Can't clear up cloudy water

[Jonryan26]

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I'm new to TFB and new to owning a pool. I bought a house with a 10000 gallon above ground pool that's been a nightmare. The water was clear for short time when I first moved in but then went on vacation for a week and when I came back it was swamp green and you couldn't see anymore than a few inches deep. These were my test results.

FC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 60
CYA - 70

I've tried raising my FC up by dumping in both bleach(540 oz) and using store bought shock from sams(10x1lb bags) but the number doesn't budge above 3 and the water has turned from a cloudy dark green to a cloudy blue. I've now converted to the intex SWG, and the BBB method to hopefully help things out. I added salt, baking soda for the TA, and borax to bring up the PH.

These were my test results after

FC - 2.0
pH - 7.5
TA - 100
CYA - 70
Salt - 2500


I need some serious help with this!!

 

[aa62579]

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

Please study this article while waiting for other replies/questions.

 

[duraleigh]

Hey, jr26,

Welcome to the forum :lol: You will need to shock your pool and it will take more chlorine....probably a lot more. Use Clorox only for now.

I suggest you first start by reading "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" in Pool School and then read "How to shock your Pool"

The key to clearing your pool will be holding your FC up around 25-30ppm CONSTANTLY until the cloudy blue turns to crystal clear. It may take a while and it will surely take a lot more chlorine than you think but you have no other choice. We'll help you walk your way through it but be sure to read those articles and follow the shocking process carefully.

 

[Jonryan26]

I figured I needed to bring the FC up to at least 28 so I followed the pool calculator and it told me around 540 oz of clorox so that's what i put in there but the FC only went up to around 3 and that's with the SWG on. I'll keep adding and see what happens.

 

[aa62579]

You will need to keep checking and adding chlorine - hourly if possible. It will use A LOT of chlorine at first!

 

[frogabog]

It doesn't look like there's a proper test kit being used here, which will hinder your ability to maintain 28ppm for shocking. At that level, dilution will not work and you're flying blind.

I had a bloom going yesterday and the day before. It was not green, or cloudy... no visible signs of algae but the chlorine loss was over the top. I recall once adding bleach to reach 15ppm and in half an hour it was down to 10ppm already. When algae is alive, it eats chlorine crazy fast.

Additionally, it's probably best for the SWG to be off during this process. Let it rest while you manually dose w/bleach and shock. Having it on also will skew your OCLT results, so be sure it's off when you do that.

 

[Jonryan26]

I'm using the Taylor DPD Deluxe kit. The numbers I've posted are from my pool store.

http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Ch ... 18547.html

 

[aa62579]

That kit does not test high enough for chlorine. You need the FAS-DPD part. I belive you can just buy that part: http://tftestkits.net/FAS-DPD-Chlorine-CC-s-test-p47.html

However, I you will still be short TA, CH, and CYA tests, unless you buy a different kit or trust the pool store.

 

[frogabog]

Unfortunately the DPD test kit is lacking a precise chlorine test above 5ppm, and can be difficult to interpret. Your shock level is 28ppm. How are you planning to maintain 28ppm throughout the shocking process? It's impossible to do without a FAS-DPD kit unfortunately and if you don't maintain it at shock level you'll be chasing your tail all the rest of the summer. An easy fix is adding the FAS-DPD kit from http://tftestkits.net which I believe is $26. That will complete your kit nicely and you won't be disappointed, promise.

Also, did you run the rest of the chlorine test, cuz you don't list TC or CC results. When your chlorine is less than 5ppm, you can run CC/TC with that test, it requires 5 drops of R-0003 and then comparison of color results. TC - FC = CC. Since the level is under 5 now, you can run that full test and post the results.

Bottom line here, you're going to have to maintain 28ppm to see results and it's going to be difficult without being able to test the water above 5ppm (BTW, you'll need to test hourly at first, it will loose chlorine crazy fast till the balance between algae and chlorine turns to the chlorine's side).

 

[Jonryan26]

I'm waiting on the TF-100 but in the meantime I've been diluting the sample and testing it to ensure the chlorine level stays up. Which means I've been adding about 3 gallons of bleach per day. The water is still cloudy... Do I still need to shock it or add clarifier?

 

[benavidescj]

Do not add clarifier it is a waste of money in most cases. Without the test kit it is hard for you to shock to the right level and just adding some bleach as you are doing may not do you any good. As soon as you get the test kit you can start doing a proper shock process.