1st Time Poster—Need Advice

[Gowithlisa]

Hello! This is our 3rd summer with a 30k gallon vinyl (?) in-ground pool of unknown age in the middle of KS surrounded by cottonwood trees. We had switched it to a SWG our first summer and replaced the sand in the sand filter with ruby sand two summers ago. Other than a few small hiccups, we’d been doing great. This super-rainy, really hot summer has been a different story, as we’ve fought cloudy water all season. We used to take samples to Leslie’s and were told that our phosphates were crazy high (3800), so we treated with Bio-Dex Phosphate Remover. We did notice a reduction in cloudiness, so we thought we were on the road to recovery. A couple weeks later, we were away for 3 days and returned to a dark green soupy mess. We bought a TF-Pro test kit and a Dolphin pool robot, turned off the SWG, and started the SLAM process. It took a week and over two dozen gallons of 10% liquid chlorine, but we passed the three tests and although water wasn’t crystal clear, we considered it successful. Here are our 2 issues now: 1-our SWG won’t turn back on and we don’t have the resources to get it fixed now, so I guess we’re a LC pool for a while and 2-the water is a little cloudy, so I’m freaking out thinking we may have to do the whole SLAM process again OR could it be that the particles are so tiny that our sand filter isn’t grabbing them so maybe we need to use a flocculent? Here are this morning’s test results with TF-PRO Kit FC=2 CC=0 PH=7.8 TA=90 CA=200 CYA=40 Please advise!

 

[BK MAC]

Welcome! First and foremost you need to get your FC level up. With an FC of 2 you've veered off the chlorine cliff. Your FC target range based on the FC/CYA chart is 5-7 with a minimum of 3. Then you'll want to perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test(OCLT) to rule out algae. As your water is slightly cloudy, I'd start a SLAM now and do an OCLT tonight. If you pass the OCLT, great......If not, you have a head start on your SLAM. Hopefully you caught this in the early stages and knock it out quickly.

 

[Katygreys]

Not to rehash the past, but the slam you mentioned was not complete if your water was not crystal clear. That is a requirement to pass OCLT, passing OCLT is the only way to know if you are done with slam. I only bring it up as a potential lesson learned, as it would appear you need to slam again. Smarter people are sure to weigh in …..

 

[Gowithlisa]

Welcome! First and foremost you need to get your FC level up. With an FC of 2 you've veered off the chlorine cliff. Your FC target range based on the FC/CYA chart is 5-7 with a minimum of 3. Then you'll want to perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test(OCLT) to rule out algae. As your water is slightly cloudy, I'd start a SLAM now and do an OCLT tonight. If you pass the OCLT, great......If not, you have a head start on your SLAM. Hopefully you caught this in the early stages and knock it out quickly.

I forgot to mention that it did pass the OCLT test and my CC was 0 which is why I stopped the SLAM on 7/14. I’ll go ahead and bring it back to SLAM level, do the OCLT again tonight, and check back in with my results in the morning. Thank you!

 

[TeanyV]

Hi @Gowithlisa. Hang in there! It can be so tempting to end a SLAM when it's almost clear, but that will get you into a cycle of almost clear, cloudy, and possibly worse. Check out the chlorine/CYA chart: Chlorine / CYA Chart to see your target range for CYA 40 during a SLAM and during normal use. Remember that it's safe to swim up to and at SLAM levels as long as you can see the bottom, so you don't need to give up swim time to get through this. You're so close!

Our pool is surrounded by messy trees (black walnuts, ash, and buckeye). Despite a steady drop of plant material into the pool, I never test for phosphates and don't have any issues at all. A lot of people in this forum think that phosphates aren't all that important if your pool chemistry is in good shape, and that aligns with my experience. It's also much easier to SLAM, then balance your chemicals than it is to try to fight phosphates (i.e., nature). I use liquid chlorine pretty much exclusively (trichlor pucks for vacations) and now that the pool is balanced, its chlorine demand is very consistent, but I would suspect that it could have high phosphate levels---they just don't seem to matter.

I found this site about 6 years ago as a new pool owner facing cloudy-ish water and persistent yellowish algae. Now, I have a solid routine (about 10 mins each day) and spend the rest of the time enjoying the pool.

~Teany

 

[Gowithlisa]

Welcome! First and foremost you need to get your FC level up. With an FC of 2 you've veered off the chlorine cliff. Your FC target range based on the FC/CYA chart is 5-7 with a minimum of 3. Then you'll want to perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test(OCLT) to rule out algae. As your water is slightly cloudy, I'd start a SLAM now and do an OCLT tonight. If you pass the OCLT, great......If not, you have a head start on your SLAM. Hopefully you caught this in the early stages and knock it out quickly.

Good morning! Welllll…we passed the OCLT test—zero FC loss—BUT it’s still slightly cloudy. TA is 100 and PH is 8 (that PH is my fault because I forgot to drop the PH from the 7.8 it was when we brought FC up to SLAM level yesterday.) Passing the OCLT means there’s no living organic material but it is still slightly cloudy, so does that mean it’s dead organic material just suspended in the water? What should I do?

 

[Texas Splash]

Can you tell me more about this ruby sand you mentioned? Was it clearly labeled as #20 silica pool sand? Maybe also post a pic of your water towards a drain or steps so we can see the water clarity?

 

[Katygreys]

What was your FC when you measured pH? If FC was above 10, just know that your pH reading was probably higher than actual pH.

 

[wireform]

I suspect you may have a higher CYA and barely slamming. So you know when slam is finally done the CYA needs to be in the 60-70 territory for the SWCG to work effectively and efficiently.