Pool is Clear, please help me keep my pool clear

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Hi Michelle9! You are correct that some adjustment appears to be in order based on your test results. First & foremost - maintain your chlorine level so you don't lose that clear water. Also, get some stabilizer for your pool to protect the chlorine. I would suggest an initial target of about 30 for CYA. You can add it by placing the stabilizer in a sock and hanging it by your skimmer. It will slowly dissolve, but may take a few days before the readings adjust. Since you have 0 right now, you really need to watch your un-protected chlorine level. Your pH doesn't seem all that bad, maybe just increasing slightly, but the TA does seem quite high to me. Others may validate those concerns later as well. Your hardness (CH) is not too terribly bad right now. Focus on the chlorine and CYA for now, along with the TA. Keep using the TFP pool calculator and let it do the work for you.
 
I would leave the pH alone and just point the return towards the surface. This will serve the purpose of raising your pH and lowering your TA at the same time.

Don't worry about the 190 calcium level with a vinyl liner.

After you hang the CYA sock, assume it's present in the water and add bleach for that level using Pool Math.
 
Agreed, aerate to increase PH. Kids can swim 30min after borax add.

Most important is get CYA in the pool and keep FC level above the minimum for your CYA level at all times, Chlorine CYA Chart. Squeeze the sock a few times a day to speed up the process.

Here are some of my fave Pool school articles in case you missed them
Here are the Recommended Levels for your pool.
Here are the Recommended Pool Chemicals and how to add.
Use PoolMath to figure out how much to add.
 
Well, we have family coming for a party this weekend and so my husband added some soda ash trying to help. He had not been on board with pool math, the testing kit, and all the bleach buying. He had been to the pool store a bit and some of his work friends have had pools for years so he was getting information from them. Both the pool store and his work buddies had different advice than listed here, and I told him we should follow one line of advice, and I wanted to follow the advice on this website. So the pool care was up to me to use the methods listed here. I think he became a believer after I got the pool from black/green to clear blue. So I am glad he is on board with the pool math and just adding bleach to get keep the FC at the correct level. I am also happy he was trying to help with the pool using pool math, but now our pH was over corrected.

This morning the water is cloudy and numbers are:

FC 10 (we both added bleach yesterday)
CC 0.5
pH 8+ it was darker than the 8 on the vial.

The kids did swim for the first time this year yesterday afternoon and had a great time. I look forward to a summer with lots of swimming :D

Thank you for your help and wisdom, I appreciate all the advice and will re-read the above mentioned articles.

Michelle
 
Let the FC drop below 10 and retest the PH. A little muriatic acid will lower it back down quickly. I found it at Home Depot in the garden center for $2.99 a gallon, 31%
 
If you already have CYA dissolving, the FC isn't too horribly high. As far as the ph, muriatic acid is pretty cheap, and extremely fast acting. You can knock it right back into line pretty quick.


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Just to be clear that the PH test results are not accurate when the FC is above 10. Wait until it is below 10 to test/adjust PH.

What is your CYA level? Cloudy water is usually a sign of low chlorine. It is very important to always keep your free chlorine above the minimum level for your CYA level on the Chlorine CYA Chart. Always like never below it, ever. :) When FC drops below the min algae starts to grow and clouds your water, then green, then swamp!
 
BTW, when you know you are going to have lots of people swimming you should add more chlorine ahead of time. Target halfway between target and shock level, or a little more. This will keep you from dropping below minimum on busy swim days. It is safe to swim as long as FC level is below shock level.
 
OK, kids were swimming and

CYA was 0 yesterday, stabilizer in sock, thought I read I need to wait a week before testing CYA again, kids just finished swimming and I just tested the pool, here are my levels

FC 1
CC 0.5
pH 7.8,

Added bleach and more muriatic acid.

Good to know that we need to get FC up before more kids come swimming tomorrow. We will add more bleach.
 
Did you use Pool Math to determine how much stabilizer (CYA) to add? What is your target CYA level?
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I do use pool math with every testing.

Our target CYA 30, 56oz of stabilizer added per pool math.

I was using the 30 on the CYA chart for our FC level. Since that is our goal I was using that with Pool Math, hope that is right.

Just now:

FC 12 added bleach to get it up near shock level since we will have lots of swimmers tomorrow
CC 0.5

Will recheck in the am.
 
Just tested again:

FC 15
CC 0.5

Swimmers are not coming until late in the afternoon. Pool is looking more clear, but not like it was before adding the soda ash. But I am sure we will get back to crystal clear water soon.

Thanks again for the advice and encouragement!
 

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