I,m new, so here are the basics. Underground vinyl pool, 1800 cubic feet, sand filter rather than diatomaceous earth. My brother has taken care of the pool for 20 years without a test kit and done great with only shock and chlorine. This year, he removed the cover and cheaped out by putting half the normal amount of shock in, and despite having our local pool pros analyze the water and give us a regimen of chemicals and exact usage instructions, and running the filter 24/7 for almost 2 weeks, the pool is still cloudy. We use a simple test kit and the PH is perfect, chlorine is slightly hot every day. We have seen a large improvement, but at this rate it will be July before it's clear.
cloudy pool despite expert advice
- Thread starter Casper99
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,759
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Hello and welcome to TFP! 
Sounds like you're at a crossroads between "what has always been done" and switching-over to our TFP methods. What you should know up-front is that TFP pool owners test their own water with either a TF-100 (link below) or Taylor K-2006C test kit. With either kit they are assured accurate results and 100% control of their pool. We also do not "shock" our pools. If they develop algae, we "SLAM" them (link below), but there is no need for period shock treatments when the FC and CYA are maintained properly. No amount of filtration will remove the algae. Only proper sanitation/chlorine will do that for you.
I would recommend obtaining one of the recommended test kits I mentioned above and post a full set of results for us. In addition, read our SLAM page and Pool School page (links below) to give you a better understand of how we manage such situations here at TFP. I hope this helps get you started. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Sounds like you're at a crossroads between "what has always been done" and switching-over to our TFP methods. What you should know up-front is that TFP pool owners test their own water with either a TF-100 (link below) or Taylor K-2006C test kit. With either kit they are assured accurate results and 100% control of their pool. We also do not "shock" our pools. If they develop algae, we "SLAM" them (link below), but there is no need for period shock treatments when the FC and CYA are maintained properly. No amount of filtration will remove the algae. Only proper sanitation/chlorine will do that for you.I would recommend obtaining one of the recommended test kits I mentioned above and post a full set of results for us. In addition, read our SLAM page and Pool School page (links below) to give you a better understand of how we manage such situations here at TFP. I hope this helps get you started. If you have any questions, please let us know.
You need to SLAM. Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
First step is to get a good test kit. The TF-100 or the Taylor K-2006. Not sure what you mean by the chlorine being "hot" but if the water is cloudy it isn't hot enough
Read about the SLAM procedure and come back with questions.
First step is to get a good test kit. The TF-100 or the Taylor K-2006. Not sure what you mean by the chlorine being "hot" but if the water is cloudy it isn't hot enough
Read about the SLAM procedure and come back with questions.
Welcome to the forum.
Our mindset here is to eschew having "local pros"...or anyone else for that matter...manage our pools, and instead take control of them ourselves. If you're simply looking for someone to tell you "Put Magic Chemical X in your pool, and it'll become clear" then I fear you won't find what you seek here.
IF, however, actually knowing what's happening in your pool, and controlling it, is the outcome you seek, then you're in the right place. Everything that follows below presumes you've made that choice, and are still reading.
---
Biggest issue you're facing right now, imo, is not knowing what's going on in your pool. Cloudy water, despite various attempts to clarify it, could be any number of things, and it's going to be nigh on impossible for any of us to tell you what's happening until we see some test results. So, first piece of advice : Buy a TF-100 Test Kit from TFTestkits. IMO, that's a "100% no excuses must do" thing before going any further.
While you're waiting for it to be delivered, head over to Pool Shcool. There's a BUNCH of info to digest there, but I'd suggest you begin by focusing on 2 things :
* SLAM - Shock level and maintain. "Shock" isn't a product we buy, it's a process we go through. The goal is to raise Free Chlorine high enough to kill anything in our pool, and then keep it there until we're sure it's dead. How do we know when that is?
* We perform an OCLT - Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, and we examine the condition of our pool water.
* CYA - Cyanuric Acid. The above process is going to depend heavily upon your CYA level. It will dictate the amount of chlorine, in the form of bleach or liquid pool chlorine (They're the same thing, just different concentrations) you'll need to introduce to your pool to raise the FC to a shock level.
---
It is a near certainty that no matter what is currently going on with your pool, we're going to start there...we're going to bring the pool to shock levels of FC, and leave it there until we're sure there's nothing alive it in.
Everything above requires you to know several things (FC and CC levels, CYA levels, pH, and more) about your pool, and to be able to test them repeatedly, several times a day at first. In many cases, you'll want to know them to a precision or amount simply not available with plain old dip strips or common tests. The TF-100 contains everything you need to successfully SLAM your pool, and will likely have enough left over to maintain your pool for weeks or even months once we're in the home stretch.
Our mindset here is to eschew having "local pros"...or anyone else for that matter...manage our pools, and instead take control of them ourselves. If you're simply looking for someone to tell you "Put Magic Chemical X in your pool, and it'll become clear" then I fear you won't find what you seek here.
IF, however, actually knowing what's happening in your pool, and controlling it, is the outcome you seek, then you're in the right place. Everything that follows below presumes you've made that choice, and are still reading.
---
Biggest issue you're facing right now, imo, is not knowing what's going on in your pool. Cloudy water, despite various attempts to clarify it, could be any number of things, and it's going to be nigh on impossible for any of us to tell you what's happening until we see some test results. So, first piece of advice : Buy a TF-100 Test Kit from TFTestkits. IMO, that's a "100% no excuses must do" thing before going any further.
While you're waiting for it to be delivered, head over to Pool Shcool. There's a BUNCH of info to digest there, but I'd suggest you begin by focusing on 2 things :
* SLAM - Shock level and maintain. "Shock" isn't a product we buy, it's a process we go through. The goal is to raise Free Chlorine high enough to kill anything in our pool, and then keep it there until we're sure it's dead. How do we know when that is?
* We perform an OCLT - Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, and we examine the condition of our pool water.
* CYA - Cyanuric Acid. The above process is going to depend heavily upon your CYA level. It will dictate the amount of chlorine, in the form of bleach or liquid pool chlorine (They're the same thing, just different concentrations) you'll need to introduce to your pool to raise the FC to a shock level.
---
It is a near certainty that no matter what is currently going on with your pool, we're going to start there...we're going to bring the pool to shock levels of FC, and leave it there until we're sure there's nothing alive it in.
Everything above requires you to know several things (FC and CC levels, CYA levels, pH, and more) about your pool, and to be able to test them repeatedly, several times a day at first. In many cases, you'll want to know them to a precision or amount simply not available with plain old dip strips or common tests. The TF-100 contains everything you need to successfully SLAM your pool, and will likely have enough left over to maintain your pool for weeks or even months once we're in the home stretch.
Welcome to TFP!
My guess is that all those years of adding shock has finally raised the CYA level to a point where the chlorine can no longer function effectively at normal levels. Get a test kit and tell us what the CYA level is and we can help from there.
My guess is that all those years of adding shock has finally raised the CYA level to a point where the chlorine can no longer function effectively at normal levels. Get a test kit and tell us what the CYA level is and we can help from there.