Help me get clear water- what am I missing?

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tludvik

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Aug 3, 2009
17
Hi board!

We started the swamp-oasis process about 2 weeks ago. I just can't get the water clear. Please tell me what I need to do because I've been pretty patient for quite a while now. I'm tired of seeing everyone else's posts about going from green to clear in 2-4 days. :( I've not seen any improvement in the cloudiness in over a week, and my numbers have been pretty steady this whole time. I've been brushing and letting the automatic cleaner run every 3rd day or so. Pump on 24/7. There are no leaves left in the bottom, but the water is a clear-milky color. I can see the bottom, it's just very cloudy.
Today at noon:
FC 19
CC .25 or so- I've seen .5 that is darker
TA 120
CYA 50
pH 7.7-7.8
CH 20

Should I bump up my chlorine level? I've not had any discernable CC in over a week and my FC levels stay pretty high at night. I haven't done an overnight FC loss test. Does that matter at this point? I'm keeping the FC at 19-20 which is shock level, right? Until it clears?
 
The cartridge seems fine. We have been spraying it off every 4-6 days. It's only been through 1 season- last summer. Should I buy a new one? I was told they should last 2 seasons. What about adding that fiber stuff that decreases the size of microns screened?

I'll do an overnight FC loss test, but whether or not it fails or passes the test, I would still keep my FC at 20, right? until it clears?
 
tludvik said:
The cartridge seems fine. We have been spraying it off every 4-6 days. It's only been through 1 season- last summer. Should I buy a new one? I was told they should last 2 seasons. What about adding that fiber stuff that decreases the size of microns screened?

I'll do an overnight FC loss test, but whether or not it fails or passes the test, I would still keep my FC at 20, right? until it clears?
Click to expand...

Yes since you are not using a SWG.

Here

pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

CYA of 50=20 FC for shock level. If it does fail the overnight FC loss test, the more you can keep it at 20 the better and quicker it will go. When I was doing mine during the week I could only add twice a week, once in the morning and at night, and usually once when I got home. So good luck.
 
Cartridges can last much longer than 2 years! I think Richard (Chem Geek) kept his for seven; mine have been in for 4 or 5 years now. Adding DE/Fiber to a cartridge filter is recommended by some manufacturers and strongly discouraged by others. Check your manual or call the manufacturer before doing that.

If you don't lose any FC overnight, then start thinking about filtration issues. With a CH of 20 (that's not a typo, right?) you wouldn't have issues with calcium clouding.
 
I'll do an overnight FC loss test, but whether or not it fails or passes the test, I would still keep my FC at 20, right? until it clears?
Click to expand...
Because you have the TF100 test kit with the FAS/DPD test, once you pass the overnight test and have less than .5 CC, you should no longer need to maintain shock levels (for your pool to clear).

You are done shocking when you meet this criteria:
CC is 0.5 or lower;
An overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less;
And, if you don't have a FAS-DPD test kit, the water is clear.

So, you may be done shocking, but still have to filter for a while to clear the pool.
 
I'll do an overnight FC loss test, but whether or not it fails or passes the test, I would still keep my FC at 20, right? until it clears?
Click to expand...

I had a very similar situation last year as far as not being able to clear up a cloudy pool. I was keeping my FC around 20 as well, and it wasn't working. I found that with algae, you have to shock at a higher level than a preventative maintenance shock level. Based on charts I have seen, you would need a FC closer to 30 to effectively treat the algae.

Check out the chart in this post http://www.troublefreepool.com/chlorine-cya-chart-t2346.html under the Yel/MstrdShock column. I don't know what type of algae you have (or if it is truly algae), but a shock level of this amount should clear it up if that is what it is.
 
Update- I've been doing all I can to hold the FC at 30 (MA shock level based on CYA=50). I've been vacuuming and brushing daily. Water is clearer but not clear and certainly not sparkly. I went to Leslie's today to get polyquat 60 and the manager said "Oh right here" and tried to sell me their brand of "UltraBrite Water Clarifier." I started looking for the ingredients and there were none listed. HMMMM....I'm getting pool stored? I put it down.
http://www.lesliespool.com/browse/Home/ ... 40/I/14916

So I left with just a bag of Fiber Clear to help my cartridge do a better job.

I then said if I have mustard algea what would you recommend. She said if it's really bad, run my pH up to 8.0, drop my chlorine way down and use Yellow Out. But I could just use copper algecide. And that if my chlorine is too high it won't kill MA. And that chlorine alone won't get rid of MA.

Last night I did the FC loss test and lost 4 ppm. So am I still doing the right thing? Keep at 30, brush and vacuum religiously, and run pump 24/7? Pool party Saturday so I have to be ready!
 
Stay the course. Maintain your shock level and brush.

It's tough to clear MA anyway as it can hide out on pool toys, swimsuits, and other things as well. It is very persistent. That just means that you have to be more persistent. You are in a tougher spot because you have a cartridge filter and without a spare cartridge (or set of cartridges) to swap in and out during the process, it makes things take longer. Stay on it though. Stay on it like it is a full-time job.
 

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tludvik said:
And that chlorine alone won't get rid of MA.
Click to expand...
That is simply not true and we've got many cases where yellow/mustard algae was eliminated using chlorine alone, though it is more difficult than getting rid of ordinary green algae. You may need to get behind light niches, remove ladders (if removable), put in cleaning pools and toys or anything that would get into the pool, etc. You want to expose the chlorine to wherever the algae may be hiding and yellow/mustard algae prefers shade.

The suggestion of high pH with Yellow Out is because that product is EDTA (as described in the MSDS here). It is normally used in smaller quantities as a metal sequestrant, but can also be an algaecide when combined with chlorine. However, it will create a high chlorine demand that will persist until it is eventually eliminated by chlorine. In fact, the EDTA product by itself doesn't do much, but when it gets broken down by chlorine it produces intermediate products that can kill algae. This is similar to products such as ammonia or sodium bromide that are also used for yellow/mustard algae killing. However ALL of these products work by the same principle in that they are not effected by CYA so they are really only useful in pools with very high CYA where one is unwilling or unable to dilute the water to lower the CYA or to shock at sufficiently high FC levels.

Stay the course with the shock levels of chlorine. It will kill off the yellow/mustard algae as effectively as any of these other products, but without side effects.
 
A long overdue update-- MA shock level is exactly what I needed to do. It cleared right up and has only gotten clearer since then. I am so proud of my pool. If anyone is struggling with cloudy water, just UP your chlorine, KEEP it up, and BRUSH like crazy. My pool sparkles like diamonds and looks like there is not even water in it. THANKS TFP!!!!!!
 
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