New at all this and need help with cloudy water

[klday]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading lots of helpful posts on this forum and can't say enough how grateful I am for this place! My husband, children, and I moved to our new home a few months ago. We have a 30,000 gallon (18x36) inground pool with a vinyl liner. It has a sand filter and an auto cover. It was covered all winter and besides a few bugs and leaves, the water looked good when the pool store opened it 3 weeks ago.

We swam Monday afternoon and when we opened the cover yesterday, the water was really cloudy. My husband had added 4lbs of stabilizer (conditioner) on Tuesday since our CYA was 0. Today, the test with the TF-100 kit are this:

CYA: 30
TA: 280
FC: 1
CC: 2.5
TC: 3.5
PH: 7.2

We began the shocking process at 11AM by adding 4 128oz jugs of bleach, ala the pool calculator trying to bring the FC up to 12. We also brushed the pool. I checked the FC an hour later and it was 4. I added the last two jugs of bleach I have and just got back from the store with more.

Questions:

How soon after adding bleach can I test the FC level to make sure it's at shock level?
Should we leave the cover on or off during shocking?
How often should we brush?
Vacuum?
Backwash? (The PSI is at 20 now.)

We are planning a pool party in two days and this is so stinking stressful! I am a SAHM so I am able to test and add things as needed.

Thank you!

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

You want to wait long enough for the water and bleach to fully mix.

Leaving the cover off may help get rid of the CC, but it will also consume your chlorine faster.

Brushing and vacuuming will depend on your conditions. The fact that your pool became cloudy after swimming could indicate that there was dirt on the bottom and you stirred it up, so you want to notice if brushing stirs up dirt or dust.

Backwash when you get a pressure rise of about 25% from your clean pressure. Backwash thoroughly and then make a note of the pressure reading. This is your clean reading.

 

[aa62579]

I believe the instructions say to test hourly, but I think I've seen that you can get a reading after 30 minutes. I'd rather a guru chimed in here, but if you need to get this done in a hurry, you might test every 30 minutes the first few times and then as the chlorine starts to hold more, go back to hourly.

Pool cover off during the day while shocking can help to let the sun deal with any CCs.

Brush at least once per day.

If you have stuff on the bottom of the pool, vacuuming can help, especially vacuuming to waste.

Backwash as needed based on % psi has raised.

 

[klday]

Here are pics of the water

 

[Thinkly]

How soon after adding bleach can I test the FC level to make sure it's at shock level?
Should we leave the cover on or off during shocking?
How often should we brush?
Vacuum?
Backwash? (The PSI is at 20 now.)

If it were me I would test after a few hours. I would also leave the cover off. I would also vacuum because any amount of dirt, etc. that you can remove from the pool will assist you in knocking the combined chlorine down. As to whether or not you should backwash that depends on your own particular pool and filter set up. My filter which is DE says to shock when the filter gets to 10 psi over the starting (fresh/clean) amount.

I think your pool will start clearing up soon. Just remember you need to meet three criteria to determine when you can stop shocking. 1. Crystal clear water. 2. Pass the overnight chlorine loss test. 3. CC is .5 or lower.

Read here: pool-school/shocking_your_pool

 

[klday]

Added 5 more 128oz jugs of bleach. An hour later, the FC is 4 and the CC is .5

Water still cloudy, has a yellowish tinge to it (from so much bleach?)

 

[Thinkly]

Hard to say why the water would be yellow. I would focus on following the "shocking your pool" instructions and keep the pump and filtration running in addition to keeping chlorine at shock level until you are able to pass all three criteria of when to stop shocking.

You have already met one, so you are getting closer. Get the water clear, pass the overnight chlorine loss test and enjoy your party!

 

[aa62579]

Could you have any metals in your water? Metals can tint the color of the water, but they wouldn't cause the cloudiness.

Keep shocking and lets see if we can get a clear pool. If it is a clear pool with tinted water, then you can do the metal treatment (I believe a sequestrant.)

 

[klday]

Does it make sense that the CYA level was 20 four hours after it was added on Tuesday evening and also this morning, but now is at 0?

 

[aa62579]

The CYA test is +/- 10, I believe. And user error can be more like 15-20. Lighting also effects how the results are read. In addition, it can take up to a week for the full amount to show on a test.

If your CYA was 0 to begin with and your pool is 30,000 gallons, it would take 7.5 lbs to bring it to a CYA of 30. Adding 4 lbs would get you only to around 15 and would not be visible on the test.