Cloudy water

[keithk]

Newbie here... I've got a vinyl 15' x 3.5' Intex above ground pool (5000 gal) that I'm having a problem with cloudy water. I got it up a few weeks ago, took a sample into a local pool place and they said I needed 1.5# of stabilizer, 1 bag of burn out 35 and 1.25# of ph minus for 7 days. Since we were getting ready to leave for vacation, I did all the above BUT the ph minus. Ever since, I've had cloudy water. I have a white powdery substance on the pool ladder and suction and discharge pieces, every time I sweep the pool, I stir up the stuff from the floor. The pump has been running 24/7, the old filter even had all this white stuff in it.

I bought a cheap 3 way tester (Chlorine, bromine, PH) yesterday, chlorine and Bromine are around 4, PH about 7.8. I did away with the test strips as they are junk. I did buy some algicide yesterday, but have not put any in yet.

I'm looking for suggestions on what the white stuff might be and how to get the pool cleaned up. I'm very tempted to drain the pool and just start over...

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I recommend you drain it and start over, and read the Pool School article:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/temporary_pool_guide

and avoid the pool store entirely if you can... except to purchase a couple bags of dichlor.

 

[woodyp]

If the stabilizer you bought was a white powdery substance, my guess is that is what you're looking at. Follow poolmom's advice.

 

[keithk]

Yeah, I figure it's cheaper to just drain it and refill.

While I know bleach and other chemicals are cheaper than brand name pool chemicals, are there any draw backs?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Nope, none whatsoever.