Water Milky after swimming and chlorine level always low.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
P

PachinkoPlayer

0
Jun 25, 2009
122
Loogootee, IN
Hi Gang,
great site you have here!

After we have been swimming in the pool, the water is really milky. almost to the point to where you can't see the bottom. Due to two young girls splashing all the time, the water level is kept around 31inches.

I started out with a SWG but thought it wasn't working correctly so I returned it. I can poor a gallon of bleach in around 10pm and by around 10 the next morning the water is clear and my FC is down to around .5 - 1, an hour or two after I put the bleach in, the FC level is around 5, sometimes higher.

My PH runs around 7.5-7.8

I am running my filter pump 24/7 and changing my nasty cartridge every Saturday faithfully. and I am putting a gallon of bleach in every night.

I guess you could say this is a multi question post,

Should I be running my filter pump 24/7 if not, how long should I run it?
Should I add a gal of bleach at night, and in the morning also?

If I go back to a SWG which I am seriously thinking about, how long should it run, and when should it run, for 1700 gallons of water?

thanks,

mike
 
Did you ever use powdered chlorine where the main ingredient had "dichlor" in the name? Or add stabilizer directly? (Dichlor is roughly half stabilizer, for practical purposes.) Without stabilizer you are going to lose basically all your chlorine to sunlight every day. If you have none, then that's the biggest reason the SWG didn't work out.

Good thing this is the practice pool, eh?
--paulr
 
no, I do not have any chemicals in the pool, All I have put in the pool is salt when I started the SWG...

Ph minus from walmart
Generic Chlorine bleach from the local dollar store. (which after reading pool school, I will start buying at walmart.)

Right now I am using this 3 way test kit from walmart. I put five drops of the red stuff for ph and 5 drops of clear stuff for the "CL and BR"
AS we speak,
CL .5
BR 1
PH 7.8

Wife will be leaving for 3 days this afternoon, so I plan on stocking up on stuff, and apologizing when she gets back if I get caught...

Can you tell me what the names would be so I can get them at walmart?

CLosest pool place is roughly 70miles away, unless I want to go to this dinky pool supply place that charges $18 for a gallon of 12% chlorine.
 
you need a good test kit and cya (cyanuric acid, stabilizer, conditioner, uv shield, etc). your chlorine is being burned off by the sun as fast as your swg was making it. 1700 gallons is actually small enough that you could stick with what you have test-kit wise imo (of course my reasoning means if something goes wrong, you'll drain it and refill instead of fighting it. otherwise, get a good test kit). your easiest bet would be draining what you have in there because you probably have organics, and filling it back up, making sure to add cya and bleach. walmart may have cya, you can check lowes, home depot, etc also. read pool school for proper levels.
 
PachinkoPlayer said:
no, I do not have any chemicals in the pool, All I have put in the pool is salt when I started the SWG...

Ph minus from walmart
Generic Chlorine bleach from the local dollar store. (which after reading pool school, I will start buying at walmart.)

Right now I am using this 3 way test kit from walmart. I put five drops of the red stuff for ph and 5 drops of clear stuff for the "CL and BR"
AS we speak,
CL .5
BR 1
PH 7.8

Wife will be leaving for 3 days this afternoon, so I plan on stocking up on stuff, and apologizing when she gets back if I get caught...

Can you tell me what the names would be so I can get them at walmart?

CLosest pool place is roughly 70miles away, unless I want to go to this dinky pool supply place that charges $18 for a gallon of 12% chlorine.
Click to expand...

You are probably not seeing the results you want because you don't have any CYA and you were using dollar store bleach. No worries.

Fresh start. I don't think you need the SWG for such a small pool, kinda overkill. just a little bleach'll do ya. :wink:

Get the 6-way test kit from Wal-mart - it's about $20. That's really all you need for a small pool.

Ignore references to Bromine, you are using Chlorine.

Your PH is on the high end. IF it goes above 7.8 you'll need some Muratic Acid to lower it. You probably see it fluctuating each time you are adding bleach. My guess it will stabilize. Only lower it if it raises to higher. Muratic Acid is found in paint departments/hardware departments. If not at Wal-mart then try Home Depot, etc. You don't need to buy it just yet. WE need to know your TA levels first, and the 6-way test kit will test for TA and CYA also.

Walmart sells HTH brands usually. You want something that's in a little powdered bag that says "sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione". Buy one 1lb bag of it for now. It contains CYA and since your pool is small you don't need alot of it to get the CYA into range.

