Hello! After reading pool school and lots of the other advice on here, I realize we've been going at all of this the wrong way. We're new to this and just aren't sure how to get to the point to where we're totally on the TFP method. Any help is appreciated - here's a quick history:
(current water test info as at the bottom)
Bought the house (with pool) last Spring. The water was clear and we maintained it easily through the summer using tri-chlor tablets and di-chlor shocking weekly. We kept the pool open through the winter and kept it chlorinated with tablets. Throughout this time, the water was clear.
3 weeks ago, on the advice of a pool store, did an ascorbic acid treatment, with the hope of removing some stains. This clouded the water, of course. We let the chlorine fall to 0 as instructed, and used algaecide (HTH brand) in hopes of preventing algae. The water hasn't fully cleared since then.
2 weeks ago, after acid had supposedly had time to work, added aqua chem clarifier to help remove contaminants per pool store's direction.
Also added some of their pink colored scale remover - enough to treat the pool per their instructions. Not 100% sure why they told us to add this.
1.5 weeks ago, shocked pool with di-chlor (up to 28 because CYA was reading 70, according to pool store). The pool instantly turned very dark green. After 24 hours, I added HTH metal out. After another 24 hours, the green was gone but the water was still very cloudy.
I repeated this process twice more over the next week with the same results.
2 days ago, I shocked again, but used bleach this time (up to 28 with CYA 70). Same thing happened -- the water turned green again. I went to the pool store and they sold me some of their metal out, which i used. This did remove the green again. They also sold me some cellulose to put in the skimmer to help the filter remove particles. The water did get slightly clearer.
I shocked again with bleach last night (same amount - up to 28 because CYA is reading 70). My water is now green and cloudy again and I don't feel like I'm making progress.
It seems to me that, because the green comes AFTER I shock, this must be metal in the water, but that wouldn't explain the cloudiness would it?
Also, the water only holds the chlorine for about 6 hours every time I shock it. Then my FC is down to zero. This last time, it dropped from 28 to 2 overnight, but i guess that's better than 0.
I would appreciate any help - we're ready to swim, but green and cloudy aren't attractive and I don't know whether I have a metal problem or an algae problem (or both).
My latest test results are:
FC - 2
TAC - 4
CH - 270
CYA - 70
pH - 7.2
Alkalinity - 120
(These are from the pool store -- i have ordered a test kit, but it won't get here until next week). The store also SAYS there's no iron or copper in the water, but then add a disclaimer that their tests don't always pick it up.)
(current water test info as at the bottom)
Bought the house (with pool) last Spring. The water was clear and we maintained it easily through the summer using tri-chlor tablets and di-chlor shocking weekly. We kept the pool open through the winter and kept it chlorinated with tablets. Throughout this time, the water was clear.
3 weeks ago, on the advice of a pool store, did an ascorbic acid treatment, with the hope of removing some stains. This clouded the water, of course. We let the chlorine fall to 0 as instructed, and used algaecide (HTH brand) in hopes of preventing algae. The water hasn't fully cleared since then.
2 weeks ago, after acid had supposedly had time to work, added aqua chem clarifier to help remove contaminants per pool store's direction.
Also added some of their pink colored scale remover - enough to treat the pool per their instructions. Not 100% sure why they told us to add this.
1.5 weeks ago, shocked pool with di-chlor (up to 28 because CYA was reading 70, according to pool store). The pool instantly turned very dark green. After 24 hours, I added HTH metal out. After another 24 hours, the green was gone but the water was still very cloudy.
I repeated this process twice more over the next week with the same results.
2 days ago, I shocked again, but used bleach this time (up to 28 with CYA 70). Same thing happened -- the water turned green again. I went to the pool store and they sold me some of their metal out, which i used. This did remove the green again. They also sold me some cellulose to put in the skimmer to help the filter remove particles. The water did get slightly clearer.
I shocked again with bleach last night (same amount - up to 28 because CYA is reading 70). My water is now green and cloudy again and I don't feel like I'm making progress.
It seems to me that, because the green comes AFTER I shock, this must be metal in the water, but that wouldn't explain the cloudiness would it?
Also, the water only holds the chlorine for about 6 hours every time I shock it. Then my FC is down to zero. This last time, it dropped from 28 to 2 overnight, but i guess that's better than 0.
I would appreciate any help - we're ready to swim, but green and cloudy aren't attractive and I don't know whether I have a metal problem or an algae problem (or both).
My latest test results are:
FC - 2
TAC - 4
CH - 270
CYA - 70
pH - 7.2
Alkalinity - 120
(These are from the pool store -- i have ordered a test kit, but it won't get here until next week). The store also SAYS there's no iron or copper in the water, but then add a disclaimer that their tests don't always pick it up.)