Cloudy water

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dbarker1

0
May 1, 2010
18
alabama
Hi guys I'm a long time lurker yet first time poster! I would have never been able to transform a swamp into a sparkling pool without the info I found on this site! :goodjob: However I'm currently stumped. The pool has been perfect other than one slipup which was my fault (the weather certainly didnt help!!) about a month ago. But the last few days it has lost that sparkle. I haven't done an overnight test but my normal CL consumption has not changed and I test everyday. My PH seems a little high though. Would that have anything to do with it? Here is a full set of numbers from yesterday as I haven't tested yet today.
FC 8 (added enough to raise back to 12)
CC .5
PH 7.8
Alk 130
CYA 70
 
Welcome to TFP.

How long are you running your pump and what size is it?
What's your bather load been the last little while?
Do you have an SWCG? I'm asking because I see your CYA is 70.
What's your pool temp?
 
I've been running the filter for 10hrs a day. 1hp pump with 350lb sand filter. I don't have a swg I use bleach. I know the cya level is a little high but thats another story! I am trying to lower it but I have to do it a little at a time. Bather load has been little to none. Had pool party saturday, raised Cl to 15 prior to people arriving, tested that night and it was at 12 so I think I was safe. Looked a little cloudy afterward so I ran the filter 24hrs and it looked great the next day. Since then me and my fiance have been in maybe twice for a total of about 4hrs. Oh and current temp is 88.
 
10 hours a day should be plenty long enough for that size pool. What's the pressure on your filter gauge?
Might be time to do an overnight chlorine loss test just to make sure there's not something there.
 
Pressure is about 14-15. After backwash its about 12. Haven't backwashed in quite a while though. I should mention that I have no main drain, skimmer only. Looks perfect in shallow end, just not quite there in deep end. I'll do an overnight test just to make sure. I generally lose about 4ppm Cl everyday and that hasn't changed. Not to mention the two monster oak trees that are at both ends of the pool which make for a maintance nightmare!!! CC is usually 0 sometimes .5. But Ph has been slowly rising. I was at 7.5 for quite a while and its now up to about 7.8. Should I lower this a little even though its within range?
 
Do you use a suction side vacuum? If so you might drop it in the deep end and let it suck a little while to help circulation in there. Also, aiming your eyeyballs down that way might help too.

I'd bring the pH down to about 7.4 and that will drop your TA a little bit which might help the pH rise you're seeing.
 
I'll try to pick up some acid tommorrow.I do have a regular suction vac. I have to use it at least once a week! The polaris works fine but it dosent get the really fine stuff that accumulates every time the wind blows! The only thing with the vac is it never gets a full prime. Is that normal? its always been that way. It has good suction, but the pump basket never gets full like it does under normal operation.
 
That comes up every so often. The vac puts more suction head on the system and causes the pump to have some air in the basket. I have a regulator on mine that came with the auto vacuum and it allows the pump to pull some water from it instead of trying to get it all from the vac head. You might try aiming the eyeball(s) first.
 
Ok thanks, always wondered about that. I'm always vacumming it due to the neverending battle with the leaves and such, my fiance thinks I may be a little obsesed but after the "transformation" as I like to call it I'm a little picky! I'll do an overnight test tonight just to be sure!
 
you raised your pool to 15ppm of chlorine before people got into it? And you keep it around 8? I am no expert but i personally wouldnt swim in a pool that high in chlorine, its actually unsafe, i think......i keep my pretty spot on 2-3ppm.
 

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mine is at 30. I have lots of children in my pool and like the chlorine to be quite 'active' and in lower concentration, I like chlorine but in small amounts, it actually is quite nasty stuff and have no problem keeping up with the chlorine demand. ie. its not excessive.
what chart are you using to determine his target chlorine level? the one i use that i got from somewhere on here, at a 70ppm CYA is Min. of 5ppm and a target of 8 ppm of chlorine.
 
thecanuck22 said:
mine is at 30. I have lots of children in my pool and like the chlorine to be quite 'active' and in lower concentration, I like chlorine but in small amounts, it actually is quite nasty stuff and have no problem keeping up with the chlorine demand. ie. its not excessive.
what chart are you using to determine his target chlorine level? the one i use that i got from somewhere on here, at a 70ppm CYA is Min. of 5ppm and a target of 8 ppm of chlorine.
Click to expand...

These are accurate minimum levels from the Chlorine/CYA chart, however FC up to shock level is safe to swim in. According to the same chart his shock level is 28. With an increased bather load such as a pool party you can raise the FC up higher to keep up with the increased chlorine demand safely. Every pool behaves a little differently depending on climate, local environment, and owner habits. What may be excessive for you may be what his pool requires to be sanitary.
 
I think I'm safe on the Cl levels, I've done my homework thanks to this site! :goodjob: Although this afternoon I noticed more stuff in the pool that has me a little concerned. I vaccumed and brushed every inch of it just to be sure. I checked at 3:00 and 7:30pm and FC 9.5 CC.5 both times. I added enough bleach to raise to 20 as that is all I have on hand and I will test again in a little bit and first thing in the morning to see where I stand. Fingers crossed!
 
I'm at a loss. Overnight test FC 20 CC.5 last night, FC 19.5 CC.5 this morning which looks good. But the algea looking spots are back in the same places as yesterday after a thorough vaccuming and brushing. May not be algea but sure looks like it. Filter ran all night. I just don't understand. The water looked perfect until tuesday and the FC has never gotten below 7 or 8. Am I missing something?
 
That sounds like pollen. Algae spots will not come back while the pool is kept at shock level, and the overnight test indicates that there isn't any algae. Pollen, on the other hand, will continue to accumulate while the pool is at shock level.
 
Actually I wasn't quite at shock level as I didn't have enough bleach on hand last night. But I will get some asap and shock and see. I just don't get it I've never been close to min level and it was clean although still cloudy last night but I haven't had a pollen problem here in months. Overnight loss is good but it sure looks like algea to me. I know how to fix it I just dont understand how it could have happened. The last time was my fault I let it fall below the min levels to often then one big thunderstorm and bam, green water. But that was about a month ago and its been perfect since.
 
Here's a few pics from this morning if I can figure out how to load them!
DSCN0121.jpg

DSCN0120.jpg
 

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