Predissolve 1/2 cup of it in a bucket of hot water and pour it in front of the return jet. Repeat the process later that evening. This will raise your CYA almost to 18. By the time you use the entire bag, your CYA level will be about 30, which is good for now.

Then refer to the CYA/chlorine chart. See what your "normal" FC levels are for a CYA of 30. You will maintain these levels with adding bleach, a little each night. Use the Pool Calculator to help you determine how much bleach to add each nite. For the next couple of days you can use up the Dichlor to finish shocking, when that's gone just use bleach. If you need help or reassurance just ask - BEFORE you add anything!... :wink:

Stock up on the disposable cartridge filters, they are only meant to be used for 2 weeks before being tossed. You want to hose it off at least once a day, okay?

If I missed something or you still have questions, let me know.
 
I just got back from my shopping spree and shocked the pool! I was at walmart looking for sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione for dang near an hour! no one there knew what I was talking about, they kept wanting to sell me these tablets that costed $40 for a 5lb bucket!

I went to Home Depot (forgetting that they carry some pool supplies) to find a fountain that I would be able to rig up to work in my pool to cool it off. and what did I find? 1lb packages of sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione!

Dohhhhh :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: Dang ah lang it!!! I just remembered that I forgot to pick up a test kit! *heavy sigh*

Anyways, I bought some pool toys for the girls and bought this $30 battery operated multicolored fountain. I dunno if it will work or not, but its worth a shot.

Its been 20mins, gonna see if the stuff did any good. Will report back later.
 
holy cow! that stuff is potent! CL went from 0 to between 3 and 4. PH didn't change and is still at 7.8

Changed the filter cartridge, and pool is already looking better! its not beautiful, but at least you can see the bottom of the pool now.... :whoot:

With the above readings, would it be safe for the girls and I to get in? or should we wait, the package says to wait 15mins, but I put the stuff in about 25mins ago...
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
oh no. I about hit the floor when I cut the package open... I put roughly 1/4 of the package in. the wife wouldn't let me use a measuring cup.

The wife and girls 2 and 4yrs have been in the pool for about 20mins and so far it hasn't clouded up worse than it was when they first got in.

and when I checked the cl and ph, they were still the same as in the earlier post. I have to work tomorrow, but after I get off, I will swing by walmart and get that 6 way test kit, if you feel it would be necessary.

And thanks for all the advice and instruction you are giving me!!! :goodjob:

now its time for me to jump in, be back in probably an hour or so...
 
PachinkoPlayer said:
oh no. I about hit the floor when I cut the package open... I put roughly 1/4 of the package in. the wife wouldn't let me use a measuring cup.

The wife and girls 2 and 4yrs have been in the pool for about 20mins and so far it hasn't clouded up worse than it was when they first got in.

and when I checked the cl and ph, they were still the same as in the earlier post. I have to work tomorrow, but after I get off, I will swing by walmart and get that 6 way test kit, if you feel it would be necessary.

And thanks for all the advice and instruction you are giving me!!! :goodjob:

now its time for me to jump in, be back in probably an hour or so...
Click to expand...

LOL Hope you're enjoying it!. Good, you scared me. Make sure you check the levels before you go to bed, and add another 4 oz of the dichlor. Tell your wife you will buy her a new measuring cup, since you have to go to Wal-mart anyway to get your 6-way kit. (Yes, you need it.) :wink:

I thought she was leaving for 3 days? :mrgreen:
 
Since your wife won't share her measuring cup for pool chemicals, Maybe you have a plastic quart container saved like a cottage cheese container. That's what I use for measuring, and I take a real measuring cup and pour a cup of water, use a permanent marker to mark the level, then add another cup of water, mark the level and so on.
 
does shocking the pool cause your filter to get dirty? in the past I would change it every week. yesterday before I shocked it, I put a brand new filter in. I just checked the pool and it is barely returning the water. I checked the cartridge and it is nasty! In less than 24hrs, it almost looks like my weekly filter! so I just put a new one in just now, will check it tonight..
 
its still cloudy but a lot clearer than it was.

Grrrrr... just checked. PH is lower, 7.4 but the CL is totally wiped out!!!!! I added the five drops and the water didn't even change color!

While I am shocking it, should I go ahead and put a gal of bleach in before I go to bed?

Should I go ahead and put another gallon in on my lunch break? M-F no one is in the pool before 5pm...
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply