Pool water slightly cloudy

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J

Jmanb13

0
Jul 31, 2014
25
Norman, Oklahoma
Hello all, I have been on the board for a couple years now, but haven't really asked many questions since my pool has been under construction for about a year and a half. We finally got the pool finished Monday of this week. 18000 Gallon Pool with 1HP pump a Hayward Sand filter. I think its a 24" model.

We got the liner installed Monday morning, and I had it 75% full by late monday evening. Monday night we had a huge storm and it filled the pool up the rest of the way with nasty water. I got the plumbing hooked up late tuesday night and poured in a couple gallons of bleach. I have been monitoring the the balance and slowing altering everything to get within spec. Pool pump and filter got new sand and has been running 24/7 since Tuesday night.

Current Levels
pH 7.5
FC 6
CC 0
TA 100
CYA ~20 (I've been slowing adding CYA via the sock method since Wednesday morning) I don't know exact amount yet because my Test kit only starts registering at 30

Anyway, the pool cleared up really good after 1 day, but its still somewhat cloudy and hasn't changed much since then. (By cloudy i mean, i can barely see the drains in the deep end (8ft) if I look REALLY hard.

My FC level last night after the sun went down was 2.0. This morning it was 1.8 so it doesn't seem like there is anything eating up the chlorine.

Is there something else I should be looking at? or am I just being impatient and there is still just dirt floating around in the pool?
 
It sounds as though you have an algae bloom knocking on your door. You definitely want to get that CYA to 30 making sure the dot disappears at 30. Lower pH to 7.2 then "SLAM" by increasing FC to "12". Keep the FC at 12 "consistently" each day/night as best as you can until you pass the 3 SLAM criteria (link below). Also follow the other instructions on the SLAM page and you should have that water looking better in a few days. Good luck!
 
The CYA will take about a day after it is fully dissolved before it will all show up in the test.

For 18,000 gallons it will take about 4-1/2 lbs (72oz) of granular CYA to reach 30ppm. I would not add any more than that until you get a good CYA test result.

Dom
 
how do we know he needs to slam? would an OCLT be in order to determine if he really needs to slam? or are you thinking to slam now to be safe?

also, to get the water nice and clear more quickly, a sand filter may need some DE added to help speed it up - ADD DE TO A SAND FILTER - a sand filter on its own can take a long time to get the water super clear
 
I have been dissolving CYA in a sock for 3 days. I put 4 lbs in total with the last of it dissolved this morning. I did a CYA test at 5pm and it read between 30 and 40 ppm when the circle disappeared. The FC showed 6.4 at the same time, PH was 7.4. The last time i added chlorine was last night around 9 pm. I didn't get the exact measurement at the time but it would have been enough to raise it to around 10-12ppm FC based on my measurements I did a couple hours earlier.

Using the poolcalc app with my CYA set at 40, I put enough bleach in to bring the FC up from 6.4 to 15 about 2 hours ago. I will be checking it shortly to see where its at and add enough to maintain the FC level at 15.

I can't do any more CYA tests because my CYA solution ran out. I ordered some more but it will be a few days before I get it.

I will look at adding some DE to my sand filter, but i can't right at the moment because my filter pressure gauge is broken. I have another one on order that should be here either tomorrow or Monday.
 
Ok, I tested the water 2 hours after the chlorine addition. The PH jumped alot. I think I remember reading that high FC levels mess with pH measurements.

I'm going to assume my CYA is somewhere in the 30-40 range since that is what I tested earlier today and there was no water additions/subtractions.

And yes the water is still as cloudy as it has been.

8pm
FC: 16
CC: 0
pH: 7.7
TA: 100

9pm
FC: 16
CC: 0
pH: 7.7

I will check it tomorrow around 8-9 am to see what the FC level is. Direct sun does not hit the water until around 10 am. I assume this will qualify for an OCLT?
 

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Jmanb13 said:
I ran out of my FAS-DPD testing reagents. None of the local pool places carry it.

Is there a way to monitor high chlorine levels with one of the basic kits you get at a store until I get my replacement? The ones I've seen only go to 5 TC.
Click to expand...

