Water not quite clearing up (slightly cloudy)

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Sidecarist

Sidecarist

0
Bronze Supporter
Jun 14, 2015
76
Dayton, TN
I opened my pool this yar and everything has gone quite well.

Cya was 0 so I used dichlor to shock and raise cya at the same time, water cleared up nice, but still has ever so slight cloudiness. It's just not crystal clear.

The numbers are:
FC 6
CC 0
TA 100
CA 260
CYA 50
SALT 4000
TEMP 65degF

I will be starting my SWG soon, but will continue to add dichlor to get to my target Cya of 70

The filter is maintaining a steady 10psi and is not rising quickly. The water doesn't seem to have filter able solids in it.

I hate the thought if using clarifier, etc.

Am I just being impatient?

Thanks!
 
Good morning. Even though your numbers look good (although I don't see pH), it's very possible that after opening this year, your pool is struggling a bit with organics. I would suggest performing an OCLT to validate. If you pass, continue as you have been doing for a while. If you fail, of course start a SLAM.
 
I'd be curious what your pH is. Dichlor is very acidic.

Impatient depends on how long you've been at it. It looks like last year you had the same problem. If the pool was green, figure at least a week maintaining shock level. Your FC level is nowhere near shock level now. Were you keeping it up there earlier? Have you read the SLAM instructions? You're just making things harder on yourself by raising the CYA with dichlor. Hold off on that and use bleach until things clear up, then you can raise the CYA to 70.
 
Sorry pH is currently 7.6. I've been keeping an eye on it and accounted for the acidity of dichlor.

I've run three oclt tests 0.5, 0, & 0.5

I SLAM'd when I opened. It worked perfectly just like last year. I am glad I found TFP for that reason alone!

I started my SLAM with dichlor to get my cya up from 0 to 30-35 then finished the SLAM with bleach while adjusting for PH, TA, & CA.
 
That's what I was thinking, but this is only my second year with a pool so I guess I'm looking for second opinions...

I'm going to just maintain my levels now and maybe bring the FC level up with bleach for now, and give it a few days.

Thanks again to all!
 
I maintained slam levels for 5-6 days then tapered back the FC level.

The water is clear, but looks like it has entrained air in it. There is no color to it, no turbidity etc. It's just not read a quarter on the bottom clear.

At this point I think I'm impatient but will run an OCLT tomorrow night. My wife has been maintaining FC at 15 morning and night with bleach. I'll see what it looks like when I get home mid day tomorrow.
 

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I maintained slam levels for 5-6 days then tapered back the FC level.
Click to expand...
If I read that correctly, you did not SLAM properly. You hold the FC at SLAM level not for 5-6 days but....
1. Your pool water is sparkling and there is no visible algae (dead or alive)
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.
 
No, I kept the FC up until I met the conditions.

I will do OCLT tonight to be sure. I had my wife turn the pump off last night and today when I got home there was clearly something white settled on the pool bottom. I vacuumed the pool to waste, and cleaned the filter as pressure had started to rise.

I'm guessing that there was sediment in the salt I added. The water looks much better today. I'll top the pool up and see how the OCLT turns out.

I hadn't thought about sediment in the salt. I'm wondering if that was part of or all the problem. That it was stirred up in suspension but hugging the bottom. Something like that.

I'm sure that my patience level could be better too.

I'll post results tomorrow AM
 
Better late than never.

I passed the OCLT

The numbers are:
FC 18
CC 0
PH 7.8 (est due to high ph)
TA 80
CA 220
CYA 50

Temp 70degF

Water has cleared up quite a bit. I'm letting the FC drift down to 6ish then will balance PH and others.
SWG is hooked up and says all is good. I'll leave it off for a couple days to get the FC down.

I hope to add borates in the next month or so as well.

Thanks for your advice. I think I had 2 problems here.

1. I'm hugely inpatient with my filter, and have ordered 2 new pleatco elements to have a good fresh start for the year.
2. There was very fine sediment/sand, pure white left on the bottom after adding salt, like a cloud the slightest disturbance would kick it up. Letting it settle and very carefully vacuuming to waste (twice) seems to have eliminated it.

Thanks again!
 
Much clearer. I had it so I could tell a nickel from a quarter in 4ft last year. It's not quite there but much closer. My biggest downfall is impatience I don't want to wait for the filter to work...

Another thought occured. There is quite a lot of pollen right now. That could contribute too.

Thanks
 
Yes, impatience is very difficult during a SLAM. Keep in mind that water clarity is a very important criteria in that SLAM passing, so if you have ANY doubt about what is causing that cloudiness, it doesn't hurt to keep the FC elevated. Otherwise, you'll be right back at it again in the near future, and we don't' want that for you. But now you know from your own experience here what it takes, and how long. In the future, if you ever have doubt about algae, simply run an OCLT. For now (if you're sure you passed), maintain that target FC as best as you can, and typically you should be fine - even with pollen, rain storms, or just about anything else nature has in store for us this year. :) Enjoy.
 
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