Water STILL cloudy

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R

rarat5

0
Aug 20, 2007
19
Orange Park FL
Hey guys need your advice. Over the winter I did nothing to the pool. In March I started my battle with the algae which went pretty well. I used enough bleach to sanitize a small lake, but the almost black water turned bright green then gray then cloudy blue. I've been running the filter 24/7 for almost a month straight now but the water is still cloudy.

My CH was pretty low (<20) during the "battle" so last weekend I added 8lbs of calcium and that helped with the cloudiness. I did 2 flock treatments which really didn't do much and today I added 4 more lbs of calcium and tonight my CH is up to 250.

Also I'm backwashing daily and now that the bottom is visable brushing every couple days.

What am I missing? Why can't I get this water clear?

My numbers from tonight:
FC: 12 CC:<.5 pH:7.5 TA:100 CH:250 CYA:30

Thanks,
Randy
 
Have you checked to see if you can hold your chlorine level overnight? When you backwash, are you seeing stuff flush out of the filter?

If your chlorine's holding overnight and CC < .5, only thing I can think of is that you had beacoup dead algae and your filter's slowly getting it out. I find it odd that adding calcium helped clear the water a bit. You really don't need it in a vinyl lined pool, and since it's at 250, I wouldn't add any more.

Anyone else have an idea? Bueller? Bueller?
 
What I'd like to suggest is adding some DE to your filter and keep it going 24/7 till it clears. Everytime you backwash since your letting the DE out, add a little more DE. <It filters smaller particals than sand> :wink:

Any pics?
 
I think the OP was saying the calcium "contributed" to the cloudiness.

Mike's right, with a vinyl liner, you probably didn't need to add it.

I agree, check an overnight FC loss, and keep the filter running 24/7. Sometimes with a sand filter, it filters better if it's "dirty"....so backwashing daily might not be helping. If your presssure isn't rising to the point of recommended backwash, then just wait until it rises and then backwash. Backwashing daily might actually be why its taking longer, you can also double check the sand and make sure it's not channelled....otherwise just keep at it, brushing and running the filter. :goodjob:
 
Here's few pics from this morning.

IMG_4526small.jpg




You can almost see the main drain in this pic

IMG_4525small.jpg


It's not near as bad as it was but's it not clear either.

Maybe another floc?
 
If the water has looked like that for weeks, then there is probably some issue with the filter. I wouldn't be surprised to see the water looking like that about a week after the algae is all dead. But if the filter is working correctly, it should continue to clear up visibly each day.

There are a couple of different things you can try. First, I would stop backwashing daily. Now that the bulk of the algae is gone, you want the filter to catch smaller particles, which it does better when it is a little dirty. Second, you could try adding some DE to the sand filter, there are directions on how to do this in Pool School. Third, if you are feeling mechanically inclined, you could open up the sand filter, take a look at the sand to see if it is getting clumped and resettle the sand bed. If none of those work, the last thing to try would be some clarifier.
 
Thanks guys. The water has looked like that for about a week now so I'll keep the filter running and stop backwashing for a while. I need to change my pressure gauge so I can tell when it wants to be cleaned.

Should I keep it at shock level now that the algae is dead or is it alright to bring it back down to normal maintenance levels now?

Thanks again.
 
If your FC is holding overnight, the algae is probably dead. Is it holding?

The criteria for knowing if you are done shocking are: You lose less than 1ppm of FC overnight, your CC is .5 or less, and your water is clear.

So does your water meet those three criteria? :goodjob:
 

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i would say at this point the algae is dead.. which is why its a milky color and not green. Im surprised the floc didnt settle everything to the bottom of the pool. Did you let the pump run for a couple hours after you added the floc, and then shut it off for a day or so? If you leave the pump running its hard for the particals to clump together and sink...

like everyone else said, id add a pound or 2 of DE into the skimmer with the pump running, let the filter run 24-7 and only backwash when the pressure gets too high.

Another thing that works with above ground pools that DONT have a maindrain ( bottom drain) is hooking up your pool vac push it out into the center of the pool and turn the vac head upside down. This will help suck water from the bottom of the pool, not from the surface like a skimmer would. It looks like your pool may have a bottom drain in one of the pics but im not sure.
 
I had the same problem last year and was told by someone on here to add clarifier. It worked wonderfully. Had the same problem this year. Yesterday, it was still cloudy. I added clarifier and by the time I got home today from work, I could see the bottom finally. It's clearing up really fast.

I just noticed you all mentioned "floc". Is that clarifier? If so, I feel stupid now. :oops: :lol:
 
Floc and clarifier both solve the same problem, but in different ways.

Clarifier causes particles to clump together enough that they get caught in the filter. Floc causes them to clump together enough that they fall to the bottom of the pool and can be vacuumed up. Clarifier is better for mild cloudiness, such as we see in the pictures here. Floc is better for a huge murky mess. Neither is normally required.
 
Update:

The water was clearing up pretty nicely last week, not perfect but it was getting there; the kids even got in it for a few minutes. Then this weekend I decided to pull the steps out to see if they were the culprit. Boy were they! Apparently those steps have NO flow through them despite the slots cut in the side.

Once I started moving them the debris started stirring up and it wasn't long before once again I couldn't see the bottom. No prob, pulled the steps out, brought the water back to shock and starting brushing. So now I'm back to shock and filter, filter, filter.

Later I'll post some pics of how I fixed the water flow problem through the steps.

Thanks again for all ya'lls advice and patience.
 
Here's what I did to the steps.

Just put in a fitting so I can hook my vacuum line to the center of the bottom step and suck the water out...
IMG_4719.jpg


I put in a second fitting so I can hook up my inlet line and pump fresh clean water under the steps...
IMG_4726.jpg


I figure if I do this one a month or so I shouldn't have any more problems under the steps. I'm also going to add screen over all of the openings to keep the solids out.

Here's just a fun pic: guess the circulation is strong huh?
IMG_4731.jpg
 
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