Was swamp land and now I have milk

[angispool]

Hi I have a 28 ft above ground sand filtered pool.We had a swamp land and now I have milk. I have had the water tested and they say it's fine except for the cya is non existant we have put in over 8lbs of stabilizer and it still reads zero.Everything else is fine for the longest time it wasn't holding chlorine but now it's at schock level and hasn't come down,as I have been trying to schock it repeatedly to try and clear it up.
Do you have any suggestions on what I could be doing wrong . Ph and Alk are in the normal range FC is at the max and the CYA is still zero. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

You should post a full set of water test results. Saying something like "are in the normal range" doesn't tell us anything, since there are so many different definitions of "normal".

When the water looks milky, it usually means the algae is dead and you just need to give the filter time to filter out the dead algae. Depending on what kind of filter you have, that can take a week or more.

How did you add the stabilizer?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

How and When? It can take a week for the CYA to dissolve and register on tests....

 

[angispool]

Thank you Jason,
I have not used a message board before.
Ok I have a sand filter it has been 2 wks now and the filter has only been shut off 3 times in that time. We had some really bad storms so we shut it off.
Ph is between 7.2-7.5
Alk is 120
Fc is 10
CYA zero
We have added the stabilizer both ways thru the filter and then with a nylon...I have done alot of vacuuming and cleaning the walls and floor.I have scrubbed with a brush and went along the bottom with a towel to get in the nooks and crannys.Our pool place had us add black algae destroyer and shock at the same time...and then had to do all the vacumming and scrubbing.That got rid of the swamp look leaving us with the cloudy milk look.I can see some of the ladder now but usually it would be cleared up by now. so I'm open to suggestions...we are just tired of wasting our money .We feel like a version of the Money Pit..lol


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[angispool]

Actually I have to correct myself It has been a month this weekend that we have been dealing with this.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi Angi

Okay I hate to break it too you, cause I can tell you are frustrated.

You are being pool stored.

Black Algae rarely and as far as I can tell in over 2 years on this forum is undocumented in an Above Ground Pool, meaning, it doesn't happen. So if your pool store sold you that chem, they either don't know what they are doing or they are just taking your money.... (same thing happened to me before I found TFP.) Black Algae is small, eraser size dots that usually grow on rough surfaces like plaster pools, and they spread in a circular motion. Black Algae isn't free floating and it doesn't look like a typical green swamp that some pools become in the spring. You probably just had good old fashioned green algae - and guess what kills that? Chlorine, and plenty of it.

If you added the CYA to the sand filter, and then backwashed, it's likely you washed it out the backwash hose before it dissolved....What day did you add it with the nylon?

How are you testing? If it's with strips, they are not very accurate and you may have some CYA in there, just not enough to allow the chlorine to do its job. Also are you sure it's not Total Chlorine is 10? Are you sure it says the Free Chlorine is 10?

With BBB and shocking your pool, you add enough bleach to reach your shock level (with a cya of 0 that would be FC of 10) and HOLD IT THERE with frequent bleach additions, until the FC holds overnight, the CC is .5 or less and the water is clear.

You need to run the filter 24/7 until the pool clears. Read how to shock your pool, here.

With sand filters, it can take a long time to clear up dead algae, if it's dead. but I suspect since your CYA is zero you still have a ways to go.

I highly advise you to get your own test kit so you can take total control of your pool, and no longer be subjected to bad advice from the pool store or convinced you need unneccessary chems.

Read about the test kits here.

Hope this helps - if you have any other questions or need more help, ask away.