It sounds like you are trying to mix pool store advice and TFPC advice. It won't work!
If you have an algae bloom you want to SLAM your pool, not a one time shock. A SLAM is a continuous process, not a one night addition of chlorine. You should read the directions on SLAMing your pool in the How To section of Pool School and follow that procedure completely to the end.
Once you hae killed whatever is in the water if you keep the recommended ratio of FC to CYA you should have a clear pool with no "line to walk".
It sounds like you are trying to mix pool store advice and TFPC advice. It won't work!
We do not "shock" our pools, we follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process when there is a problem.
Your water can certainly get cloudy when you start the process which has nothing to do with using "too much chlorine".
If you use cal-hypo "shock" powder, then that in itself can cause the pool water to turn cloudy.
Your water can certainly get cloudy when you start the process which has nothing to do with using "too much chlorine".
If you use cal-hypo "shock" powder, then that in itself can cause the pool water to turn cloudy.
Here's a pic showing how my pool changed color when I started using TFP methods. My pool did get cloudier the first 24 hours after adding chlorine but it's mainly the dead algae floating in the water you are seeing. When my water cleared up as shown in the 3rd photo there was just as much chlorine in the pool as when it was cloudy blue in the second photo. My chlorine level in the 3rd photo was probably lower because it was coming down from shock levels but I didn't get a photo of it a couple days earlier when it was still high. But what I'm saying is it looked just as clear at 24ppm FC as it did when it got down to 8ppm FC.
steppinthrax,
What chemical are you using to chlorinate your pool?
If you start by reading "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry", (in Pool School) it may help you towards a better understanding of the chemistry you are using.
What chemical are you using to chlorinate your pool?
If you start by reading "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry", (in Pool School) it may help you towards a better understanding of the chemistry you are using.
- May 22, 2013
- 2,796
- Pool Size
- 12000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
ABS's of Pool Water Chemistry --> http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/123-abc-of-pool-water-chemistry
How to SLAM --> http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl
SLAM is different that shocking in that when you shock it's usually tossing in a bunch of chlorine that kills enough of the algae and bacteria that the water appears clear. You need to shock often. It looks clear but that shock didn't kill all the algae or bacteria. SLAM is a precess of raising the chlorine level with bleach and MAINTAINING it there until testing shows you have killed everything, once and you're done. Then you don't need to SLAM again as long as you maintain the proper level of FC for your level of CYA. You need to have more FC the more CYA you have. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
How to SLAM --> http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl
SLAM is different that shocking in that when you shock it's usually tossing in a bunch of chlorine that kills enough of the algae and bacteria that the water appears clear. You need to shock often. It looks clear but that shock didn't kill all the algae or bacteria. SLAM is a precess of raising the chlorine level with bleach and MAINTAINING it there until testing shows you have killed everything, once and you're done. Then you don't need to SLAM again as long as you maintain the proper level of FC for your level of CYA. You need to have more FC the more CYA you have. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
Yes, mine was cloudy for a few days once I started SLAMing. It started out deep green and swampy though. Vacuum and brush as much as you can.