Cloudy water with test results

Jump to latest Follow Reply
G

geeklover

0
May 29, 2010
16
Indianapolis, IN
Been reading a lot on the boards since the weekend. Trying to absorb as mush as possible so I don't ask the same questions as others.

Got my tf-100 kit in the mail today, so I am finally able to do a test and get the results you guys need to finish helping me.

We opened the pool last week (Mon the 24th). Added liquid chlorine from pool store (10%) 16, 1 gal jugs. It was green, but you could see the bottom in shallow end but not deep. Took a water sample to the 'devil' store leslie's on Friday. The kid told me I had to much chlorine in the pool for him to do an accurate test. Told me I needed to let it die down before I could do anything else. Stupid me sorta listened to him. Spent Saturday searching the web for answers and that's when I found this site.

I had some power powder plus I had just bought to shock it with that I used to kill the algae, since it got worse, cause that dumb kid told me to. Spent Sunday shocking/brushing/back washing. By Monday, the color was becoming tealish. I went to the other 'devil' store Walmart and bought bleach. Added it throughout the day Monday again repeating the process of brush/backwash/etc. Tuesday I finally started making a turn for the better. I made another walmart run, bought more bleach and repeated the process the best I could. Had to work and I left husband in charge for the night shift.

Which brings me to today. You can see the bottom in the whole pool, it just has a cloudy tinge to it. I tested the water with my new fancy kit (which my husband laughed at me for) and here are the results. Please tell me what to do from here...

FC 35
CC 0
TC 35
TA 150 (turned yellow not clear)
CH 70
CYA 60
PH 7.2

I have pictures of the pool if I can figure out how to add them. Thanks for the help!!!
 
Welcome! Your TA at 150 looks really high and probably has something to do w/ the cloudiness. I'm a little surprised that your ph is just 7.2 w/ a TA that high. I'm sure some of the pro's will be along shortly to help you sort this all out. Good luck. I hesitate to give you instructions... better left to the folks who really know.
 
I respectfully disagree with drband. Your TA is a little high, but you can worry about that later. If you had a combination of high pH, TA, and CH, you could have calcium clouding but that's not what's happening here. You just are still filtering out dead algae.

Your pH may be lower than that, since a high FC reading will interfere with the pH test, giving false high numbers. Do you have a heater? Low pH can damage heat exchangers. If not, I wouldn't worry about it.

CYA is a little high at 60, but OK.

Looks like you're just about at the end of the shock process!
 
Yeah, let's get your pool crystal clear and then perhaps do some fine tuning on TA, etc. Your pH may, in fact, be a little low, but you can fine tune that also once you start to reduce your FC.

For now, I would say just keep doing what you have been. Perhaps hold your FC just a little lower in the mid 20's would be a little better.

How often are you having to backwash now? My guess is it's probably less than once a day but let us know that.

It sounds to me like you are nearing the finish line but that last bit of pesky cloudiness can really try your patience. Keep your FC in the mid 20's, brush the sides and vacuum when you can, inspect around the pool for areas that algae might hide, (like inside your ladder) and backwash as necessary (increase in psi of 8lbs or so).

Post a picture of your water when you have a chance. Nice work! You're getting close! Your shock process is done when....
1. Your pool water is sparkling
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

I'd give it another day or so (let that last bit of cloudiness clear up) and then do an overnight FC loss test...Pool School explains it.

Short Version - +2 on what mits said
 
Back again... Tested last night before bed, and this morning after waking up.

Last nights results at 9:30pm
FC 38.5
CC 0
PH 7.2
TA 130
CH 75 (turned purple @ 57)
CYA 60

This mornings results at 8:30am
FC 42
CC 0
PH
7.2
TA 120
CH 75 (purple @ 57)
CYA 80


So last night after testing I thought 'how did my fc go up, must have done the test wrong the first time.' Then this morning when I test and it went up again I was like 'wth is going on.' Low and behold, I left the inline chlorine feed up on max.... :hammer: LOL!

I have added nothing to the pool since Wednesday night, and that was the last bit of bleach I had. I had been keeping the chlorine tabs full in the inline feeder and it turned up high because everywhere is sold out of bleach or liquid chlorine.

I did not brush the pool yesterday and only back washed it once. I did back wash this morning.

I was back washing about every 2 hours on Mon/Tues. Now it's just about once or twice a day.

The pool is clearer today. I plan to vacuum, brush, backwash, and watch it today. Am I on the right track?
 
You're on the right track. Well, except for still using the tabs; your CYA is high enough that you want to turn that off as soon as you can find more bleach.

Ignore pH until you're done shocking and the FC comes down to normal.
--paulr
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
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