Cloudy Water

[maedgeer]

Hey All,

Starting to get really warm here in the Sacramento, CA area. I had a tiny bit of algae residue on the bottom of my pool and in my return hoses recently so I supplemented my SWG with some liquid chlorine to get the FC up to 6 and after a few days it was fixed. Pool was looking good. Clear, levels not fluctuating, etc. Soon after I noticed I was getting some green "dust" kick up when I brushed weekly so I started to brush 2x per week. Still fine. Levels still good and I would supplement some liquid chlorine to keep them in the 5-6 range.

I keep the pool:
FC - 5-6
PH - 7.6
TA - 70
CYA - 70

I went away for a few days and came back and the water is cloudy. I immediately brushed it (more green "dust" from the sides and bottom) and checked levels. While I was away FC had dropped to 3.5. I immediately got it back up with liquid chlorine to 6 and after a day or so, no change. I decided to get more aggressive with the FC and take it higher but now realize, I'm just guessing. Any advice?

Right now it's at:
FC - 9
PH - 7.6
TA - 80
CH - 180
CYA - 79
Salt-4200
CC appears to be very close to zero - I'm using my Taylor 2600 to test with 1 drop = .5 PPM and it's less than that.

Any advice appreciated. I probably would have just SLAMed it but kids want to keep swimming so would prefer they stay out even though have read here it's fine to continue but with the chlorine level being 6 and above these last 4 days, would have thought that would have helped. I've currently running my filter 24/7 and backwashing daily. Also have turned up the SWG to be active 12 hours per day so I'm not supplementing with Chlorine. Thanks for the help.

 

[mknauss]

Follow the SLAM Process
You can safely swim in a pool as long as the FC is above the minimum and at or below SLAM level based on your CYA. You must also be able to see the bottom of the pool in the deep end of the pool.

 

[maedgeer]

Thanks, mknauss. Pool school says CYA of 70 is ideal for a vinyl pool but SLAM info says CY 70 is too high. Ok to stick with the 70 or need to lower it to start an effective SLAM?

 

[Husky25]

70 is ideal for a SWG, but SLAM FC would need to be 28. I don't know how big you pool is, but mine for example (27k gallons) would require about 7 gallons of liquid chlorine just to get it there.

Are you about to partially drain and refill to dilute the CYA?

 

[mknauss]

Thanks, mknauss. Pool school says CYA of 70 is ideal for a vinyl pool but SLAM info says CY 70 is too high. Ok to stick with the 70 or need to lower it to start an effective SLAM?

As Husky said, you can do the SLAM at 70 ppm. It will take more chlorine, but should not be a huge amount. It will take a huge amount of reagents, so order more R0870 and R0871 now.

 

[maedgeer]

Cool. Appreciate both your answers. Yeah, I'm fine adding more chlorine, just wanted to make sure chemically there was no issue. I'm all stocked up on the R0870 and 71. Thank you.