Do you call this a cloudy pool

[Forest]

Hello! As a new pool owner I very much hope to get crystal clear water, but my pool always looks dull. The picture shows the best I can get so far. (sorry the orientation of the pictures. They look right on my computer but got rotated when posted here).

I did the dime test. On the deep end (~7 feet) I can see the dime but cannot tell head or tail.

Here are test results from a pool store on Jun 20, two days after shocking. the water has looked the same for at least a week.

Total Chlorine 4.8
Free Chlorine 4.8
pH 7.3
Total alkalinity 45
Calcium hardness 350
Stabilizer 40

I was shocking the pool a few days a ago but I see no improvement in clarity. If I don't vacuum, the dirt just stay on the bottom without any change for weeks. If I vacuum, the dirt will go away temporarily but re-appear on the bottom the next day.

I suspect it is some problem of my sand filter, because
1) The pressure on the filter is always 12 psi. The pressure never increases. There is not much pressure difference between the 'filter' and 'rinse' modes either.
2) The dirt vacuumed from the pool bottom re-appear the next day
However, I did open the sand filter and everything looks normal. the sand is clean and loose. the multi-port valve and the spider gasket is new. This filter has no laterals and water flows to the standpipe through a metal under drain screen. I suspect there are some internal leak and water just bypass the sand.

My questions are:
1) Is this considered a cloudy pool?
2) Is my sand filter suspicious for the dullness of the water?
3) What I should do the make the water crystal clear?

Many thanks!

- Forest

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

Yes, the water looks a little cloudy. You may still have a little algae in the pool. Chlorine is killing it and it is dropping to the bottom of the pool every day.

You can Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) to see if you have organic material consuming chlorine. Raise FC up to 10 or so first. If you don't pass the you will need to SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain your pool. If you do need to SLAM remove the light and clean the niche. And maybe Deep Clean the Sand Filter if it's been a while.

If you pass then you can add DE to your filter to help it filter more. Here's how: Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter

- - - Updated - - -

One more thought. How are you testing your water? What is your CYA? Maybe you aren't maintaining enough chlorine for your CYA level based on the Chlorine CYA Chart

Post test results in the body of the post, not in your sig, they will change too much.

 

[jaduck]

Welcome to TFP! It appears a little dull...hard to tell from the picture! Drop a quarter in the deep end and see if you can make out heads or tails. If you can great, if not you have a little way to go. Follow the advice from pooldv and things will get better before long!

 

[n240sxguy]

I like to test mine with a quarter. I only had a dime with me this morning. It landed on tails in 8.5ft of water. That test is fun and let's you verify how truly crystal clear the water is. Follow tfp and you'll get there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pool Amateur]

I am a newbie to this so have it checked out by the more experienced people who really know on here. I bought a house that has a pool and never owned one before. Decided to open it up 2 weeks ago and have been on a long and expensive trip since. I was having sand/dirt coming into my pool from the returns (could see the cloud of dirt) in my pool while vacuuming on filter setting, did not happen on waste setting. Pool guy dropped by said it looked as if a had a broken pipe and would probably have to rip up concrete and replace the lines. All I saw was $$$$$ going out the window. As it turned out it was Bad spider gasket which I changed in 15 min and the pipe coming up from the laterals in the bottom of the sand filter was broken. When vacuuming to filter the dirt would enter top of filter and go back in the pool bypassing the sand filter. Since you are sure it is not your spider gasket you may want to check your laterals, it is pretty easy to take sand out of filter and check laterals, only cost $40 to buy laterals online and install in less than an hour and not that hard. I watched them do it. It cost me $380 for that schooling.

 

[ship of fools]

Howdy neighbor (2nd time i said that today!)

First step in us helping is posting accurate results. I see test results in your signature - are they from the pool store? (any chance you are Forest from Concord Pools testing us?? ) If so i switched from Sustain Chemicals to the TFP method about four years ago and my pool is far cleaner and i save a ton of money too!

As a general rule any issues with the water are related to the chemistry and not filtration so accurate test results are step #1 and we can go from there.

With the orientation of the pictures it is tough to tell if it is cloudy.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, it looks like something is going on there. If you can post some test results, we can tell you more and help you figure out what's happening.

