Petes Cloudy Water!!

[PeteNeedsHelp]

My name is Pete and I am new to swimming pools and also looking at cloudy water. I had a green mess after a heavy rain storm and the pool store shock and algaecide did absolutely nothing. I found your site and did my best without a test kit and using pool store tests to shock the pool with liquid chlorine. I managed to do ok and the pool is no longer green but it is cloudy. So I ordered a test kit and took a few readings to see how the water looked. Its been a couple weeks since the attempted SLAM (I call it that since I did not have a proper test kit yet) and the most recent water test results are below.

The most recent readings are:
FC - 2 (I added chlorine and brought it up to 7, tested the next day)
CC - 1
TC - 3
PH - 7.5
TA - 90
CH - 225
CYA - 40

I am assuming that I should bring the FC up for a longer period of time to help clear the water?

 

[Texas Splash]

Hi Pete, and welcome! Can you tell us which test kit you obtained? Your numbers above are not too bad with the exception for low chlorine - specifically FC. Keep this chart handy :Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart so you know what your FC should be based on your current CYA.

For now though, as you suspected, you do need to bring the FC up to the "SLAM" level. Make sure you follow the Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain and you should be just fine. If you have any more questions, please let us know. Welcome to TFP!

- - - Updated - - -

I should also point-out that your CC (combined chlorine) over .5 indicate a higher level of residual chorine (basically the trash) from your algae. Once you complete the SLAM, that number should be <=.5.

 

[medicdford]

That is exactly what you need to do, Pete! Your other numbers are pretty good. According to Pool Math (http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html) your shock level for FC should be 16 for a CYA of 40. Bring it up to 16, check it AT LEAST twice daily, and don't let it go down to normal (5 or so) until your water is clear and you've passed the overnight chlorine test (loss of less than 1 ppm FC overnight). Once you've done that, just maintain at around 5 and you're gold.

 

[PeteNeedsHelp]

Hi Pete, and welcome! Can you tell us which test kit you obtained?

Hi Pat, thanks for the welcome.

After reading the test kit comparison page on this site I had ordered the TF100 kit from TFTestkits.net. So far its been pretty easy to test the water and I have been able to find great information on this site.

Thank you Pat and medicdford for the advice! Now that I have the test kit I'll give the SLAM another shot and make sure I have the proper FC levels until the water clears up. I'll keep an eye on the CC level as well.

 

[pooldv]

Alright, good plan!

 

[jaduck]

You did your homework! If everyone that is new to TFP would do what you have done things would go so much better for everyone! Congrats on your soon to be crystal clear pool!

 

[Pogueld]

Welcome and excellent start! I want to add that the more often you can keep your FC at 16, the better. When you are home, test and add chlorine (as needed according to the pool math calculator) every hour. As you notice your FC is holding longer, cut back to every two hours

Also brush EVERYDAY! And keep your filter and skimmers cleaned. Just some tricks to get the process completed.


[emoji176] Lisa P.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PeteNeedsHelp]

Thank you very much to everyone that responded to help with my cloudy water. I am very pleased to report that my water cleared up and I can see the bottom of the pool once again!

I cant express how great this site is, the pool store chemicals would have cost a small fortune vs using bleach. Besides, the bleach worked way better than the pool store products anyway!

Thanks Again!!!

 

[jaduck]

Excellent news! Just remember to keep checking your levels and adjusting as needed...

 

[Richard320]

Thank you very much to everyone that responded to help with my cloudy water. I am very pleased to report that my water cleared up and I can see the bottom of the pool once again!

I cant express how great this site is, the pool store chemicals would have cost a small fortune vs using bleach. Besides, the bleach worked way better than the pool store products anyway!

Thanks Again!!!

Mark my words: In another week or so the water will be so clear you'll be ashamed that you thought just seeing the bottom was enough. The quarter test will no longer be an abstract.