Just got back from a 5-day vacation where a friend was house sitting and performing all of the daily pool maintenance duties (add bleach to the Liquidator, watch water level of pool, empty strainer, etc.). Received a call from him during the 4th day saying that the pool was really cloudy. The day or two prior, it rained quite a bit, so I thought that might have had something to do with it, so I didn't really think much of it. Today - the first day back - I see that the pool is cloudy to the point where the bottom of the shallow end (3') is not visible. I note that not nearly as much bleach was added to the Liquidator as should have been so I just thought is was an algae outbreak. A test of the chlorine levels shows only about 1 ppm FC and 1-2 ppm CC (My CYA level is about 50) - much to be expected. I also checked my pH as an afterthought and it was really low. It was reading 6.8, so I added Borax. It took a whole box to get it up to about 7.2.
So I start shocking...
Typically, it only takes a bottle or two of bleach to go from green to cloudy and holding FC, but now that I'm 6-7 bottles into it, I'm starting to wonder if something else is going on. Here's a rundown of the stuff I'm observing:
1. The cloudiness wasn't green as you would expect from an algae outbreak.
2. I've been checking the FC every hour or two after bringing it up to shock level and in the beginning, the chlorine was consumed almost immediately. Now at the end of the day, FC is about half after an hour or two.
3. Every time I've checked, CC has been constant at 1.5 - 2 ppm.
4. The cloudiness has dissipated throughout the day from not being able to see the bottom of the shallow end to being able to see the bottom of the deep end (about 6 1/2').
5. The surface of the water is foamy. I'm not talking too-much-detergent-in-the-washing-machine foamy - just a fine layer of foam collecting on the surface.
The more I think of it, the more I think what is going on with the pool is not caused by algae. The water was never green to begin with and my filter pressure has not budged while the pool has been clearing. This leads me to believe the filter isn't really filtering out what is causing the cloudiness. As I go to bed, I will probably have to add a few more bottles of bleach based on what I've seen so far. There is still some cloudiness and FC isn't holding.
What the heck is in my pool??? Anybody have any idea what I'm fighting?
So I start shocking...
Typically, it only takes a bottle or two of bleach to go from green to cloudy and holding FC, but now that I'm 6-7 bottles into it, I'm starting to wonder if something else is going on. Here's a rundown of the stuff I'm observing:
1. The cloudiness wasn't green as you would expect from an algae outbreak.
2. I've been checking the FC every hour or two after bringing it up to shock level and in the beginning, the chlorine was consumed almost immediately. Now at the end of the day, FC is about half after an hour or two.
3. Every time I've checked, CC has been constant at 1.5 - 2 ppm.
4. The cloudiness has dissipated throughout the day from not being able to see the bottom of the shallow end to being able to see the bottom of the deep end (about 6 1/2').
5. The surface of the water is foamy. I'm not talking too-much-detergent-in-the-washing-machine foamy - just a fine layer of foam collecting on the surface.
The more I think of it, the more I think what is going on with the pool is not caused by algae. The water was never green to begin with and my filter pressure has not budged while the pool has been clearing. This leads me to believe the filter isn't really filtering out what is causing the cloudiness. As I go to bed, I will probably have to add a few more bottles of bleach based on what I've seen so far. There is still some cloudiness and FC isn't holding.
What the heck is in my pool??? Anybody have any idea what I'm fighting?