Wits end with cloudiness!

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fatheroffive

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Jul 21, 2008
45
Opened our pool about two weeks ago, Been holding it at shock levels for two weeks running the filter 24/7. Now its holding the fc pretty good overnight (20fc) and you can see down a little further on the sides but its still cloudy! All of my other tests are within range so I am not sure what the heck is going on. Did not have near this much trouble getting it clear last year.

I just got the tft test kit and already running low on the fc testing regents because of all the testing and its not even clear. :grrrr:
 
Probably backwashed it 3 times in two weeks. Pressure holds steady under 20 when set on hi. I switched the pump to low thinking maybe it was rushing the water through the sand too quick and not filtering good. Had the pump on hi for a week straight. Last year we got it clear just running it on low.
 
I am in South Jersey. Pollen was very heavy about two weeks ago when I opened. You also opened two weeks ago. Do you have many trees in your area? Try a skimmer sock or DE in your sand filter. I did and it worked slowly but cleared it up.
 
Well, Opened up the filter and stuck the hose in there and got some bugs and other gunk out of there, But just looked like your usual backwash stuff. It was heck getting that top back on there. That was 3 days ago. Still running the filter and FC is still up around 20 but dropped drastically the other day by about 10. So got it back up to 20. Still not clear although you can see a little further down the side. Ran the shark about 24 hrs straight and thought that may help but it looked the same afterwards.

Thinking about just getting in there and scrubbing away. Its hard to reach everywhere from the sides with no deck.

Bought 3 gallons of 10% Chlorine and planning a battle with it this weekend. So far we have went through about 9 Sams boxes of Clorox at about $8 each. Now the 3 gallons of 10% at $4 each. This is getting quite expensive. Should I just get some bags of shock? Once I get it clear its easy to maintain the FC level, But getting it to that point is getting frustrating! :hammer:

And we have almost NO trees in this area. Tried the DE but seemed like the filter was straining and barely pumping so it got me worried and I backwashed it out.
 
JMarch said:
maybe your CYA level is too high and you're in chlorine lock
Click to expand...
Thought that too, But last I checked it was around 70-80. The pool is in the sun from almost 7am-8pm so I would think this would be a good level. I will be checking it again.
Also starting to think it may have been a mustard algae problem. I recall when opening a yellowish looking algae all around the pool, But the water was clear....You could see the bottom. After sweeping and adding tons of bleach now we have this cloudiness.

Might not have got it up to Mustard Algae shock levels? Highest I got it at one time was up to 30. Just dont want to damage the liner.
 
If you are really sure about the 70-80 CYA level, you should raise your FC to between 28-32ppm. Even 35 ppm for a short period of time should not damage the liner with CYA at that level. With FC at 20 ppm, your not at shock level.
 
Tested today
FC Above 5 (not sure how much until my new regeants arrive)
CYA 35
PH 6.8
TA 120

Still cloudy and pump still running 24/7

Trying to form a plan of attack this weekend. What to attack 1st? Going to stock up on some 12% tomorrow so I have enough to bring the fc up high enough.

Do I raise the PH or CYA or Chlorine 1st?
 

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I was wrong on the CYA reading before, Sorry.

Pool still cloudy after a good scrubbing this morning. Just checked the FC and CC levels and they are
FC 15 and CC 1
Looks like my CYA reading is lower then 2 days ago though and I have not drained anything. Or could the shocking affect this reading?
CYA little below 30
 
well I got in today and scrubbed that sucker good. Got alot of algea out from under the ladder. Maybe thats what was causing it to be cloudy? Thinking we will take the ladder out after the summer and get a pool cover.
 
Shocking doesn't affect the CYA reading. It's a difficult test to perform - varying conditions when you perform the test can affect the results you get. Try to perform the test under the same conditions all the time (outside in sunlight, with your back to the sun so that your body shades the test vial. Indirect or indoor lighting can make the test results different.
 
High FC levels can have the CYA test read artificially low. This is because the chlorine bound to CYA may not form the melamine-cyanurate complex that causes the cloudiness that you measure. One can add some drops of R-0007 (thiosulfate reagent which neutralizes chlorine) at roughly the rate of 2 drops for every 10 ppm FC to the pool sample before you add the CYA reagent. That might help. If you do this, let us know what happens.
 
Well got home today from work after the kids swam all day (in milky water) and took some readings.
FC 5.5
CC .5
CYA looks to be around 50 now.
TA looks to be around 140. Not sure about when to stop adding drops when it turns "red". Looks light pink to dark pink to me.

Still milky.......This is driving me crazy. How can I tell if my sand filter is channeling? Or should I give it more time to clear out the Algea I scrubbed out from under the steps yesterday?
Also been running the pump on high for the last two days. Should I run it on low so maybe it will filter better? I am feeling lost after spending all of this dough on Bleach and the tft test and extra regeants. To top it all off my daughter plans on having a pool birthday party this weekend. :hammer:
 
On the TA test: add drops till it starts to change color to anything in the red/pink/yellow family. Then continue adding drops as long as the color keeps changing. When you add a drop that doesn't change the color any further you are done and you do not count the final drop that did not change the color any further.

A sand filter can easily take a week to get the pool completely clear. If everything is working you should see a visible improvement from day to day. If you are not seeing any overnight FC loss and the water is still not improving, it is time to investigate if the filter is working properly.
 

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