 

[Forest]

Pooldv, Thanks for the links! I will study them
I updated my test results. Also I saw no improvement in water clarity after shocking it a few days ago. That makes me think it is a filtration problem.

Welcome to TFP!

Yes, the water looks a little cloudy. You may still have a little algae in the pool. Chlorine is killing it and it is dropping to the bottom of the pool every day.

You can Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) to see if you have organic material consuming chlorine. Raise FC up to 10 or so first. If you don't pass the you will need to SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain your pool. If you do need to SLAM remove the light and clean the niche. And maybe Deep Clean the Sand Filter if it's been a while.

If you pass then you can add DE to your filter to help it filter more. Here's how: Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter

- - - Updated - - -

One more thought. How are you testing your water? What is your CYA? Maybe you aren't maintaining enough chlorine for your CYA level based on the Chlorine CYA Chart

Post test results in the body of the post, not in your sig, they will change too much.

 

[ship of fools]

Pooldv, Thanks for the links! I will study them
I updated my test results. Also I saw no improvement in water clarity after shocking it a few days ago. That makes me think it is a filtration problem.

Where did you get the results?? We have found that more often than not pool store results are not accurate.

A one time application of "shock" is not the method we suggest to clear your water. Bringing your chlorine above shock level and maintain it there until you have clear water, pass the OCLT and have CC of .5 or less.

 

[Forest]

I was wondering about the laterals but after I opened the filter it turned out my filter doesn't have any laterals. There is a large metal screen at the bottom of the sand. So I think that serves the same purpose as the laterals. I don't have problem of sand coming back to pool but I suspect whether water goes through the sand at all ...
My spider gasket was leaking so I have replaced it. Now I am at least sure my multi-port valve is in good shape.

I am a newbie to this so have it checked out by the more experienced people who really know on here. I bought a house that has a pool and never owned one before. Decided to open it up 2 weeks ago and have been on a long and expensive trip since. I was having sand/dirt coming into my pool from the returns (could see the cloud of dirt) in my pool while vacuuming on filter setting, did not happen on waste setting. Pool guy dropped by said it looked as if a had a broken pipe and would probably have to rip up concrete and replace the lines. All I saw was $$$$$ going out the window. As it turned out it was Bad spider gasket which I changed in 15 min and the pipe coming up from the laterals in the bottom of the sand filter was broken. When vacuuming to filter the dirt would enter top of filter and go back in the pool bypassing the sand filter. Since you are sure it is not your spider gasket you may want to check your laterals, it is pretty easy to take sand out of filter and check laterals, only cost $40 to buy laterals online and install in less than an hour and not that hard. I watched them do it. It cost me $380 for that schooling.

- - - Updated - - -

Great to saw reply from the same area!
It will be great if it is chemistry and not filtration problem. I really hope I don't need to change the filter.

Howdy neighbor (2nd time i said that today!)

First step in us helping is posting accurate results. I see test results in your signature - are they from the pool store? (any chance you are Forest from Concord Pools testing us?? ) If so i switched from Sustain Chemicals to the TFP method about four years ago and my pool is far cleaner and i save a ton of money too!

As a general rule any issues with the water are related to the chemistry and not filtration so accurate test results are step #1 and we can go from there.

With the orientation of the pictures it is tough to tell if it is cloudy.

 

[ship of fools]

Well if you want to figure out if it is chemistry versus filtration you need to answer our questions! I have now asked twice with no answer. Maybe the third time is a charm?

Where did you get your test results??

OK - i see you edited your post to say from the pool store. As i mentioned earlier they are notorious for being inaccurate.

As i also mentioned earlier in most instances it is chemistry and not filtration. The next step if you are serious is to get one of the recommended test kits and post accurate results. I went with the TF100 and Speed Stir.

Despite spending $130 on it I am hundreds of dollars ahead of what i would have spent at the pool store.

Join us ... you will be happy you did

 

[Forest]

The results were from a pool store. Will get my own test and try the shock method here. thanks for all your suggestions!

Where did you get the results?? We have found that more often than not pool store results are not accurate.

A one time application of "shock" is not the method we suggest to clear your water. Bringing your chlorine above shock level and maintain it there until you have clear water, pass the OCLT and have CC of .5 or less.