Cloudy Water is the Bane of My Existence

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D

donnerpool

0
Jul 18, 2009
5
Clovis, CA
Hello fellow TFP travelers,

I just put up my pool in May and last Thursday, I came home from work to find a Jolly Green Giant in my back yard. Yes, you guessed it! My pool was full of algae. I read up on treating algae here on your wonderful site, but I seem to be at a standstill.

First, here is the info about my pool:

Pool Type: Intex Above Ground 18' x 4' / 6400 gallons
Filter: Krystal Clear Model 635, Cartridge
Test Kit Type: Leslie's Chlorine FAS-DPD Svc Test Kit

Second, here is my current test results:

FC: 15 (I added bleach to bring up to 20)
PH: 7.6
TA: 240
CYA: 50
CC: 5

Third, a brief summary of my battle with algae. I started shocking the pool ASAP with 6% bleach. I brought it up to 12 to shock (when I started, my CYA was less than 20 - I adjusted up to 50. I wasnt aiming for it to be that high, but, thats what happened). Now i've been shocking at 20. I work from 8-5pm, so I've been bringing it up to 20 in the morning, having my Mom bring it up to 20 at lunch (we do the calculations on my lunch break) and then I bring it back up at night. I've done the overnight test the last 2 nights and it drops to about 12 by morning. The water has been milky white/blue (no more green) since Sunday evening. I seem to be at a standstill.

I'm going to stay home from work tomorrow so that I can check the shock every hour, but my question is that since I havent seen much improvement in the color/clarity - should I shock at a higher level, like 25/30? Also, could the high TA be a problem, even though my pH is within recommended levels?

Answers to these questions and any other advice would be greatly appreciated!!

~Leslie

P.S. - Best pool site on the web, hands down!
 
Leslie,

Welcome to the forum. Excellent first post.....you have done your homework.

YOur pool is in a stage of clearing right now where it's very easy to lose your POP (pool owner patience). Actually, you are doing everything just right.

Do not worry much about checking and adding FC every hour at the current stage of your progress. Your FC consumption will/has slow down considerably as you have probably killed a good deal of the algae and are mostly waiting for the filter to do it's job of clearing the "debris" from you pool. So while it's very helpful to check and add FC constantly in the early stages, you will not have to take your entire day to do so today. If you decide you want to do that, it certainly will only help you but your rate of FC loss is going to slow dramatically.

So, what you can do now is make sure you are brushing frequently, backwashing/cleaning your filter as necessary, and running your pump 24/7 until the pool is crystal clear.

I would suggest holding off on the FC overnite loss test until your pool is virtually clear. That's when it will tell you for sure you are done with the shock process.

YOur TA can be worked on later. It is not slowing down the clearing process.

The CYA of 50 will work just fine.

Again, you've done a good job. Have a little more patience, keep your FC up, and prepare for a pretty dramatic improvement in the next couple of days, I think. :lol: :lol:
 
I agree with Dave, sounds like you're doing all the right things.

Just to confirm - running your filter 24/7? Replacing the cruddy disposable filters every 2-3 days? (These are meant for 1-2 weeks with "normal" use. When clearing algae, replace them often)
 
I am brushing daily. The vacuum that came with the pool is a bit of a joke, but I can't afford anything better until payday. I checked the filter last night, and the cartridge looks okay. I'll change it out tonight.

Okay, now for your daily dose of ROOKIE ALERT! What do I do to "backwash" the filter?

Thanks for all of your help!
 
Thanks!

That explains why I couldnt figure out how to backwash my filter :-D .

I know the Intex filters are not even close to the best, but, gotta deal with what I got cuz I cant afford any better at the moment :hammer:

Thanks for everyone's help!
 
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