Help cloudy water

Jump to latest Follow Reply
H

HardlyCrankn

0
Apr 4, 2018
15
East Texas
I am reaching out for help in determining my cloudy water issue.

First some background.
This is my second year with the pool. When I opened it up this year, I had leaves in the pool due from the cover not being all the down due to a very stubborn ladder that would not come out. I scooped all of the leaves out and vacuumed the rest. I replaced the old Hayward style pump with a PureLine Prime Variable Speed Pool Pump 1.65 HP. The pump seems to be running and moving plenty of water at any speed it operates. This has been approximately a month since I uncovered it. I have kept the pump running 24/7 at about 75% speed. I have backwashed the filter every 4-5 days but I still have cloudy water.

The following is my most recent test results:
Metals: 1.4
pH: 7.1
TA: 143
Hardness: 74
FC: 0.1
TC 0.1
CYA: 107

Since this test, I have added 2 quarts of pool magnet, 2 lbs of sodium bicarbonate and 2 lbs of shock.

Any suggestions or thoughts, will be greatly appreciated.
 
You're desperately short of FC especially for a pool with a CYA of >100 (assuming you can trust those test numbers?)

I'd drain at least half the water, test again with a good kit and give it a shot to start clean. WHere'd the metals come from? Which ones?

You need your own test kit, to read Pool School and start doing things our way.

Maddie :flower:
 
Welcome to the forum!

I assume the test results you show are from a pool store. Sadly, we do not have much trust in pool store tests. They tend to be inaccurate and not repeatable.

We suggest a pool owner does their own testing using a proper test kit. The two that meets the criteria is the TF100 or the Taylor K2006C.

Once you get your kit, post up the test results and we can provide some guidance.

For now, read through Pool School,
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

Take care.
 
The two that meets the criteria is the TF100 or the Taylor K2006C.
Click to expand...

Those are the two that meet the requirements to manage your pool water chemistry.

I use the TF100 with a SpeedStir from TFTestkits.net. Best value for the residential pool owner.

Take care.
 
Alright, I received my test kit and I have read through the links posted. Most of which I have a general idea, I could definitely could know more in depth.

Here are the results.

FC 3.5
CC 0 - I am a bit skeptical of this.
pH ~7.2
TA 210
CH 100
CYA unknown, i filled the beaker up and still saw the dot.

clarity is still cloudy to the point of not being able to see the main drain.

Thanks again!
 
Did you drain and refill the pool a bit?

ok, you're going to need to get some CYA in there to bring it up to 30ppm. You should get it into a sock or stocking leg (my preferred way) and hang it over a return to dissolve. That is the stuff that is going to "hold" your chlorine in the water longer.

No need to wait for CYA to dissolve entirely, but go ahead and start a SLAM --> SLAM Process <--- Read this

Since your water is just cloudy, it should go fast.

Get some liquid chlorine in there per the SLAM instructions and just test for FC for a while. You won't be able to test pH its not accurate with high FC.

Test often and re-dose often. The more often (even hourly) makes it go faster.

Maddie :flower:
 
I have not drain/refilled, I honestly assumed that was merely for the high level CYA in the water. I wanted to wait until I got the new test kit and checked it myself. Night I did set the sand filter to backwash and it dropped 2-3 inches of water.

Although I do have a question about my CYA results: My local pool store's test showed the CYA to be 107. Although I understand their results are questionable. Tonight using the TF1000 (2 tests) and last year's HTH kit, both showed 0 CYA. Could I safely assume that both of my at home tests are correct and the pool store was just way wrong? I read and understood that the only way for CYA to go away was with a drain/refill.


YippeeSkippy said:
Did you drain and refill the pool a bit?

ok, you're going to need to get some CYA in there to bring it up to 30ppm. You should get it into a sock or stocking leg (my preferred way) and hang it over a return to dissolve. That is the stuff that is going to "hold" your chlorine in the water longer.

No need to wait for CYA to dissolve entirely, but go ahead and start a SLAM --> SLAM Process <--- Read this

Since your water is just cloudy, it should go fast.

Get some liquid chlorine in there per the SLAM instructions and just test for FC for a while. You won't be able to test pH its not accurate with high FC.

Test often and re-dose often. The more often (even hourly) makes it go faster.

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
We will trust your test results over a pool store any day.

Can you post a full set of test results, including FC, CC, pH, TA.

You said the pool is cloudy. Was it the same when the pool store did their tests?

Once you give us your test results we can provide guidance.

Take care.

- - - Updated - - -

Just saw you did list a set of results above! Sorry.

You need to follow what Maddie posted. Add some CYA and SLAM.
 
Thanks for the follow up. I add some CYA and SLAM it!

mknauss said:
We will trust your test results over a pool store any day.

Can you post a full set of test results, including FC, CC, pH, TA.

You said the pool is cloudy. Was it the same when the pool store did their tests?

Once you give us your test results we can provide guidance.

Take care.

- - - Updated - - -

Just saw you did list a set of results above! Sorry.

You need to follow what Maddie posted. Add some CYA and SLAM.
Click to expand...
 
Here are some test results. The struggle has been real keeping it at shock level.

date
time
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

5/26/2018
8:00
1.5
0.5
7.5
190
125
0

5/26/2018
10:30
2
2
NT
NT
NT
<20

5/26/2018
18:30
2.5
3
NT
NT
NT
<20

5/27/2018
10:00
2
3.5
NT
NT
NT
<20

5/27/2018
23:20
1.5
2.5
NT
NT
NT
35ish

5/28/2018
0:05
4.5
2
NT
NT
NT
NT

5/28/2018
8:00
1.5
1
6.8
150
125
50

At this point, I have added 9 gallons of bleach, 4 lbs of Trichloro, 12 lbs of Dichloro and 4 lbs of CYA. The water remains cloudy although seems to getting better as of late last night. I hope the end is near.
 
Once clear the FAS-DPD test is over. It will turn pink if you let it sit. Be sure to do the CC test immediately after the FC test is done.

Your test results all show low FC. I assume you are now raising it up to 20 ppm for your current 50 ppm CYA. With the large FC drops you are seeing, I would suggest testing and dosing more often. If at all possible every 3-4 hours.

- - - Updated - - -

Also - your use of Trichlor and Dichlor has dropped you pH into danger level for your liner. You should add enough borax to raise your pH to 7.2 at your earliest convenience. Or you can aggressively aerate your water.
 
A quick update.
I saw huge improvements today.

8 pm yesterday - 19 fc and .5 cc
4 am today - 12.5 fc and .5 cc
7 pm today - 6.5 fc and .5 cc

Each time I raised the fc back to shock level using 10% liquid chlorine. Although I'm still losing a bunch of fc and the cc is .5, I can see the bottom drain! I vacuum the bottom sediment to waste and gave it a good brushing afterwards. The drain nearly vanished but I had huge improvement.

So back to shock level tonight and follow test before bed and work at 4.

Thanks for everyone's input!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply