Background info: 26k gallon gunite/pebbletec pool that is almost 3 years old. I’ve always done the maintenance, following the TFP guidelines. Pentair cartridge filter that I clean regularly, SWCG running to spec and I maintain FC between a low of 4 and a high of 7. I’m usually falling in the 5-6 ppm range. I keep the pH between 7.6-7.8 by testing and adding acid regularly. Alkalinity is within spec but my calcium hardness has slowly risen steadily since we installed the pool 3 years ago, currently around 650 ppm.
In the summer, I keep the temp at 86 degrees with solar heating.
Ok, so the pool was quite cloudy last summer and I attributed this to algae. I SLAM’d the pool at the end of the season and got more diligent watching the pH, and the water was CRYSTAL clear all winter. As we started to use the pool again in June, I noticed that the cloudiness issue was beginning to reappear, and it seemed to coincide with the increasing temperature, not necessarily use. This summer, I been testing the FC nearly every day and it’s consistently in the 5-6 ppm range. As such, I am inclined to think this is not an algae problem.
The cloudiness isn’t terrible, but it’s obvious and the best way I can describe it is the way the Taylor CYA test liquid looks when you first start to add that to the final sample. Like, I can see toys at the bottom of the pool just fine, but it is obviously cloudy and it bugs me.
I’ve never tested phosphate, someone told me that is the culprit (I don’t believe him). I’ve also been told it’s the high calcium, but I see friends’ pools in the neighborhood that have higher calcium than mine, and they are totally clear. I don’t think I have calcium precipitating out of solution or anything like that, at this pH.
I did use the Clorox brand water clarifier at the start of the summer, when I first began to notice the issue, and it helped (for a few days). I don’t like adding stuff to the water, but I’m tempted to try that again. But if the cloudiness is due to some sort of gunk getting in the pool.. it just seems strange that it only happens in the summer. There is less debris in my backyard this time of year.
Any other ideas what it could be? Does the anecdotal correlation to increased water temperature set off any alarm bells in your head? What am I missing?
In the summer, I keep the temp at 86 degrees with solar heating.
Ok, so the pool was quite cloudy last summer and I attributed this to algae. I SLAM’d the pool at the end of the season and got more diligent watching the pH, and the water was CRYSTAL clear all winter. As we started to use the pool again in June, I noticed that the cloudiness issue was beginning to reappear, and it seemed to coincide with the increasing temperature, not necessarily use. This summer, I been testing the FC nearly every day and it’s consistently in the 5-6 ppm range. As such, I am inclined to think this is not an algae problem.
The cloudiness isn’t terrible, but it’s obvious and the best way I can describe it is the way the Taylor CYA test liquid looks when you first start to add that to the final sample. Like, I can see toys at the bottom of the pool just fine, but it is obviously cloudy and it bugs me.
I’ve never tested phosphate, someone told me that is the culprit (I don’t believe him). I’ve also been told it’s the high calcium, but I see friends’ pools in the neighborhood that have higher calcium than mine, and they are totally clear. I don’t think I have calcium precipitating out of solution or anything like that, at this pH.
I did use the Clorox brand water clarifier at the start of the summer, when I first began to notice the issue, and it helped (for a few days). I don’t like adding stuff to the water, but I’m tempted to try that again. But if the cloudiness is due to some sort of gunk getting in the pool.. it just seems strange that it only happens in the summer. There is less debris in my backyard this time of year.
Any other ideas what it could be? Does the anecdotal correlation to increased water temperature set off any alarm bells in your head? What am I missing?
