Pool cloudiness and a bit of algae, I think

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pines

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Jul 27, 2015
9
monroe/nj
Hello, I finally decided to take control of my pool and not rely on the pool store for readings. They just seem to have a different MO. Anyway, I received my kit (TF-100) and did my first test today. Here are my readings. I hope I got them right. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Chlorine = 5ppm
Br = 10ppm
Ph = 8.2
FC = 28
TA = 180
CH = 675ppm
CYA = 45
CC = It never turned pink

I have a Grecian, Vinyl 20x40 SWG pool. I've been running my pump for days. I dumped a good amount of Clorox in the past 2 days and have the SWG setting at 100%. I vacuumed to waste yesterday and then backwashed. The pool is cloudy and has slight tint of green on the deep end. The shallow end looks Ok but can be better I know my PH is high but how do I keep that green stuff out.
 
Welcome to TFP!

Your chlorine is very high. Is there a reason for that?
The PH test is not valid when FC is above 10 ppm.
Your TA is high and will tend to make your PH rise, so keep an eye on PH. Add muriatic acid when PH gets to 7.8 to lower it to 7.2. Doing this repeatedly will slowly lower your TA until PH stabilized and they reach equilibrium. More here, Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity
CH is a little high but that is not very important in vinyl pools.
CYA is good, always round up to the next 10, so assume it is 50.

Right now you already have high FC so you might as well continue on and Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain to kill your algae first. After the SLAM we can work on getting everything back to normal.

Also, read these,
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
Pool School - Recommended Levels
Pool School - PoolMath
 
Hello, thank you for your response. The chlorine is high due to my pouring several of bottles of clorox and running my swg at 100%. The pool was getting greener and I felt I was losing the battle. i figure if there is plenty of chlorine it will kill any algae. my question, do I lower my swg to 50 or 40% and also start addding the muriatic acid now? i know that the swg raises the Ph. I am wondering if the swg is working against me having set at 100%.
 
Chlorine = 5ppm
Br = 10ppm
FC = 28
CC = It never turned pink

could you please do the FAS-DPD test again, you have 4 different tests above and we only need FC and CC

if indeed you have fc 28 and 0cc with 50 CYA you are close to mustard level of SLAM, you need to stay between 20 and 25fc or so but not let your FC get below 20 until you have passed the OCLT

you can leave your SWG on at 50% but remember to turn it off when you perform the OCLT
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave:

It looks like you are trying to clear your pool with a lot of chlorine. That's just fine but you must do it in a more controlled manner.....we call it a SLAM.

There is an article in Pool School that will explain it in detail. That said, I would read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School as a starter and go from there.

If you decide to SLAM your pool, you will need to shut off the SWG and do it very precisely.....exactly as the article describes.

A pic of your pool water is ALWAYS very helpful.
 
Folks, thanks for the responses this morning. Here are a few pics I took a few mins ago. I have been reading the ABCs. I was getting desperate and while waiting for the test kit to arrive, I needed to at least fight some of the green stuff. I can see the deep drains faintly. Let me know what you guys think once you look at the pics.
I tested FAS DPD just now and here is what I got.
FC = 9
CC = it never turned pink after the 5 drops of R0003. It stayed clear.
deep end towards shallow end.jpg

deep end returns.jpg
Shallow end.jpg
 
The green is probably due to live algae that the chlorine hasn't gotten ahead of yet. The cloudiness is probably dead algae suspended in the water. I'd brush and vacuum daily, while you SLAM. Chlorine attacks dead algae too. So the more organics in the water, the less FC is available to kill the live stuff. A DE slurry in the skimmer may help the cloudiness as well. It helps filter out finer particulates.
 
Your FC is already down to 9 from 28? Wow. Sounds like you need to use the pool calculator to calculate how much bleach to add in to get back to 20-25 FC pronto! as recommended by cowboycasey. You will likely need to perform at least 2X (but preferrably more frequent) daily FC tests to ensure that you always keep FC at SLAM levels as you are battling your algae issues.
 
pines said:
Hello, thank you for your response. The chlorine is high due to my pouring several of bottles of clorox and running my swg at 100%. The pool was getting greener and I felt I was losing the battle. i figure if there is plenty of chlorine it will kill any algae. my question, do I lower my swg to 50 or 40% and also start addding the muriatic acid now? i know that the swg raises the Ph. I am wondering if the swg is working against me having set at 100%.
Click to expand...

Ok, good to know that the FC level is intentional. With FC down to 9 right test and adjust PH to 7.2 and then follow the SLAM process. We normally recommend turning off SWG to conserve the cell life. Using almost 20ppm of FC means that there is quite a bit organic material consuming chlorine.
 
OK, just so I understand, here are the steps I need to do.

1. I need to keep my FC between 20-25 which I should do this by adding more liquid chlorine and turning my SWG off ? This would be Slamming, is this right?
2. I should slowly start adding Muriatic acid to start bringing my PH down.
3. Brush and Vacuum daily.

One other question, should I add some DE to my Sand Filter?
 

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teddi,

1. Test your PH first then take your PH to 7.2 before you start your SLAM only test FC and CC once you start the SLAM.. free chlorine above 10 will give wrong PH results and can not be trusted,so do the PH before..

use poolmath to know how much Muriatic acid to use and also how much liquid chlorine to add during the SLAM

2. Add chlorine according to poolmath to stay above 20 but below 25fc at least 2 times per day but not more than every hour (most people check 4 to 10 times a day)

3. Brush daily and vaccum only when needed

You can add 1 cup of DE to your sand filter, BUT I would wait until your almost done... it will raise your pressure very fast.. if you do add DE watch your filter closely and backwash at 20% pressure rise.

great questions, we will get you going and that pool TFPerfect :)
 
Add DE to your skimmer (in a slurry) 1/4 cup at a time and wait 1-5 minutes between adding a second 1/4 cup. Once your pressure increases 1 PSI, stop adding DE.

The reason I said to vacuum daily is to remove the dead algae on the floor of the pool to allow the chlorine to take care of the live stuff. The first couple days of your SLAM, I believe "As needed" will be daily. As you complete the SLAM, you may not need to vacuum everyday, but every other day.
 
Thanks for all the responses.

When vaccuming, do I vaccum to waste ?

I notice 2 days ago when I was brushing the walls, the water shooting out of the jets was someone cloudy. Is this normal or is it just stuff the filter is not picking up. Hence my question about the DE.
 
You don't have to vacuum to waste, unless you are convinced your filter is not working properly (i.e. your sand is channeled). Your skimmer basket and filter should catch what you vacuum. If you vacuum to filter, backwash and rinse afterward. That said, don't put the cart before the horse and try to solve every problem at the same time. How does the water look now that you are (presumably) a 7 hours or so into your SLAM?
 
I got home and I can see an improvement. I can see the deep end returns better. I started to vaccum to filter. It got a bit cloudy ,I guess some stuff got through the filter. Either way, I shut the SWG and pour MA as per the pool calculator to lower the PH. I will see how things look tomorrow and start Slamming some more. Here are my readings before vacuuming and dropping acid. Here are some pics before vacuuming.

Cl = 5 ppm
Ph = 8.2
FC = 6
CC = it never turned pink after the 5 drops of R0003. It stayed clear.

20150731_183725.jpg20150731_183743.jpg
 
As per the Slamming instructions, I need to get my ph down first and then start slamming. the slamming will start today. iI shut down my SWG. Now that I know my chemistry readings and understand a bit more, I know I am heading in the right direction. My current readings.

FC = 20 (will make sure it stays at shock levels)
PH = 6.2 (will raise it to 7.2)
 

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