Water Temp?

[boondog]

I live close to Houston and I am really having trouble keeping from getting cloudy pool water due, I'm pretty sure, to the water temp. and not being able to keep up with chlorine. I have an 18' AG and I use 10-12% liquid bleach. I use a lot of liquid bleach, 40-60 ounces a day, and my CYA is 45. TA is 135 and pH is 7.5. I have started using a 60% algaecide to try to help. I have several questions,
1. Can you use too much of the algaecide to make it unsafe to swim?
2. Should I try to lower phosphates? The pool store guy says try it but I keep spending money and don't want to "try" something else.
3. Since I manually dose I'm probably letting the FC get a little low before the next dose. So my last question is this. Has anyone used the SolarChlor and if so, how many PPM FC can I expect at full load in my 7600 gallon pool from the SolarChlor?

Thanks,
Roger

 

[duraleigh]

Hey, Roger,

Welcome to the forum.

The answer to all those questions is you are not using enough chlorine.

You probably need to shock your pool up to around 20ppm for a few days and your water will clear (Read How to Shock in Pool School)

After you complete the shock process, maintaining your chlorine around 3-5ppm will prevent any algae from returning.

BBB is all about simplicity. You need no other additives than chlorine to keep algae (and cloudiness) away.

 

[MikeInTN]

I live close to Houston and I am really having trouble keeping from getting cloudy pool water due, I'm pretty sure, to the water temp. and not being able to keep up with chlorine. I have an 18' AG and I use 10-12% liquid bleach. I use a lot of liquid bleach, 40-60 ounces a day, and my CYA is 45. TA is 135 and pH is 7.5. I have started using a 60% algaecide to try to help. I have several questions,
1. Can you use too much of the algaecide to make it unsafe to swim?
2. Should I try to lower phosphates? The pool store guy says try it but I keep spending money and don't want to "try" something else.
3. Since I manually dose I'm probably letting the FC get a little low before the next dose. So my last question is this. Has anyone used the SolarChlor and if so, how many PPM FC can I expect at full load in my 7600 gallon pool from the SolarChlor?

Thanks,
Roger

Water temp shouldn't be an issue. I've kept my water around 88 - 90 degrees pretty much this entire season with the use of a solar cover, and still have crystal clear water.

To answer your questions as best I can,

1. I don't know. I would suspect that, as with all things, you could get way too much in there, but I'm not sure what the danger level would be. BTW, polyquat 60% is better at preventing algae moreso than trying to kill it.

2. No need to worry about phospates. We have a couple of members on here (most notably JasonLion) who have very high phosphate levels and have no problems with algae.

3. I haven't used the Solarchlor, but from a quick Google on it, I'm not real impressed. The website mentions the system using minerals, which is usually copper and/or silver, so that makes me think this system isn't going to put out much chlorine at all. You would be better served with a true saltwater chlorine generator, I would think.

Two things I see that are probably contributing to your problem - Since you're in a hot, sunny area, you could probably stand to bump up your CYA a bit (say 50-55-60), and don't let your FC drop below your minimum. I'd say you're right on the verge of an algae bloom from the FC dropping too low. I'd probably go ahead and shock your pool, too.

 

[boondog]

I thought shocking was a one time bring the chlorine level up and it's done thing. I didn't know sometimes you had to shock for days. Anyway, that's what I'm doing now, and it takes a lot of liquid chlorine. Hopefully the pool will clear up and i'll be able to start from square one again.
Thanks for the input, i really appreciate it.

Roger

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

When are you finished shocking?

When you meet these 2 criteria:

1) you lose less than 1ppm FC overnight, AND
2) you have less than 0.5ppm CC

Sometimes, depending on how bad your water is, this just takes one dose. Sometimes it takes several days!!

 

[boondog]

I've been shocking for 3 days now, should that be enough? I have no green tint and the water is clearing up to where the bottom is very visible, just a little cloudy. I don't have a FAS test but I can run digital tests at work but I have to dilute which is ok. The Chlorine has been up pretty good, one morning I had 14 but i'm pretty sure i've had it higher since then. At least one gallon of 12% a day and that ain't cheap. Is the water going to get to the point it's perfectly clear or will I need a clarifier to polish it up? I think tonight I will add 8 oz. of poly 60 algecide and when the chlorine comes down to around 6 (my CYA is 45) I'll do some clarifier and see what happens.

I think before, and correct me if i'm wrong, there must have been residual live algae because the pool wouldn't stay clear but for maybe a week. Now with the extended shock I should be able to get a handle on it. I think I'm gonna buy just the test kit for chlorines because I can run TA and pH at work and get CYA run at the pool store occasionally. I do have the basic test kit for chlorine and pH also.

 

[PaulR]

Because it seems to be temperature related, I am curious what is your CH. Sometimes high calcium can cause clouding depending on temp and pH. (Most likely that is not the problem; I am doing what doctors call "ruling out zebras.")
--paulr

 

[boondog]

Paul, I don't recall the exact reading but it is always lower than the suggested min but of course I have a vinyl liner so it doesn't matter.

Thanks,

 

[krcossin]

You really need a good test kit, well worth the money. The questions you have are answered much easier with facts. I would guess the high water temperature contributes to the speed of algae growth and I know dumping a gallon a day is expensive, but having your water clear is worth it. Once you get a nice balanced water daily maintenance becomes simple.

 

[boondog]

I just took some readings from a sample this morning and the chlorine was 19, pH was 8 and TA was 145. I will add some muriatic acid tonight also. I put in another 60 oz. of 10% bleach after I took the sample this morning so i'm hoping my shocking is complete. I think it will be ready for the weekend!!!!!

Thanks ya'll,
Roger

 

[JohnT]

I just took some readings from a sample this morning and the chlorine was 19, pH was 8 and TA was 145. I will add some muriatic acid tonight also.

Hold off on the muriatic acid. Your high chlorine is interfering with your pH test.