Cloudy to clear

[TizMe]

Need some help to get our pool past the cloudy stage to clear water !! Long story short .. had algea trouble,started shock treatment, added alk when levels dropped.Green is gone just cloudy now. Added "True Blue" and vacc'd pool. Water is still cloudy.We can just barely make out the design on the bottom of the pool when we look into it. We also ran filter cleaner through the filter as suggested by our pool people. I need some suggestions to get it past the cloudy stage to clear water.Aslo is it possible for an auto chlorinator to clog up. I checked tabs this morning and the container that holds them was bone dry , had no water in it AT ALL!

PS
Pool is above ground vinyl 13,600 G

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Welcome to TFP!

if you post some numbers we will be better able to help you... FC, TC, TA, pH, CYA, CH.

Most cloudy issues, especially after an algae bloom, are simply dead algae that need to be filtered out. Keep your chlorine levels up (sounds like that may be a problem that caused your trouble... most here just use bleach to chlorinate and shock) and keep brushing and filtering (and backwashing/cleaning your filter as needed) and you will have clear water soon!

There are w few links in my sig that will help you, esp. the stickies and Jason's calculator.

 

[TizMe]

Thanks for your reply Grace,

According to our pool people all our numbers are right on the money!!

FC over 10.0 ppm
TC over 10.0 ppm
CC 00 ppm
pH 7.3
hardness 210
Alk 80 ppm (added after last water test)
cyanuric acid 70 ppm
copper,iron and total desolved solids were not run.

 

[duraleigh]

Thanks for your reply Grace,

According to our pool people all our numbers are right on the money!!

FC over 10.0 ppm
TC over 10.0 ppm
CC 00 ppm
pH 7.3
hardness 210
Alk 80 ppm (added after last water test)
cyanuric acid 70 ppm
copper,iron and total desolved solids were not run.

Tiz,

Welcome to the forum. Yep, those numbers look pretty good. They look good for a pool that's already clear.....I would suggest you need some more chlorine to get your pool water sparkling. My bet is you still have some algae hanging around.

If you'll put in 3.5 gallons of plain ole' 6% clorox bleach, that'll re-shock your pool and start the clearing process. The other things you'll need to do is to run your pump 24/7 and keep your filter very clean. Combine all that with brushing the pool frequently to help your filter and your water will start to clear.

It sounds like you cannot test for chlorine levels higher than five. If that's the case, and the pool store isn't terribly inconvenient, get them to test again the next day for just chlorine. You'll most likely have a pretty big drop from the 25ppm you brought it up to. Then, that evening, put in enough chlorine to bring it back to 25ppm. Use Jasonlion's nifty pool calculator to help you figure how much bleach to add.

It may take a little more than a day or two, but your water will be sparkling clear if you follow the above process on a daily basis.

All your other test results are very manageable. Chlorine is most likely your only issue.

 

[JasonLion]

It is not uncommon for the filter to take several days to a week to clear dead algae. A floc treatment can speed that up but it costs money and takes a fair bit of careful vacuuming. If everything is moving along normally you should see visible improvement each day after the algae is dead.

 

[TizMe]

Thanks for the info Duraleigh!

I looked at Jasonlion's nifty pool calculator and wasnt sure how to use it ...
Im new here and wasnt sure what numbers to put in where ..

 

[JasonLion]

My Pool Calculator is designed to show you how much of various chemicals you need to add to get your levels where you want them. To use it you first need current test numbers and some idea of what you would like them to be. First you enter the size of your pool near the top. If you don't know the size of your pool in gallons there is a calculator near the bottom that can help you estimate the size. Then enter your current numbers in the "Now" column and the desired numbers in the "Goal" column and then the wide column on the right tells you how much of various chemicals you need to add to reach your goal.

 

[TizMe]

Duraleigh,

Are you talking about the clorox bleach you can buy at the grocery store? I tried to use the calculator and I can understand how it works. When I add my numbers nothing is changing. Is that because my chems are so close to being normal?

 

[JasonLion]

Bleach is regular laundry bleach without any additives (avoid scented bleach). Clorox is the most common brand and most stores have a house brand. It is also sold as liquid chlorine or liquid "shock" in some areas. Check the containers for the percentage of chlorine, the higher the percentage the more effective it is. Some of the house brands are only 3%, which is often a much worse deal than it at first appears to be.

After entering a number in my Pool Calculator you need to move to another field or press the Caclulate button near the top. Then the numbers on the right will update. If the difference is very small the result can sometimes be less than half an oz and the number on the right won't change from it's initial zero, but that is quite rare.

 

[TizMe]

Ok! Bleach is in .... of course its pouring rain here now so we shall see what happens. Wife said it might be her immagination but it looked like the water was clearing while we were out there ....