Please Help?? Pool problem

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zavala8

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Jun 11, 2011
12
I have a Intex pool that is 15 x 42". The pool water is very cloudy like milk.It was clear then we had a little rain.After the rain my pool turned really milky looking.When I took a water test with the test strips I was getting a 0 for free chlorine so I added 2 bags if shock,half bottle of Clarifier,algaecide and lots chlorine and chlorine bleach. # days later the pool is still the same.Oh I also drained the pool halfway and refilled.I went and bought a test kit to see if I could get a better reading and this is what I got

FC - 1
PH - 7.2
TA - 260
TH - 400 but the test says add the first 5 drops to the pool water and if there is hardness the water will turn red then add add and count the other drops and count till the water turns blue.The problem is the water never turned red with the first 5 drops.It turned purple.

cyanuric acid - 40

Ok there is the readings I got so if anyone can help me please do.My grandkids are staying with me for a week and they want to swim.
 
Welcome to TFP!

What you are describing sounds a great deal like calcium clouding. At the same time your FC level is too low, which is suggestive of algae.

When some combination of PH, TA, and CH/TH are too high the water can turn milky white from calcium precipitating out to form extremely small particles that stay suspended in the water. Your levels are very suggestive of calcium clouding. The solution in your case is to lower TA as much as you can. The proper procedure for lowering TA is described in Pool School.

Meanwhile, with CYA at 40, you should keep FC between 3 and 7, and never below 3. Letting FC get too low is suggestive of algae problems. If the water is cloudy or murky green or dark gray, this is probably an algae problem.
 
Ok I went and bought the muriatic acid and then read the pool school on lowering TA.I have some questions.It says that adding this will lower my PH well my PH is good.It is at 7.2.So why would I want to lower that? If I still add this even though my PH is good then how much do I add.I used the calculator and it said add nothing for muriatic acid. I bought Bleach,baking soda and borax. What all do I add,how much and how long in between do i wait to add differnt chemicals?
 
Ok I just added 3 cups of the acid. I was wrong eariler about the chlorine test. I am getting a 0 FC reading on the strips and in the test kit I am getting a 1 for TC. I have added alot of chlorine so I dont know why I am getting this reading but we will fix it lol. Now when can I add the bleach and how much do you think I should add? Also should I add the borax and baking soda? Thank you again for your help.These kids want to swim bad.
 
I have added a lot of chlorine so I dont know why I am getting this reading but we will fix it lol. Now when can I add the bleach and how much do you think I should add?
Click to expand...
Chlorine and bleach are identical. Chlorine is a consumable item and must be constantly replenished. I understand you are in a hurry but the function of chlorine is critical to pool care. You need it in your pool before kids swim. Pool School has a lot of the answers you need.
 
Added 2 gallons of bleach yesterday along with the muriatic acid. Here are the readings today.

TC--0
PH--7.2
TA--270
TH--400
CYA-30
FC--0

I just added more muriatic acid and I am going to add another gallon of bleach in about 30 min. Anything else I can do?
 
You will not add any baking soda. Baking soda would RAISE your TA. You are wanting to LOWER it. Because of your high TA, you probably want to stay clear of borax as well. You need to use aeration to raise your pH if needed.

Remember that you will need to test and add chlorine/bleach EVERY day. Even if you add a lot of chlorine, it will get used up by the sun any by any organics in the pool. Depending on how high you get your FC to, you might be able to go every other day, but that is probably best guess scenario. If your CC is ever more than 0.5, you will need to begin the process of shocking your pool which may involve adding more chlorine as often as every HOUR.
 

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OK I was using the HTH 6 way test kit from wal mart.I quess these test kits are not good.They give false readings.
I decided to take a pool sample to the pool store and they could not belive the readings I was getting from this test kit.
Here are the readings I got.

TC--0
PH--7.2
TA--270
TH--400
CYA-30
FC--0


Here are the readings the pool store got.

FC - 0.8
TC - 0.8
CC - 0.0
PH - 7.0
TA - 80
CYA - 35

There test showed TA to be low when my test showed it to be high. They told me to add 1/2 pound of shock and 2 pounds of balance pak 100. Then check the levels after 6-8 hours.

Is there a test kit that is good and dont give false readings?
 
You have no combined chlorine, there is no reason to shock. Huh?

Those numbers wouldn't tell me to shock at all, simply add enough bleach to reach target.

The HTH 6 way kit is fairly accurate although it doesn't have a total chlorine test and only tests up to 5ppm. I have one of those I'm using regularly to check chlorine when I know it's low enough because dh bought red and yellow bottles on clearance last year (before I had a HTH kit) so I have two of each on hand now. Rather would use them up for routine testing under 5ppm. I also have a older AquaChem kit my dad gave me which uses the taylor reagents and I bought new large size R0001 and 2 for it. Comparing the two, the HTH is accurate enough up to 5ppm but the ranges are spread out and different than my other kit's test comparitor. The TH and TA come out fine as well when compared. Not a fan of the yellow btw...

It's possible there's a bit of user error going on instead of false readings and that's normal for a first time user. I know I've had my share of frustrations determining color matching and what you described as purple could be a number of things, maybe an extra drop gone unnoticed. There's plenty of TA and TH tests in there so maybe practice a few times and see what happens?

But... the HTH test is just a bandaid test kit, you need a full kit such as the Taylor K-2006 or the TFP-100 which most people here use. I haven't bought one yet, I've got a lot of reagents here in this kit that is no longer manufactured so I'm working with that for now. I would like to have a new test comparitor for use with Taylor reagents. I'm not sure mine is as accurate as it could be.
 
Order one of the test kits recommended here.
Don't let your chlorine drop that low.
What I would do:
Add the required amount of bleach to reach target. Let circulate for an hour or so and then retest chlorine. If your test right now will only do FC and TC, you want there to be no more than 0.5 difference between the two numbers.
 
Don't automatically assume that the pool store is right and your results are wrong! We see some amazingly wrong results from pool stores all the time.

The OTO chlorine test that comes with the HTH six way drop test, drops turn the sample shades of yellow, which is compared to a color chart, is remarkably reliable at low TC levels. If the sample remains clear when you add the drops, the TC level really is zero.

On the TA and TH tests, try wiping the dropper tip with a damp cloth ever few drops and also make sure you hold the dropper bottle vertically. Squeeze slowly, so the drop forms on the tip and drops of when it gets heavy enough and is not sprayed out.
 
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