I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..Help

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Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

Latest update... Clarity is no better, possibly slightly worse. I worked today so I didn't get to add more Bleach until I got off of work.

FC was 12 when I checked after work so since last night has dropped approx. 8 points.

I decided to go ahead and work on the filter and I removed the bracket and raised the valve up and used a garden hose and a pc. of plastic rod and poked around in the sand for about 5 minutes. I did not see a lot of debris when I ran the hose down in the sand with the water on for a few minutes.

I put it back to together and added 2 jugs of the 182 oz. bleach and have my fingers crossed.
I am going to get some of the D.E. tomorrow and try that also if no improvement, unless someone else has a recommendation. :(

I have a question on the FC test. Is it okay to add multiple drops and then swirl at the beginning of the test, instead of add a drop and mix thorughout? When I know Chlorine is up...I add like 10 drops or more and then start with the 1 drop and then mix.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

medic502 said:
Is it okay to add multiple drops and then swirl at the beginning of the test, instead of add a drop and mix thorughout? When I know Chlorine is up...I add like 10 drops or more and then start with the 1 drop and then mix.
Click to expand...
As long as you stop doing this before you get to the end of the test that is fine.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

It rained here hard during the night...prob. at least 1/4" maybe more. Not sure if that affects the morning reading or not.

Here are the numbers

last night at 9:30pm
FC 17.5
CC 0
PH 7.5
TA 80
Calcium Hardness 70 - not sure about the copper so I did not add the extra
CYA 40

This morning around 0530
FC 14.5
CC .5
again not sure if rain makes a difference when doing the overnight test or not.

One more thing. I thought I had gotten all of the dead leaves off of the bottom of the deep end. I still cannot see the bottom so I used the leaf rake and there was dead leaves still on the bottom of the pool. I had a problem with the cover on one corner coming up earlier in the year and I guess there was some leaves on the bottom that I did not get out while vacuuming. There was a pretty good bit maybe about 2 to 3 leaf rakes full if you add all of them together.
I do not see any green in this pool now and havent for 4 or 5 days. Just Cloudy water.Thanks again for all of your help ! ! !
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

I am living this same dream. blue cloudy for 4-5 days. I've kept my shock level about 15-22 with a cya of 40. I tried the DE. It did not take this long to get out of the cloudy blue level last time. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

While the rain may have effected the test I would suggest maintaining shock level and test again tomorrow night, you almost certainly still have biomass in there that is consuming the chlorine, and even if most of the algae is dead the leaves likely give algae a place to hide and wait to pop back out as soon as you drop below shock level. Cloudy can take time to clear with a sand filter, keep backwashing as needed, also I think trying that DE is a good idea, it certainly can't hurt, just be careful handling the DE if you have not done so before, as it is an inhaltion hazard and a fine flour like powder.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

I am still working on the pool...no progress to speak of.
I did the Diatomaceous earth last night around 8pm. The pressure was at 14 and I added to get to 15. About 2 hours later the pressure was at 20, so I backwashed before I went to bed and had to come to work today.

Just talked to my girlfriend around 11am and she said the pressure is at 15 now and water still looks the same.

Do I need to repeat the DE treatment again?

Also I was going to do the overnight Chlorine test but it rained again last night.
Not calling for Rain or Thunderstorms today so I will attempt the overnight test tonight.

I still cant figure out how it was so easy last year and I cant get it right this year. I am about to get discouraged.

I really don't believe there is any algae in the pool now.
I have put probably 40+ gallons of bleach in this pool since May 23rd and maybe more. For some reason it seems like the filter is not filtering the water.

Is it a good sign that the pressure went up to 20 with the DE?
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

medic502 said:
Do I need to repeat the DE treatment again?
Click to expand...
It worked for you once, it would be worth trying it again.

When you did the hose in the filter, did you notice that the sand was clumped/clumping? If it was, did you carefully break up the clumps.

Let's see what your OCLT is.

medic502 said:
Is it a good sign that the pressure went up to 20 with the DE?
Click to expand...
Yes, it was catching stuff.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

When I did the hose in the filter, I was only able to raise up the valve enough to get the hose in and a small plastic pc. of pvc pipe that I used to poke around with. I really couldnt tell about the sand. The way the valve was connected/fitted to the PVC I would have had to cut the PVC to lift it completely off.

Anyway I did the overnight test last night...

at 9pm
FC14
CC 0

at 6am
FC 13.5
CC 0

I also added the DE again last night and about 4 hours later the pressure had gone up to 20 from 15.
The pool is slighty clearer this morning. Still cant see the bottom in the deep end but in shallow end I can see more of the bottom than before.

Still hoping to get it cleared up by this coming weekend. :-D Thanks
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

It is 9pm and I did not add Bleach to the pool today...

Chlorine level dropped form 13.5 this morning to FC 6 and CC .5 tonight at 9pm. Is that normal...It was a sunny day here and in the 80's.

9pm readings
FC 6
CC .5
pH 7.5
T/A 80

Water is still cloudy but has improved slightly. overnight test was performed last night and results are in post above.

I guess I should have added bleach today but I am going to add tonight.

Do I still need to keep at Shock level??? The only indicator to shock is the cloudy water and it is improving and I am about broke from buying Bleach and Walmart running low...Ha
 

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Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

Still hoping to get it cleared up by this coming weekend.
Click to expand...
Then you will need to keep the FC at shock level.

There is no point in doing the OCLT. The OCLT's pupose (in this case) is to confirm the end of the shock process.

You don't have clear water and your FC is still dropping because of organics in your pool. Do the OCLT when your pool is crystal clear and you no longer lose nearly that much chlorine.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

duraleigh said:
Still hoping to get it cleared up by this coming weekend.
Click to expand...
Then you will need to keep the FC at shock level.

There is no point in doing the OCLT. The OCLT's pupose (in this case) is to confirm the end of the shock process.

You don't have clear water and your FC is still dropping because of organics in your pool. Do the OCLT when your pool is crystal clear and you no longer lose nearly that much chlorine.
Click to expand...

The OCLT test did not drop but .5 even though the water is cloudy, that is why I thought I may be near the end of the shock process...is that not correct?

I am thinking the water is cloudy because it is taking a long time to filter with the sand filter.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

You lost 7.5ppm today. With a reported CYA of 35ppm, that's w-a-a-y too much loss to account for sunlight alone so you are losing FC to organics.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

I just went through the same process. Make sure you are brushing the pool as often as you can and keep the DE in the filter. The filter will pick up the dead algae eventually, but it definitely will work better with the DE in there. I also bought some skimmer socks to trap smaller particles before they get int the filter. Keep at it! You are almost there.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

Can see the bottom of the deep end now. Pool is pretty much clear. Took 2 weeks. Thanks for all of the advice on this. I will probably be back again one day. Thanks

Also I do think the DE helped.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

Don't stop shocking process until pool is crystal clear, OCLT is less than 1ppm, and that there is less than 0.5 ppm of CC. Your almost there, but not 100% home free.
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

Do not quit yet! Make sure you do as Johnny-M said. If you don't pass all three criteria, your organics may not be gone. We have seen this happen time and again :hammer:
 
Re: I thought I knew how to get the water clear but I dont..

OCLT is less than 1ppm CC is 0. Pool is Clear...but not as clear as I have seen it. I tell you I have put an unbelievable amount of Bleach in this pool in 2 weeks time. Probably about 75 gallons and give or take a few.

I am going to have to try and buy a bulk container of bleach maybe the 12% sodium hypochlorite.
I can hardly dispose of all of the plastic Bleach containers, and I have bought out Walmart of the 1 gallon that they have on sale.
 

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