Got my test kit today, Numbers & help with cloudy pool

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ultra800_96

ultra800_96

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LifeTime Supporter
May 15, 2009
225
Pomeroy, Iowa
Hi, I received my TF100 Testkit today in very timely fashion. Thanks duraleigh. Ran a full set of tests on the pool. A little background, this pool has been a mess for a while, (2 years?). I have had the pool for 12 years with no problems till 2 years ago, due to life problems & changes which I won't get into further here.

Anyway, this years commitment, got the pool opened to a GREEN MESS. Used a bunch of liquid, saw no change or FC, dumped in two 1 lb bags of HTH, started to see a change. Nothing since other than liquid, other than I had a few 3-in1 pucks on hand to use up, which I did, one at a time. Leaf raking, you know the story. It gradually got better, after many gallons of chlorine. I put off, (time after time) ordering the kit that i should have had when I started. To say I've super shocked it would probably be an understatement.

Jump to today, full set of readings with TF100..
FC 5.5 (11 drops)
CC .5 (one drop doing the cc test turned it clear)
TC 6
TA 140 (14 drops) on third jug gradually adding MA & aerating it back up to 7.4 level, (fill TA 400+)
CH 320? (instead of blue, kind of turned a purplish blue color?) might have happened at 30 or 31 drops even..operator error???...
CYA 30-35.. It disappeared at 35, being carefull to look closely, & then i saw the black dot again after a few seconds, dribbled a little more in, it definitely disappeared at 30. Op error again..?

I hadn't been home for a couple days, & had shocked pretty severely, so I thought, & checked with my old HTH kit first before bringing out the new toy. FC-.5ish, CC 2-3..? TA 120.

I've never been able to see the bottom yet, (it's slowly getting better) it's a nice milky blue as of yet, & shooting from the hip with the chlorine, I was convinced I had too high calcium, as I had seen it built up in my hoses hooking them up this spring, & the liner..going on 13 years now, does have some scaling on it. I was totally shocked to see the 320 CH.

Tonight, based on the test, I added a 182 oz jug of 6% to bring the FC up to 14, after the sun got shaded off of the pool. I intend to keep it there till it clears. Maybe even higher, if it would help. I actually thought my numbers might be off further, initially just adding blindly, without the proper test kit to test. I should have ordered it from Dave a month ago!!! I'll do an overnight test in the AM to check loss.

Any other hints to clear the water??? I know I need more POP. I've had the pump 24/7 for almost a month now, son & friends have been swimming & it has helped get things through the filter.
Thanks in advance,
Dave
 
Thanx! It's nice knowing exactly what the levels are now. I did hang a sock in front of the return to bring the cya up another 5 points. I don't want to over shoot it. I'm glad it is the level it is. From 7AM to 8PM, sun is on the pool all day & we've been in the 90's all week so far & the next few days the same. All I've ever used before is the pucks & cal hypo for shocking. I do drain down at least a foot for the winter freeze though. Maybe that has saved me on the cya problem.
Dave
 
ultra800_96 said:
CH 320? (instead of blue, kind of turned a purplish blue color?) might have happened at 30 or 31 drops even..operator error???...
Click to expand...
This is called a fading endpoint, Taylor's description is here. The alternate instructions are to start with 5 or 6 drops of R-0012 first (remembering to swirl between each one 20-30 sec) then go back and do the R-0010 and R-0011L. Now continue with the R-0012, remembering to count the first 5 or 6 in your total count.
--paulr
 
Newbie here too. I struggled opening a green pool too this year. After tons of bleach it lightened up but was very cloudy. Ran pump for two weeks and even added DE to filter. Very slowly started clearing up. I bought slime bag and it was clear in less than 24 hrs. Coincidence, I think not. I believe the cloudiness was too fine for the filter to get even with the DE added. I also am fighting calcium scale on bottom of pool.
 
loginmike said:
Newbie here too. I struggled opening a green pool too this year. After tons of bleach it lightened up but was very cloudy. Ran pump for two weeks and even added DE to filter. Very slowly started clearing up. I bought slime bag and it was clear in less than 24 hrs. Coincidence, I think not. I believe the cloudiness was too fine for the filter to get even with the DE added. I also am fighting calcium scale on bottom of pool.
Click to expand...

You don't have your information in your signature line, so I assume a sand filter, right?

Sand will not get as small of particles as the DE filters. Another reason so many go with DE who want absolutely clear including at night with the light on.
 
I have had the aqualuninator light since we put up the pool 12 years ago. When the water is clear, the whole pool glows. It's reaching about 3/4 accross now, I'm getting close. I woke up to an inch of rain this am, thinking I'm gonna do my overnight test, not! Came home from work at 5, tested ph, (lowering TA with acid & areating back up), added more acid, tested chlorine as soon as sun went down, went from calculated 14 last nite to 6 tonight, brought it back up to 14 (calculated) will test actual later & maybe do overnite test. I also did the cc test, and again after a day, it was .5?? one drop cleared it up right away.

Just guessing, but since I've had some calcium scaling, would running my csi on the negative side cause the scaling to cut loose a bit still causing cloudiness? I've been constantly running ph on the low side in my efforts to lower ta. I have no visible signs of algea, although I cant quite see the bottom yet, but there is absolutely no green to the water. At any rate, I still brought up my FC to the 14 shock level again with liquid 6% tonight. I will not let algea get ahold of it again since opening.
 
ultra800_96 said:
Just guessing, but since I've had some calcium scaling, would running my csi on the negative side cause the scaling to cut loose a bit still causing cloudiness? I've been constantly running ph on the low side in my efforts to lower ta.
Click to expand...
The topic of CSI came up a little while ago, although more in the context of worrying about plaster damage than scale removal, see this thread. It looks like low pH by itself matters more than low CSI, at least in that context.

With a low CSI, if it did have any effect on existing scale, I would expect it to dissolve quietly rather than start clouding. If it's old scale, low CSI or low pH probably won't have any effect.

The more chemically minded among us are sure to correct me if I'm wrong about this.
--paulr
 

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You're probably right Paul, it was just a guess. The water doesn't have any smell to it, like excessive cc's, my son & 10 friends are frolicking about in it as we speak, 11:30 pm... I have to go to bed. At any rate, when they do, my sand filter sees some action. Tomorrow nite, hopefully, I'll have to backwash again. It gets slowly clearer, day by day, though its much slower than I have ever seen to clear in the last 12 years. I raised my chlorine up to a solid 14 again after the sun got off the pool, & I may check it tomorrow am, or after I get off work. If I see 6 again tomorrow nite, I'm not too concerned. At least I'm not ending up below the fc min.
 
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