Lots of Product, Not addressing cloudy water issue though

[KevinK2]

Hi all - this is my first post.

Last Test Results
FC - Free Chlorine 3.0 (However, we just shocked with 4 lbs of Chlor Brite so believe it is 10+ at the moment)
Total Available Chlorine 3.0
pH - We weren't registering at all, Leslie's had us drop 2lbs of soda ash which got us up to 7.2, adding another 3 ounces got us to 7.4
TA - Total Alkalinity 120
CH - Calcium Hardness 180
CYA - Cyanuric Acid (stabilizer) 35
Borates - N/A

We had been running with a beautiful looking pool for about 6 weeks (weekly shock & algaecide, floating 3" chlorine tablets). Test after test showed all of our levels were balanced without any intervention. Two weeks ago a day after a heavy swimming day the pool clouded up. We did our normal shock & algaecide, but it just got worse. We started going to Leslie's for direction & we found that our PH and calcium hardness had dropped (below 7.2 / 130). Soda Ash got the PH up, 4lbs of Hardness plus was added to get the calcium hardness to 180. Also PhosFree was added as it had climbed to 500, it is now reading at 100.

In general it seems that everything is balanced. However, visibility is barely 12". When I shine a flashlight in the water it appears that it is full of floating dust. Leslie's gave us a blue clarifying cube to leave in the skimmer bucket, but that isn't doing anything either. It seems like it is more of a physical filtration issue than a chemical balance issue. We've rotated between letting the filter run & spraying it clean. The pressure seems to be fine, but it just doesn't seem like it is filtering out any of this 'dust' looking stuff.

I read about flocculant type products, but none of them seem suitable for cartridge filters. Any suggestions? As we're on a well, we are very hesitant about draining and re-filling considering that we don't know the root cause & wouldn't want to waste another 5500 gallons of our well water (fyi - we had to add a full bottle of metal free at pool opening to neutralize the oxidation due to the chlorine & high solid content of the well water).

Thanks !

 

[reebok]

calcium is almost completely irrelevant in a vinyl pool so don't buy anymore of that. phosphates are also virtually irrelevant. you don't need algaecide and you don't need to "shock" (actually you do but you need to do it the right way, not the pool store way). you also don't need clarifiers. what I'm trying to say is, stop listening to the pool store and dumping tons of money into your pool. read pool-school/ and start shocking with bleach or liquid chlorine (the instructions on how to truly shock are in pool school). you also need a good test kit (you could do without it, but it will be harder to clear your pool and you will spend more money than necessary doing it. pool store testing is questionable at best.)
also, metal free is a poor sequestrant. if you need one, use one that's HEDP based like Jack's, proteam, etc. (natural chemistry makes metal free and since they make mega bucks selling a phosphate remover product {that you bought} they had to come up with a sequestrant that doesn't have phosphates in it. but phosphate based sequestrants are much more effective and phosphates are irrelevant in a properly sanitized pool. see pool school and the chlorine/cya chart for proper levels.)

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. I know that's a lot of info to try and absorb all at once. I would suggest you get a current set of test results from someplace other than the store you've been going to. Post those numbers up and we'll help you tackle the cloudiness and get it gone.

You've been buying too much stuff you don't need. The first couple of articles in Pool School will help you understand better how pool water chemistry works and then we can walk you thru the process to get your pool crystal clear.

The first step is to post current test results. Importantly, the FC and pH and CYA results. CH and TA look pretty acceptable and are not necessary to retest.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

HI and welcome.

It stinks to be "Pool Stored" but we've all been there, which is usually why we all ended up here....

They are selling you a lot of products you don't need. They are giving you TERRIBLE advice.

If you added 4 bags of Chlor Brite - which is Dichlor - you raised your FC up to about 50ppm and your CYA is now going to be in the 80 range.

IMHO you problem was basically two things:

Lack of adequate chlorine caused your water to get cloudy. Once there is a problem in an Intex pool, the filters are notorious for being difficult to clear it up.

From now on, just start using bleach or liquid chlorine, adding a little each nite to keep your FC up above your min for your CYA level - refer to the chart in my sig. Learn how to use the Pool Calculator- it will help you determine how much bleach to add each night.

Dichlor shock raises CYA, and now your CYA level is too high. The ideal range is 30-50ppm. You should drain down about 1 foot and refill with fresh water. I know you don't want to, but you will fight a losing battle if you try to run with a CYA of 80 in your Intex pool.

The Intex filters are disposable and meant to be thrown away after 1-2 weeks with "normal" use. If you have a problem, you should change them out every couple of days. Keep brushing the pool to keep everything stirred up so the filter can catch it. It's going to take a while, but that doesn't mean you can't swim.

You really should get your own test kit, so that you aren't subjected to their bad advice and pressure to buy their uneccessary chems. Phosphates are algae food, but they are irrelevant provided you maintain proper FC levels. Algaecide is also uneccessary if you maintain proper FC levels.

You can allow the FC to drop down to normal levels and permit swimming, even if your water is still cloudy, you can bet nothing survived a 50ppm shocking.... Cloudiness will eventually go away overtime with the filtration....

Hope this helps.

 

[cubbybeave08]

In My opinion as a former intex easy set owner...Because of the poor fitration and weak pump, you would be best to scrub the heck out of the pool sides and bottom, and then drain it, clean it up and refill. I hate to say that...but with just the regular pump and filter it could take well...forever for it to clear up. I know from past experience it is quicker to clean, empty pool and clean somemore, and then refill then to rely on the filter to clean all of the algae out of the water. All you are really doing then is greening up filters. You can clean and reuse the filter cartridges maybe 2-3 times...but after you clean them you want to soak them in bleach...just to kill any leftover algae. Once you get the pool clean and refilled, I would follow pool moms advice and get a good test kit, and switch to bleach or liquid chlorine...stop listening to Leslie's...Stop using pucks in the floater. One thing to remember about the blow up ring, is that it is convex, meaning that it is rounded...and if your water line is over the bottom of the ring on the outside of the pool then on the underside of the ring water is trapped between the side wall and the curve of the ring. This is where your algae starts...Scrubbing there daily is also a good thing to do. Again this is just my two cents worth...But every summer this would happen and every summer i would have to dump clean and refill. mostly because the filter just doesn't do it.