I don't know how to correct and balance the level.

[lovinlifenv]

We have had the pool a week and its been great. After a big pool party on July9th the water is very cloudy. I used the INTEX water test kits and can only provide the following 4 results.

free chlorine (ppm)is at 0.2
pH is higher than my scale goes. my scale's highest level is 8.5 but the test stick is much more red/orange than that.
total alkalinity is right in the 120-150 range
copper (ppm)is at 0.1

The only 2 water items I have is pool salt and cyanuric acid. At this point I don't know how much of anything to add.

The average temperature in las vegas,nv is 105 degrees on a daily basis and our pool receives direct sunlight all day long.

At about 11am I turned on the salt water and regular filter and activated the boost cycle on the salt water filter. Then after reading what I could find with little to no answers I turned the boost cycle off as the copper levels were fine.

PLease Help!!
Mom of 5 lovinlife in NV

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

You need to pick up some supplies and while you are at it you should get your water tested at a pool store.

The easiest one is PH, you want to lower PH down to around 7.2 to 7.4. You can lower PH with muriatic acid (hardware store) or dry acid/PH Down (pool store). Muriatic acid is less expensive. You never want to let the PH get below 7.2 or above 7.8.

The next step is a little more complicated. You need to raise CYA up to around 70 to 80. But to do that you need to know what your CYA level is right now. When first filled the water will start with CYA at zero. Using trichlor tablets/pucks or dichlor granular chlorine will raise CYA.

Until you can get the levels balanced and the SWG producing chlorine consistently, you should add some chlorine manually. I suggest adding 2 ppm of chlorine in the evenings when the FC level is really low (as it is now).

 

[257WbyMag]

Once you know your test results from the pool store, post them and we will help you get things back on track.

 

[lovinlifenv]

Can you clarify?? It seems like you are telling me to correct it with all the normal chlorine pools chemicals?? It is a salt water pool and we want to maintain it as a salt water pool.

Also in your answer you did not tell me how much to add in order to correct the ph, but I want to correct it without turning it into a reg chlorine chemical filled pool.

 

[RobbieH]

A salt water pool is a chlorine pool. Your salt water chlorine generator (SWCG) turns NaCl (sodium chloride) into Cl (chlorine) for the pool. So, you use plain old Cl (bleach!) to raise your Cl level until your free chlorine (FC) and stabilizer (CYA) levels are high enough for the SWCG to handle keeping the chlorine levels up.

The ONLY difference between a salt water pool and a chlorine pool is the presence of salt in the pool, and a SWCG to maintain your chlorine levels instead of you adding chlorine manually.

 

[RobbieH]

Oh, forgot to add... use poolcalculator.com to estimate how much muriatic acid to use. Estimate you are on 8.6 right now and put in 7.6 as your target. Wait an hour and measure again, and make another addition to bring it to 7.4.

 

[frogabog]

Salt water pools ARE chlorine pools. The chlorine is produced by the SWG. Chlorine is chlorine, yours is just produced from salt.

The reason you need to add chlorine right now is because your SWG isn't producing enough yet.

As Jason said:
"Until you can get the levels balanced and the SWG producing chlorine consistently, you should add some chlorine manually. I suggest adding 2 ppm of chlorine in the evenings when the FC level is really low (as it is now)."