Cloudy water for 2 weeks with no algae on walls...help

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nabril15

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Bronze Supporter
May 22, 2011
634
Miami, FL
Pool Size
16400
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool RJ-45
Hello
I have staring at a semi-clear pool with some cloudiness for 2 weeks or so now. I can see the drain cover, but the water is not crystal clear. I've cleaned my cartridge filter twice with both times removing green from the bottom. I've added different strengths of water-clarifier from nearby store, but no change has happened. My suction cleaner runs 7 hours a day.
My current numbers are:
TC: 5.0
FC: 5.0
PH 7.8
TA 75 PPM - I added Alkalinity increaser
CH 275

How can I get this water to clear up?
 
I do not know CYA level. I have had pucks in my inline chlorinator constantly, though at yesterday's check, it was empty.
I use liquid chlorine from a nearby store.
 
It's likely that your CYA level is high due to the pucks (each puck adds CYA, and it can accumulate quickly) and that your FC of 5 isn't able to keep algae at bay. See the FC/CYA chart in my signature. You could easily be above 80 CYA, at which time your FC would be below the *minimum* FC required to keep algae at bay. The cloudiness is likely dead algae or other organic material that the FC is partially killing, but not completely.

I would recommend you discontinue use of the stabilized pucks and use only sodium hypochlorite (8.25% bleach, ideally), as this will not raise your CYA any further. Then, I'd get a test kit that allows you to measure CYA. You will likely struggle with this issue until you are able to accurately gauge your CYA. There are test kits in my signature -- not sure what you are currently using, but you can buy a CYA-only test, I believe on tftestkits.net.

Once you have your CYA, folks here can recommend next steps. If it's *way* high, a partial drain and refill might be in order to bring it into manageable levels. If it's just a little high, you'll just need to SLAM and then hold your FC above the minimum for your CYA.
 
Lumpkin - I read (or think I did) that one way to lower CYA is to aerate the water. Did I read correctly?
 
Aeration raises pH without a corresponding raise in TA. As Topher said, the best way to lower CYA is a partial drain and refill... there is I believe another option involving reverse osmosis, but I believe that is used under water restrictions as a last resort.
 
FattyLumpkin said:
Aeration raises pH without a corresponding raise in TA. As Topher said, the best way to lower CYA is a partial drain and refill... there is I believe another option involving reverse osmosis, but I believe that is used under water restrictions as a last resort.
Click to expand...

Much better explanation on the aeration.

Yes you can also RO your water to lower cya but unless your water is crazy expensive it probably won't be cost effective.
 
unfortunately, here in Miami, our tap water costs us triple. We are charged a water charge, and a sewer charge that is almost double the water charge. And RO sounds complicated and I know that I don't have the equipment for it.
 

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nabril15 said:
unfortunately, here in Miami, our tap water costs us triple. We are charged a water charge, and a sewer charge that is almost double the water charge. And RO sounds complicated and I know that I don't have the equipment for it.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about high water cost,when I did it I figured my partial drain/fill cost me $60.

As far as RO you would hire a company to do it, my understanding is they come out with a big truck designed to process large amounts of water. Not your ordinary kitchen sink RO unit.

Although I have wondered if one could "daisy chain" several RO membranes together to filter pool water... [emoji848][emoji848]
 
I thank all of Topher and everyone else's help. Trust me that I want to avoid pool stores as much as all of you do, but I've tried the self testing route, and it got mundane and boring. Perhaps I didn't do it long enough to appreciate the savings and the benefit of adding what's really needed. I take the water to the store, but I buy the cheaper chemicals recommended here. I know, that's not the intention of TFP, and it's my problem, not anyone else's. In the good spirit of most forums, people continue to be helpful here despite reading the words "store results" in a post, and I am appreciative of that.
 
All I can say here is testing (frequently) is a key component to keeping a perfect pool. The $100 I spent on a test kit is well worth not having to drive to and from the pool store then having some teenager try to sell me something I don't need for a free test a couple times a week. Not to mention their accuracy leaves something to be desired.... bottom line without accurate testing your flying blind.
 
I ordered one of the TF test kits, and I will get that CYA level as asked.
Thank you Topher and Lumpkin and Donaldson.
 
One note: the CYA test, of all the tests, is notoriously difficult to read. Light level, shadows, reflections, solar flares, passing planes... all seem to impact the reading. Follow the instructions carefully, and re-test with the *same* sample (i.e., mix the solution, pour into the cylinder, take your reading, then pour the solution from the cylinder back into the mixing vial and do the reading again). I usually do the test 4 times with the same solution, and 3 of the 4 are usually the same reading, so it helps my confidence that I'm reading it right. The newer kits also I believe come with a 50ppm CYA sample so you can see what the "dot" should look like at 50ppm CYA -- helps you calibrate your reading. Good luck.
 
Without knowing anything about your CYA yet it would be sensible to at least get your pH balanced before you do anything else. If your FC/TC readings are accurate (5.0 each) then you seem to have very little CC, which implies that algae isn't the problem. The TF test results will tell for certain.

7.8 pH, regardless, is too high for CH 275 and TA 70, especially if your pool is nice and warm in that Miami summer weather. If your pool temp is around 80F it's very possible that you're just seeing a bit of calcium cloudiness. Bring the TA up to around 90 and get the pH down to about 7.4 or 7.5 - if it is calcium clouding/scaling it should clear up very quickly. If it isn't calcium cloudiness, you'll still want your pH that low, or maybe even a bit lower, before you SLAM anyway.
 
Ok. I am the proud owner of a test kit, and I hope to say goodbye semi forever to the local store soon. My daughter was next to me while I did the tests, and we had a blast; she was sad to see them end and can't wait for the next tests.
Here are the numbers:
Fc 7
Tc 8
Cya 68 or so
Ta 110
Ph 8 or 8.2
Ch 300

As topher suggested, my cya is high and thus why my water remains cloudy no matter how much chlorine I have foolishly added in the past.
Is my next step to expensively drain? How much, 25%? Or can our semi daily Miami rains help somehow?
I thank
 
We usually round cya up to the nearest 10 so let's call it 70. Your numbers look pretty good, I would bring the ph down to 7.5 or so using muriatic acid.

A cya of 70 is manageable, you could just let it slowly come down with splashout. If you can collect enough rain to get your pool on the full side then drain some out that will help.

Check the cya/FC chart in pool school for recommended FC levels at 70 cya. Your minimum is 5, target is 8-10, and slam is 28.

If your pool is cloudy I would slam it. Cloudy is usually the start of an algae bloom. Good news Is at that stage it should only take a couple days.

Me and my daughter love to test the pool as well, I gave her the old 5way kit that came with the house. Filled all the bottles with food color dyed water. Highlight of her day [emoji3]

As far as the pool store goes the only thing I buy there is a bag of filter sand every other year or so, and maybe a Polaris part if I don't want to wait for my amazon prime shipping. Everything else is either unnecessary or ridiculously expensive.
 

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