New Plaster Water Appearance Question

YouRang · Jan 15, 2017

Hi all. We replastered our pool ~5 weeks ago. The water in the spa appears clear as well as the shallow end, but the deep end at 8' is cloudy and has a green tint. We did blue quartz. Here are my recent test values:

TC=1; CH=325; pH=7.8; TA=70; CYA=30 (I think); Salt=3000; borates=15; 73*; CSI=-0.08 (Balanced)

The water has been cloudy since I began rebalancing chemicals after the acid and cure timeframe.

Question? Do I have metal(s) clouding the pool with slight green tint? Like Copper?

JoyfulNoise · Jan 15, 2017

My guess is you have an algae bloom starting. You quote a TC value of 1ppm with a CYA value of 30ppm but what is needed is the Free Chlorine (FC) level and the combined chlorine (CC) level since TC = FC + CC. There could be far too little free chlorine in the water to be effective.

The primary question is this - how are you testing your water and what, if any, test kit are you using?

needsajet · Jan 15, 2017

If it were mine, I'd suspect algae first, because of the low level of sanitizer (3 ppm FC would be a better level).

I would raise FC to 5 ppm with chlorinating liquid and do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (OCLT) to find out: Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

YouRang · Jan 15, 2017

needsajet said:
If it were mine, I'd suspect algae first, because of the low level of sanitizer (3 ppm FC would be a better level).

I would raise FC to 5 ppm with chlorinating liquid and do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (OCLT) to find out: Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

Thank you. I'm using the TF-100 test kit. I'll do OVCLT.

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YouRang · Jan 16, 2017

YouRang said:
Thank you. I'm using the TF-100 test kit. I'll do OVCLT.

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I added 1.5 gal of 8.25% bleach which raised FC from 1 to 5 last night. I just checked FC again this morning and FC is still 5.

I've been leaning towards metal specifically copper. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

YouRang said:
Hi all. We replastered our pool ~5 weeks ago. The water in the spa appears clear as well as the shallow end, but the deep end at 8' is cloudy and has a green tint. We did blue quartz. Here are my recent test values:

TC=1; CH=325; pH=7.8; TA=70; CYA=30 (I think); Salt=3000; borates=15; 73*; CSI=-0.08 (Balanced)

The water has been cloudy since I began rebalancing chemicals after the acid and cure timeframe.

Question? Do I have metal(s) clouding the pool with slight green tint? Like Copper?

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JoyfulNoise · Jan 16, 2017

Why do you suspect copper? Were any copper-based products added to the pool at startup?

Who did the plaster startup? What process did they use? What was the pool filled with (fill water specs)? Where any special chemicals added like algaecides or sequestrants at startup?

Cloudy is typically NOT an indication of metals. Also, being an indoor pool, lighting can drastically affect the color of the water depending on the color of the plaster and the type of lighting in the room.

YouRang · Jan 21, 2017

I suspected copper from some material correlating the color of stains with certain minerals. How I arrived at cloudy, green, water as copper, no clue. Clearly I misinterpreted the material.

Our pool is outdoors. They used the acid startup method. No algaecides or sequestrants were added at startup. Now that I have FC balanced with CYA, the water is more clear.

Thanks for your help.