Pool water looks like watered down milk...

[LAHenderson]

Hello! I'm new here. This is the second year with a pool. Last year went flawlessly and the pool was crystal clear and balanced all summer! We're kinda late opening it this year as the weather here has been less than desirable. It's hot and sunny now and we're trying to get it opened so we can enjoy it! It's an above ground 16 x 32 which holds approximately 14,000 gallons.
We had a green pool to begin with. I had the water tested on Friday and was instructed to shock it, as expected, with 8 gallons of liquid chlorine which I purchased at our local pool supply store. They also instructed me to add algae-x and sequi-sol. I did as advised and now we have "watered down milk". Is this the algae bleached out? When I us rarest strip, it tests:
TBr 0
FCl 0
Alk 120
pH 8.4
and remember it's milky white. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!!!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

yup... first suggestion is to get a big pool test kit. The TF-100 is available on Amazon or via TFTestkits.net and will be the best investment you can make it the health of your pool water.

We need current test results of:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Dead algae can certainly make the water cloudy, are you able to vacuum to waste?

I would also suggest getting into the Pool School articles <link up top of this website> and learning the TFP method of pool care. It is nothing like the Pool Store method....its cheaper, and the results are sooooo much better.

Welcome to TFP

 

[Richard320]

The milkiness is probably caused by the Algae-X. Just googling a little, it says "For maximum effectiveness, pools with a large amount of algae present must be cleaned prior to using this product."

That happens frequently with strange snake-oils. They're great as preventatives, but react badly and turn to milk in the presence of a lot of algae. Also, all the liquid shock you added killed a bunch of algae. Generally the water turns a cloudy blue-grey rather quickly, but milky is not usually the adjective used. I lay that on the algaecide.

What you need is Bleach, Patience, and a proper test kit. Lots of bleach and even more patience. That milk will eventually filter out. Rather than just point you at Pool School articles, how about some real-life adventures? Your pool can't look worse than some of these. Just do what they did.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

+1 on ordering a TF100 from TFTestkits.net. I've been buying mine there for years. Best test kit value on the internet.

In addition, if you believe your test strip (we don't), your PH is really high and your alkalinity (TA) is pretty high. If your CH is also high then your pool as great risk of calcium scaling. PH needs to be between 7.2 and 7.8 at all times. More here, Pool School - Calcium Scaling

Start here in Pool School, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and then here, Pool School - Getting Started