had a swamp but now have milky blue

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Well. The only way to say it is that this forum has got me 90% to a clear pool. I now have been running my pump 24/7 for a month (apparently much longer than most) and have taken my pool from an absolute swamp to one where I can see the drains in the deep end but only barely. For that I am grateful.

My numbers are as follows:

fc:7
cc: 0 to <0.5
ph:7.5
TA:90
CH:500
CYA:35

I have added DE (1 cup to bring the PSI up about 1.5 psi to 20 psi). The pool seems to have stopped clearing (for about the last 4 days) since I stopped lowering the TA with Muriatic Acid.

At this point I am unsure whether my problem is with the filter or whether I still have too much TA and am getting calcium precipitate because of high CH. Not sure where to go from here.

Is there anyone out there that can help me to get the rest of the way?
 
To be completely sure you are rid of any calcium clouding, you need to bring the CSI down below zero. To do that, I would try bringing the PH down to between 7.0 and 7.2. If calcium is the issue, you are very close and only need the PH and TA down a little more to clear it up. Regardless of calcium clouding or not, long term you are going to either need to lower your CH level, or manage your PH and TA levels so they stay low at all times.

If that doesn't take care of things, there are several other avenues to try. I would check for overnight FC loss, to be sure you don't have a mild algae problem. Next on the list after that would be to check various possible ways your filter might not be working.

Stick with it and you will figure it out :)
 
PH as low as 7.2 is generally alright for swimming. A few people are sensitive enough to notice 7.2 and need 7.3, but generally 7.2 is the lower limit.

PH and TA trade off against each other, so a lower PH allows a higher TA and a lower TA allows a higher PH. You can get an idea of which combinations work by playing with the Pool Calculator and watching the CSI line as you adjust the various levels. Right now you want to aim for a CSI level of -0.1 or -0.2 to get rid of any possible calcium clouding. When managing high CH levels over the longer run you can go positive up to about +0.3. (This is only worth worrying about if it is difficult/expensive to lower the CH level.)
 
That is very helpful. THanks Jason!

I put another quart of muriatic acid in the pool last night and Presto... the pool was really clear this morning! Once I aerate to get the PH back up, I think I will finally be able to turn off the filter for awhile. Will keep you posted.
 
So I am trying to raise the Ph by aeration after adding muriatic acid to lower TA and CSI to clear up the pool. It seems to have worked... the pool is MUCH clearer now. My question is, how low can the TA be for aeration to be effective to raise Ph? Currently my TA is 80. Will aeration raise the Ph or do I need to add something else?
 
That is what I thought. So is it borax that will raise ph without raising TA too much? I know that I do not want to add baking soda as that will reverse what I have already done (lower TA) by adding acid.
 
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