cloudy pool

[Brianhempel]

On Wednesday 3/2 pool clear with slight green tint, no algae noted. Brushed pool well and water became cloudy and stayed cloudy after vacuuming. Received the Taylor complete fas dpd on Thursday.
cya 35
fc 0.5
cc 0.5
ta 90
pH 7.6
CH 225 not sure of accuracy
After testing added 24 oz 8.25 bleach per pool math, and 160 oz stabilizer.
on 3/3
pH 7.0
fc 4
cc 0.5
ta 80
CH 175
cya 70
Added calcium chloride, dissolved 4 lbs in pool water and added. Added 17 oz bleach, 8 oz borax.
later that day
cya 50
CH 225
FC 5
CC 0
pH 7.4
TA 100
pool remained cloudy but now bluer in color.
3/4 purchased phosphate test strip, read over 1000. per pool store . Was told to add i bottle of salinity (phos remover). Water became milky opaque but much bluer in color. Ran pump 24 hrs, no oily residue on filter, pressure remained <20.
FC 3.5
CC 0.5
Added 61 oz bleach. later that day
FC 5.5
CC 0
added 26 oz bleach
At 8 pm tested for occult chlorine
FC 8.5
CC 0.5
3/5 am
FC 8.5
C C 0.5
later that day
pH 8
TA 110
FC 6.5
CC 0
added 10 oz of acid. pH dropped to 7.4, CH 275 still cloudy, blue.
3/6 drained about 12% of pool.
refilled and let pump run 3 hrs before testing.
CH 25
CYA 42
FC 3
CC 0
pH 7.4
TA 80
added 70 oz bleach.
water is slightly clearer but remains very cloudy. Pool math used for all adjustments, adding 2/3 of all , but 100% of bleach recommendations.
Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this was such a long narrative.​

My pool is inground, plaster, 11750 gallons with an attached hot tub which flows into the pool. We purchased the house at the end of September 2016. The house had been vacant for 7 months. I'm not confident it had been well cared for by the previous owners. This is our first pool. pool is caged
​

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here

You've obviously done lots of reading and research here and you're on a good track. Your post is very descriptive and helpful, thanks! A few suggestions follow.

The cloudiness might just take time to clear, or you might still have a bit of algae not quite getting killed off, so keep your FC up around 10 ppm until we know for sure.

Hold off on adding any more stabilizer. You can optimize that later and anything from 30 ppm and up is fine for right now. Could you post a picture of the water, looking down at your steps? And another one of your equipment pad? Those will be helpful if you can do it, or at least let us know what type of filter you have.

You're doing great on the pH so keep that up.

Next thing is to determine if you have algae in the water. To do this, you do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (OCLT) which is described here: Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

In the meantime, only do your chlorine additions and pH correction. Other water chemistry can be fine-tuned later on.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all your pool questions.

If I could ask you to do us all a favor.. When you list your test data only use the following format... It will help us understand your issues much faster....

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

And... please, do not add anything the pool store tells you to add without running it by us first. Not sure what a bottle of "Phos Free" costs, but it would work just as well if you poured it down the drain...

I think the Aussie has got you pointed in the right direction..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[Brianhempel]

Thank you for your response and help. pictures to follow. I didn't mention before that our pool is caged and we live on a golf course where they fertilize frequently. Also our CH has risen 50 points since noon to 275. Our pool first became cloudy after we first brushed the sides with a very low CH level at the time. Could there have been that much calcium coming off the concrete? Thanks again for your help. We're glad we found this site.

- - - Updated - - -

This site is now our only source for advice. I appreciate yours. Thank you.

 

[needsajet]

I'm really glad Jim mentioned the pool $tore and you're able to stay away from there

If some calcium scale released after an acid addition, I suppose it's possible for CH to rise. Could be mixing, testing or some CalHypo falling in , but 225 and 275 ppm CH are both fine and we can ignore CH for now.

We'll need to know about the 160 oz of stabilizer. I'm hoping that was fluid ounces of liquid stabilizer, but if it was powder, let us know. The OCLT at your first opportunity, along with 10 ppm FC, is the best next step I'd say.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

Reading though your "novel" it appears that you have already passed the OCLT. That is great!!

Tell us more about your pool equipment.. what kind of pump, filter, etc... Do you have any automation?

When was the last time you cleaned your filter?

Since you passed the OCLT, running the filter 24/7 for a couple of days may take care of your cloudiness.

Make sure you keep brushing..

If you can, run a full set of tests each day at about the same time and report the results. Add the amount of chlorine that you suspect your pool will use that day, wait 30 minutes and then test. Keep in mind the CYA test has to be done in full sunlight.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[needsajet]

I'd like to add just a couple of tips to go with the OCLT instructions (below) to help ensure the OCLT works well. (italics)

1. If you have an SWG, tablet chlorinator, or other chlorine feeder, shut it off completely.

Nothing to do with a usual OCLT, but for your case, add the chlorinating liquid or bleach to get to our temporary target of 10 ppm FC

2. After the sun goes down, and with at least 30 minutes of pump run time after your last chemical addition of the day, test your water for FC using the FAS-DPD test [making sure your FC level is at least above 3ppm].

3. Record that result. Do not put any more chlorine in your pool. If it's 4 or 12 or 6 or whatever, that's not a problem for the OCLT. The main thing is not to adjust it again.

4. The next morning, as early as practical and definitely before there is any direct sunlight on the pool, and after 30 minutes of pump run time to mix the water, perform the FAS-DPD FC test again and record the result. Let us know the "before and after" test results.

If your pool gets sun very early in the morning, or for your convenience, you can leave the pump running overnight so you can just stroll out in the morning and test FC immediately.

 

[needsajet]

Pardon me, I didn't detect an OCLT. Maybe it's just cloudy from the phos floc. Jim's got you covered.

 

[Brianhempel]

Hope the pictures help. And yes the stabilizer was a liquid. I have a cartridge filter, and it has been cleaned daily over the last several days.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

Looks like a small cartridge filter, so you are on the right track.. Keep cleaning it everyday for the next couple of days and see where we are..

Jim R.

 

[Brianhempel]

OK, Here's my OCLT
Last night at 2200 hrs:
FC 10.5
CC 0.5
Pump ran all night.
This Morning at 0600:
FC 10
CC 0
PH 8
Pool remains cloudy

 

[Brianhempel]

Pool still cloudy very light green 12:30pm levels
FC 7.5 Added 43 oz of bleach per pool math
CC 0
PH 8 The pink is actually darker than the 8 pink, possibly higher than that?

Brushed the sides and bottom vacuummed, cleaned skimmer basket and filter (been cleaning filter every day) Pump running 24/7. Concerned about PH, Should we be? We haven't added anything to decrease the PH. we were told to keep FC at 10. Should we try to lowere PH? Is that normal that we lost that much chlorine in 6 hrs?

Thank you, again for your help it is very much appreciated!!!!

Brian and Judy

 

[madwil]

Ph test isn't accurate w fc 10 so just let it ride til slam is done

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

As long as your FC is below 10 ppm, then you can test your pH level and adjust if you wish.

Your CYA level has a great effect on chlorine usage. What is your CYA level?

It would be best if you tested once a day (At about the same time) and reported all the results. This way we could see a trend in what is happening rather than instantaneous results.

It is confusing for us to only see part of the picture. Since a lot of the readings are interdependent, it would be great to report them all at the same time.

Like this:

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[borjis]

I'm curious, what is your water temp?

 

[Brianhempel]

83 degrees. I was doing some reading on your TFP forum and read aerating can cause PH to rise. We have a waterfall and an external skimmer (German Shepherd) IF the pump has been running 24/7 and the waterfall and external skimmer have been running could that be raising the PH. The external skimmer is one of those that hook up to a return and creates a swirling motion on the water to suck in debris to keep it from going through pump into filter. I shut off the spa/waterfall until i hear further. However that shuts off return to spa.

Please advise

- - - Updated - - -

Jim, my apologies. We were told to only worry about FC and PH for now.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

Absolutely no apologies needed by me... I think what was meant was to not try to fix or adjust anything else while we are working on your FC and pH issue.

Yes... Your Spa spillover will cause your pH to increase. Anything that causes aeration or bubbles, will increase your pH.

Just turn your Spa spillover on for half an hour each day, that will be enough to keep you spa water fresh.

As side note... my water temp is only 63 degrees.. I'd be swimming if I had 83 degree water!!! I'm jealous...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Brianhempel]

Here are my evening test results:
FC 8.5
CC 0
pH 8
TA 90
CYA 34
CH 250
Do I need to raise my CYA in order to maintain a pH of 10?
Lat thursday my CYA was 35 and added 160 oz of liquid stabilizer, raising it to 70.
Please advise and thank you.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

At this point I would do nothing but let the FC come down on its own to about 6 ppm. If you continue to test once a day, you will get a "feel" for how much chlorine your pool will use per day.

I suggest that you initially add 4 ppm of chlorine to your pool each day. If your daily tests show the FC trending up, then you will know to add less chlorine, if you daily tests show the FC trending down then you need to increase the daily dosage.

Using pool math, you should have to add about 72 oz of liquid 8.25% chlorine/bleach to increase your FC by 4 ppm.

I am really confused about your CYA reading. You list 34, so I rounded that up to 40. but you also say you added 160 oz of liquid CYA and it read 70? It can't be 70 one day and 34 the next so I'm confused????

Have you seen this chart??? It shows the relationship between CYA and your desired FC level... https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock

Since you do not have a SWCG pool you don't want to add any more CYA/Stabilizer..

How and where are you testing your CYA. This can be a very subjective test. You need to be in full sun, with the sun to your back. It cannot be done inside with a light. For me, I know if I stare at the tube I can see that dot through a sheet of lead.. You need to just glance at it and then look away and glance again, etc.

I would suggest you lower your pH to 7.6 ppm when you get a chance.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Brianhempel]

Jim
Pool is still cloudy, should we go down to 4 or stay at 6? Referring to our first post, We drained 10" of the water on Monday evening. We tested on Tuesday after refilling and letting pump run for 3 hours. The CYA, then was 40. It was 35 last thursday when our kit arrived and we tested it. Friday we added the liquid stabalizer and it took it up to 70. We have read the pool school. We are just uncertain about being on the low end of normal for our cya and ch if that is ok and trying to understand why it is so cloudy. We made a binder and printed out the complete instructions for testing every chemical, We have the recommended levels for our concrete pool printed, as well as the cya/chlorine chart, we refer to that with all testing. We tested the CYA tonight while the sun was still up, in the sunlight. we will lower the ph to 7.6. As for cloudiness, what do you want us to do? Pump still running. Waterfall and external skimmer were turned off.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry, jim. we will run the spa 30 mins a day per your request.
Here in Florida we think the 83 temp is cold.......why we aren't swimming