Pool looked great but now I messed up

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Farmerswife96

0
Sep 25, 2016
132
Reidsville, NC
Pool Size
29100
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I had my pool squeaky clean, and sparkling blue. Completed a successful SLAM, thanks to a TFP expert and then I screwed it up again by adding 2 bottles of intensive stain prevention products to help with high iron and copper. The pool has been awfully cloudy for 2 days. Everything I've been reading says to give it a few days to clear. I would like some suggestions on what to do. My levels at last check were
FC 2 Added enough to bring it up to 6
CC 0
TA 60 added bs to bring it up to 70
Ph 7.2
TH 100
CYA 30
 
Hello, is anyone there??? I called the pool store to ask how long it takes to clear up. She said depends on filter. Said I could vacuum the white stuff but don't backwash unless jets are struggling/clogged. I vacuumed and now just waiting. Hope it clears soon. She said clarifier may speed things up. Don't have any so ill just wait.
 
I haven't used anything in my pool but chlorine, muriatic acid, CYA, salt, and early on some baking soda and washing soda when the pool builder had dropped the pH ridiculously. I don't even test for metals, but maybe if I lived where that's a problem I would. I'm not one of the mods or an expert, but I would focus on getting everything else in balance, clean the filter a lot, and then keep it simple following the TFP recommendations.
 
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Yes, I use well water. No, to the algaecide. The problem is we're building a patio and the dust from cutting the stone pavers are going into the pool. I had water tested at pool store and iron and copper were high and lady sold me the stain prevention products. Pool was not stained and I admit I shouldn't have used products. I could kick myself for because I had pool looking beautiful before.
 
What kind of pavers are you using? I have not heard of paver dust being a source of copper, but if you are using a natural stone paver then I guess it is possible. Do you normally have iron in your well water, or have a source of iron free water available? If you do, double check the copper and metal levels in the pool from another pool store if you can. If it still shows high copper and iron, then you may be better off to drain that water and replace it once the paver patio is finished. If you do decide to drain, do not completely empty the pool. You need at least a foot of water in the shallow end to keep the liner in place. If you have a high water table in the area you would need to drain and refill in small cycles to prevent floating the liner.
 
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It looks like the product you used has a chelating agent (used to bind metals) and a scale preventative. I would vacuum to waste, and refill. I suspect that what you are seeing is the chemicals you added bonding to the calcium in your fill water and then settling out. General rule of thumb is never add anything to the pool unless you know what it's going to do and why your adding it. If there was no stain problem before, that product was probably not needed. As far as the pavers and dust, I would think that could be solved with more frequent filter backwashes, or maybe adding some poly-fill to absorb any metals while the work is ongoing.
 
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Over the years, I have kept most of the pool store results in a folder and I have never had even a trace of copper in my pool, always 0. Iron, yes but not this high before. The only thing different this year is the patio construction and I did put some leftover algaecide in it at closing last year. But I've used it before and copper never showed up on the test.
They are using precast cement pavers that have gravel, sand, concrete in them. My well water as tested by the health department showed <0.05mg/L. I have some polyfill pillow stuffing, is that the same thing. I want to use the polyfill in the skimmer. Do I just stuff it in there as much as possible? Going to look that up on TFP.
 
I've never used poly fill, just seen it on the forum. Hopefully someone with more experience can help. I know it removes iron from the water, not sure about copper. I can't believe the pavers are that much of an issue. Can you maybe have them cut the pavers on the other side of the house, or set up a screened off area for them to work in?
 
They're almost finished with patio. I filled basket with polyfill to see if it helps. Water just looks milky. Backwashed several minutes until water turned almost clear and rinsed. Will keep water balanced and test and adjust as needed. That's all I know to do unless someone has any more ideas??!
 
zea3 said:
Do you use well water to fill your pool? Have you used a copper based algaecide? Is your pool stained?

I would vacuum any sediment to waste. Do not use any clarifier, and keep your chlorine at the top of the recommended range.
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I haven't used any clarifier, can you tell me why I shouldn't use it and why should I keep chlorine at upper level? I will vacuum to waste next time I vacuum. Not questioning your suggestions just want to learn all I can ?
 
Clarifier and FLOC are not recommended because they could damage your filter. Both work by making particles stick together. Both can result in gumming up your filter to the point where you need to replace the sand.

Keeping your FC on the high end of the range is because you have a lot of extra debris getting blown into your pool right now with the construction. It's just extra insurance against algae since your contaminant load is higher than usual.
 
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I don't know if you can zoom in on the picture but there's white stuff that's settled to the bottom like dead algae does except it's white. I put polyfill in the skimmer and it's collecting the dust crud. No more cutting pavers. I would vacuum to waste but the last time I vacuumed it just stirred it up and I couldn't see the bottom or what I was doing anyway. Has anyone ever had this problem before they learned the errors of their ways??
20200603_194802.jpg
 
The only way to get it out is to vacuum or filter it out. Try moving the vacuum slowly to disturb it as little as possible when you vacuum to waste. Then after you vacuum up as much as you can, brush the pool and get the rest of it stirred up so the filter will catch it. Keep the filter running 24/7 and backwash when you have a 20% rise in pressure. Do this daily until the pool clears.
 
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zea3 said:
The only way to get it out is to vacuum or filter it out. Try moving the vacuum slowly to disturb it as little as possible when you vacuum to waste. Then after you vacuum up as much as you can, brush the pool and get the rest of it stirred up so the filter will catch it. Keep the filter running 24/7 and backwash when you have a 20% rise in pressure. Do this daily until the pool clears.
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Idk if you read my initial problem. Do you think this will work with the settled residue from putting the intensive stain treatment in?
 

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