Cloudy water won't go away

[NJBob]

Greetings, everyone!
I have read several posts from others, and need to ask what I may be doing wrong. MY 20X40 VINYL LINER POOL HAS BEEN CLOUDY EVER SINCE I OPENED IT LAST SPRING. SAD TO SAY, I WORKED WITH MY POOL SERVICE COMPANY I'VE HAD FOR MANY YEARS; NO RESULTS, AND IN JUNE I REPLACED HIM WITH ANOTHER. THIS NEW COMPANY RECOMMENDED REPLACING THE SAND IN MY HAYWARD SAND FILTER (5 YEARS OLD), WHICH I DID. EVER SINCE I HAVEN'T SEEN THE PRESSURE INCREASE ON THE GUAGE AT ALL (IT'S AT 15 LBS), DESPITE RUNNING THE FILTER FOR THREE DAYS , 24 HOURS. NEXT, THEY SAID TO ADD 12 BAGS OF SHOCK TO BREAK A "CHLORINE LOCK" (POOL IS 36000 GALLONS). AFTER RUNNING THE PUMP FOR THREE DAYS, WATER IS CLEAR 4' FT DOWN, STILL CLOUDY AT THE DEEP END. I'VE HAD THE WATER TESTED MANY TIMES' EVERYTHING IS WITHIN ALLOWABLE LIMITS, SO, VERY GOOD. OMG- I just noticed this post is in caps- sorry!
after reading the posts here, I plan to add socks to the skimmer basket, (how long should they be installed before adding DE?), then add the DE as suggested. I am hoping to clear the water before closing the pool for the winter. Any suggestions will be most appreciated.

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to TFP!

If you have had cloudy water all season you have had a chemistry problem all season, not a filtration problem

Time to fire the second guy and take control of the pool yourself. The second guy has just cost you money you didn't need to spend. Sand does not "wear out". There are only a couple of reasons to ever need to change the sand and they all involve the sand being contaminated and solidifying kind of like concrete. This is usually caused by improper use of things like clarifiers and floc (both of which we do not usually recommend).

I suggest you start reading in Pool School -start with the ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Now, only two things consume chlorine - UV light of the sun and organics in the water. The only way the prove you have organics (usually algae) is by a controlled test of your chlorine level after sun set and again before the sun is on the pool. We call this an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (OCLT)

I think you will find that you do have something growing and you will need to fix it. The pool guy will say, oh - that's OK, I'll "shock" the pool. A one or two time addition of chlorine will not guarantee that everything is dead. I'll bet they have shocked the pool multiple times during this season with you pool staying cloudy. To fix it, you need to get the chlorine level high enough and keep it there long enough that testing (remember the overnight test) proves everything is dead. We call this a SLAM - meaning Shock Level And Maintain.

The thing that ties all of this together is testing. Reliable, accurate testing. The pool store can't provide it. I bet your pool guy doesn't even carry the test kit to prove these things. You need a FAS-DPD chlorine test kit. It is accurate to .2ppm of chlorine and can test up to 50ppm of chlorine.

I recommend the TF-100 from TFTestkits.net As you will need to complete a SLAM you want to get the XL option for more chlorine tests.

Don't let all of this scare you. Most folks only spend a few minutes each day taking care of their pool. How much do you spend of the pool guy(s) to have cloudy water?

 

[robdac]

Tim is right. Your issue is likely water chemistry and not filtration. You really only need the knowledge he linked to above and a proper test kit.

 

[Catanzaro]

Tim is right. Your issue is likely water chemistry and not filtration. You really only need the knowledge he linked to above and a proper test kit.

NJBob:

Please order one of the recommended test kits. Without this, one can not effectively manage their own pool. Pool Store testing is notoriously incorrect, and they make mistakes. Additionally, most of the time, the recommendations are "boiler plate" and not for your own pool. Here at the TFP Community, everyone will help you take control of your own pool (bottom line). Without a quality test kit, things never go as planned.

Welcome to TFP! Once you post up your results, we will help you get the pool cleared up in a descent amount of time.

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