Cloudy water after hard Texas rain on newly built pool

[Barnon]

Hi all.

I am in the process of building a DYI vinyl liner pool. We just filled it up with city water from our house taps about 3 weeks ago. The water looked great until we had a hard rain about a week ago and now the water is quite cloudy. Attached are a few pics. I shocked the pool and ran the filter continuously for the first 3 days and ran my robot vacuum a few times but nothing so far has made much of a difference. I think the rain was so hard it was splashing muddy water into the pool and the particulate is so fine the sand filter may not be catching it. The pool guy at Leslie's tested my water today and told me to add 2 1/2 lbs of dry acid and sold me some Alum to put in after. Said it would make the particulate heavy and sink to the bottom where I could vacuum it out to waste.

Test results.
FAC 8
TAC 8
Salt 3100
CH 180
CYA 40
TA 90
PH 8
Acid 2

I know very little about pool chemistry. I've just order one of the test kits recommended in pool school and am reading and trying to take in all the information available on your very informative site. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Welcome to TFP, Bill Looks like a nice pool!

As to your dilemma- my first bit of advice is to stay the heck away from the pool store. First off, muriatic acid is a better choice to use to lower pH. Its cheaper, works faster and it doesn't leave suphites behind. You can buy it at most big box hardware stores in the paint department. 31% 20 baume. What is this "shock" you added? If its Calhypo it too can cause cloudiness. The only thing we recommend adding is liquid chlorine (either the pool labeled product or plain old household bleach). And no alum!! That stuff can cause you problems too....but Leslie's never mentions that when they're selling you your "cures", huh?

I can see by your pictures the mud around your pool, so I wouldn't be surprised that a vicious rain storm caused some to enter the pool. Your filter needs to be run 24/7. You can even add a bit of DE to the filter to help. When my pool was being built they accidentally dropped a load of dirt in the water and it took about a week to clear....so disappointing when it was hot enough to swim and yet we couldn't! Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter

When you are having a problem with the water, its best to use the liquid chlorine to treat it and not count of the SWG. It works too slowly to make a lot of effect when you want "Pow!" instant rise in FC. Capisce?

It just takes time and some bleach.... you'll get there. When your test kit arrives get back to us on your test results so we can review them with you if you want.

Yip

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

You are not in as much of a pickle as you think!. That does appear to be mud and you filter will almost surely handle it but you have to help.

Run a robot or a vacuum over the pool floor daily. In between, simply brush the bottom vigourously and the dirt will be swept up into the moving water and into your filter.

Run your pump 24/7 until it clears and keep you FC right where it is.

 

[Barnon]

Wow! Thanks for the quick response guys. I was just about to add the Alum. The shock Leslie's sold me was 2 packs of Chlor Bright Sanitizer shown below. I will try adding some DE to my filter as the link suggested and continue vacuuming and brushing. I have my SWG at 0 percent ATM since Leslie's said the acceptable range for FC was 1-4. Should I crank it back up?

 

[triptyx]

Ditch the Chlor Brite - it has CYA in it and using it will raise that lovely 40 CYA number you have there.

2-4FC is a Pool Store target that means nothing in the real world. Use the FC to CYA chart to maintain correct levels.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

As Triptyx mentioned- you want to keep your FC level aligned with your CYA level. Here is the reference guide--> [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]

Here is the suggested levels guide we follow- Pool School - Recommended Levels

Keep an eye on your sand filter pressure if it rises 20% to 25% off baseline, its time to backwash.

 

[Barnon]

I tried adding some DE to my filter. I may have over thought the process. I figured it would be a good idea to shut off the main drains so skimmer was sucking at maximum. Noted psi at about 12 and added DE as instructed until pressure went up by 1. Then I turned on the main drains and the pressure immediately went up 2 more psi to 15. Brushed up the pool and about an half hour later pressure was up to 24 psi. Seem to filter too well. The water is starting to look clearer. I can see the bottom now in the shallow end.

I should have my new TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-2006 TEST KIT in a few days and will start learning to check levels on my own. I'm sure I'll have a few questions.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

No need to shut off any drains... keep everything moving as it all goes to the filter in the end, right? You filter is what is going to catch all the schmutz, so it might need to be backwashed. Which will wash out all the DE so if you want to add it again you'll need to. My pool only takes a cup or two of DE to polish up the water.

 

[Barnon]

Thanks for all your help. Pool looks inviting again. (Except for all the dirt on the outside)