Newbie needs help please!

[Dragond76]

Hello all, This will be my first full summer with a pool. I had my 27' above ground installed last summer and was never able to get the water crystal clear. Well it's now pool season again and once again my pool is cloudy and I'm starting to lose my mind! Let's cover the basics here and maybe you guys can point me in the right direction. I have the TF100 test kit, that's the first thing I purchased last year. I check FC, PH, TA and CYA almost daily and all levels are in check except for CYA which is very low...although I'm not even sure what a proper amount of CYA should be. The FC is always between 3 and 5, it's around 5 right now since I've been keeping it at shock level in an effort to get the water cleared up. TA was at 120 yesterday and PH is consistently around 7. I'm running a sand filter and yesterday I went out and bought a bag of DE to add to the sand filter thinking perhaps that would make the sand filter work more efficiently? Am I missing something here? From everything I've read my water should be sparkling clear but it's not and nothing I do seems to correct this. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

Good on ya for getting a great test kit. That is half the battle.

My suggeestion first off if for you to start reading Pool School...category.php?c=getting_started. You will get the basics in there.

Your CYA should be between 30 and 50 ppm. Your target FC is based on the amount of CYA you have in the water. See this chart...pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock.

Why don't you go ahead and post your test results for us to see. We need FC, CC, pH, TA, CH, and CYA. The exact number on each test please.

 

[Dragond76]

Thanks for the quick reply! I've perused Pool School and just added some stabilizer to the pool so I'll let it spin for a bit and then go and recheck all of the levels and post my results.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Are you using tablets to chlorinate your pool?

 

[Dragond76]

When I opened it up I initially used bleach to get the chlorine level up. Since then I've been putting the 3" tablets in the floater to maintain and using the powder shock to shock it.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd bet that your CYA levels aren't very low then. You need to get a good result on that number. If you tested it yourself you should check it again to be sure. It's moot at this point if you've already added more.

We'll wait for the numbers to see what it is.

 

[Dragond76]

Ok here are the numbers I came up with:
FC = 18
CC = 1
TC = 19
PH = 6.8
TA = 110
CH = 240
CYA = 80
temp = 79

 

[anonapersona]

How long does the filter run?

 

[Dragond76]

I've been running the filter 12 hours a day since I opened it June 1st.

 

[JasonLion]

You need to get the PH up to at least 7.4 soon. I'm concerned because the PH will tend to read higher than actual when FC is above 10. If it is reading higher than actual and it is still reading 6.8 that isn't good. PH should normally be kept between 7.2 and 7.8. Going too much below 7.0 for too long can cause damage to the liner.

 

[Dragond76]

I just went out and bought a bunch of Borax so I'll use the pool calculator to get that straightened out tonight and recheck PH in the morning and repost.

 

[Dragond76]

Ok after adding Borax last night the PH is now up to 7.2 this morning. We had a good amount of rain last night so that probably affected it somewhat. I'll add a bit more and see if I can get it closer to 7.4.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Post your FC & CC numbers again too.

 

[Dragond76]

FC = 15.5
CC = 1

 

[Dragond76]

Ok I'm really at my wits end with this pool. The PH is 7.5 and the Chlorine is reading at about 6, the water is still cloudy and nothing I do seems to make a diiference. Please tell me, what am I doing wrong here? This shouldn't be so hard, my saltwater aquarium was easier to maintain than this pool!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Have you shocked the pool to completion? Did you pass the OCLT?

 

[Butterfly]

What FC# are you using for your shock level?

Last posting I see for CYA is 80 on Tuesday and you said you added more CYA on Tuesday :?
Shock level for 80 CYA is about 31!

How did you add the CYA & how much did you add? Liquid CYA will register on a test in a matter of hours, but the granual can take up to a week to show up on a test.

If you are confident with the 80CYA test result and can tell us how much you added, then we could have a pretty good guess as to today's CYA level to help determine a good shock level.

In a nutshell, I don't think you are reaching shock level and this is the problem.

 

[Dragond76]

The 80 cya reading was after I added stabilizer which I probably didn't need to do however an incorrect reading led me to believe I did. Anyhow, a friend of mine gave me an earth filter yesterday to use in place of my sand filter. I'm going to hook it up shortly and recheck all levels and I'll post my results. Thank you for your ongoing assistance! =)

 

[Dragond76]

Ok, earth filter is up and running and here are my latest levels:
FC = 12
CC = .5
CYA = 80
PH = 7.5

I'll boost the FC up to 31 per the CYA chart and see if that and the new filter can get this water cleared up.

 

[Dragond76]

Wow! 4 hours with the new filter and I can already see a difference in the water! I can't believe how much better this earth filter works!