the same thing happened to me - I diluted pool water samples to get into the range for the basic kit I had before the TF100 - for example, if you are trying to stay around 15 or 16, and your basic test kit only goes to 5, then dilute 1 part pool water with 3 parts plain water, test, and multiply your results by 4
 
by the way, if your OCLT was only 0.5, and your CC is 0, then the only thing missing is clear water - it sounds like you are close to finishing the SLAM if you can get the water clear

my only note of caution is that the OCLT being low could be deceiving if you are not brushing the whole pool regularly - algae forms a film on the pool surfaces as a defense mechanism - if you take the FC up to SLAM level but do not brush, you can kill the algae on the surface of the film, but the underlying algae is protected by the film - hence the need to brush to break up the film and expose the underlying algae so it can be killed also - my guess is that you are truly almost done, but I thought I should mention the brushing which is important

at this point, with good numbers, adding DE to your sand filter is likely the best thing you can do to get the water clear - as soon as you get your gauge replaced, I would get on that - also, I am not as familiar with sand filters, but you may need to deep clean the filter at some point http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/73192-Deep-Cleaning-a-Sand-Filter
 
bkfamily1 said:
by the way, if your OCLT was only 0.5, and your CC is 0, then the only thing missing is clear water - it sounds like you are close to finishing the SLAM if you can get the water clear

my only note of caution is that the OCLT being low could be deceiving if you are not brushing the whole pool regularly - algae forms a film on the pool surfaces as a defense mechanism - if you take the FC up to SLAM level but do not brush, you can kill the algae on the surface of the film, but the underlying algae is protected by the film - hence the need to brush to break up the film and expose the underlying algae so it can be killed also - my guess is that you are truly almost done, but I thought I should mention the brushing which is important

at this point, with good numbers, adding DE to your sand filter is likely the best thing you can do to get the water clear - as soon as you get your gauge replaced, I would get on that - also, I am not as familiar with sand filters, but you may need to deep clean the filter at some point http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/73192-Deep-Cleaning-a-Sand-Filter
Click to expand...

Since my Test kit ran out, I don't know what levels i'm at. I have a new TF-100 on the way. But, knowing that 121oz of 8.25% bleach is enough to raise FC by a little over 4 in my 18000 gallons. I have been dumping in a gallon each evening, and 1 more gallon spread out throughout the day after the initial amount I dumped in to raise it to 16.

Thanks for the tip on the brushing! I was not doing that at first since my old brush had fallen apart and I didn't get my new brush until Saturday. I think the brushing and chlorine is working, its getting a little better each day.

My filter was completely emptied out and replaced with fresh sand when the new liner went in. I also got the gauge in on Saturday so I know what i'm at now. It hovers around 10 psi.

I do have a question on the DE. I picked up some Pool DE at Homedepot, and based on the directions in Pool School, it says that i should mix in a little in a bucket of water and pour slowly in the skimmer, then let it stabilize for a few minutes, then keep adding a little at a time until the PSI goes up by 1 on the pump. The first time I did this over about 30 minutes, it took 3 cups of DE to get to 1 psi increase (10 to 11psi). I came back out an hour later and the PSI was through the roof and the pump was not pushing any more water. So I back flushed and tried again at 2 cups. Again same thing this time except it took about 2 hours. I backflushed again and put 1 cup in. About 5 hours later same thing. Today I put in 1/2 cup about 30 minutes ago. We shall see where it ends up this time.

Do you think its clogging up just because of all the tiny particles its picking up? or and I doing something wrong with the DE?
 
I would bet you are clogging quickly because it is picking up the particles making it cloudy. I do not have a sand filter so I have not done it before. But reading the procedure and thinking of the flow dynamics I think the pressure should rise and settle in pretty quickly after you add the DE in the skimmer. So if you see the big rise hours later, it is likely because it is doing the job. In aDE filter there is a huge surface area so it takes a long time for the pressure to rise. In a sand filter it is just the surface of the sand layer that gets the DE layer which is not so much area, so it clogs much more quickly.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
bkfamily1 said:
I would bet you are clogging quickly because it is picking up the particles making it cloudy. I do not have a sand filter so I have not done it before. But reading the procedure and thinking of the flow dynamics I think the pressure should rise and settle in pretty quickly after you add the DE in the skimmer. So if you see the big rise hours later, it is likely because it is doing the job. In aDE filter there is a huge surface area so it takes a long time for the pressure to rise. In a sand filter it is just the surface of the sand layer that gets the DE layer which is not so much area, so it clogs much more quickly.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


It seems this may be what is happening, the 1/2 cup I put in earlier barely moved the needle at all. After about an hour it had gone up to 15psi from 10. Now, after 4 hours its up to 23 psi. Water is still moving good so I haven't stopped the pump yet.
 
You'll get a feel for how the DE impacts your filter pressures. And the 'dirtier' your water, the faster pressures will rise. If you keep the same DE dose, it will gradually take longer and longer for the pressure to rise as you filter out the sediment. As Piolin noted, you can add a small dose if you're going to be away for awhile.

I just went thru something similar (but not as bad) from a big dust and then rainstorm. My pool had never looked worse and there was so much dust and sediment and it was really cloudy. But it only took about 4 days to look normal again...it actually looked better than normal b/c I don't usually use the DE in the filter. I forgot how clear the water can get when using the DE.
 

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