treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first time

[olred]

So We just had a beautiful baby girl, and while we were away our pool gave birth to something as well. Our pool is currently blue, but its cloudy and today is day 8 of me trying to fix it. Any help on what I may be doing wrong? Im vacuuming and brushing once per day. then testing once per day at night after I vacuum. Testing done with Tf-100

on Day 1
FC 8.5
CC .5
TA - 80
PH - 6.8
CYA - 52ish
Added 16oz borax, 64oz baking soda, 384oz bleach

day 2
FC - 15
TA - 100
PH - 7.1
Added 41 oz borax, 212 oz bleach

Day 3
FC - 16
TA - 120
PH - 7.5
added 338 oz bleach

day 4
FC - 20
TA - 120
PH - 7.5
added 182 oz bleach

Day 5
fc - 15
TA - 110
PH - 7.5
added 182 oz bleach, and even added in 2 lbs of granular pool shock

day 6
FC - 14.5
TA - 100
PH - 7.4
Added 364 oz bleach

Day 7 (I just started testing bleach as I figure everything else is good)
FC - 20
Added 182 oz bleach

Day 8 (today)
FC - 18
Added in 240 oz bleach and 2 more lbs of granular shock

today I also took the steps completely out of the pool, as well as the pool mat. I did find that the handle of the 5 gallon bucket I was using for weight was rusted and black and stuff so I removed the handle and cleaned it off. there was less algae today, but there was still a thin layer of algae on about 75% of the pool floorthen a couple of bigger clumps in a few areas. so it takes forever to vacuum up. The pool isnt green, but its blue and cloudy. Is it normal for it to be this difficult to clear it up? Is there something else I can do to fix this more quickly. I cant keep spending 1-2 hours vacuuming this pool everyday. And my wife is beginning to think Im an idiot for following this BBB instead of just doing what the pool store says. the bleach bottles are piling up and im getting frustrated too. Please help!!!!

Thanks for any ideas on what I can do differently or ideas on what to expect.

 

[mpacheco72]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

Your CYA is going to be pretty high if you keeping adding powdered shock and you're going to need more and more bleach to compensate for it. Quit using powdered shock!!! Have you done an OCLT? I don't know how much CC you are having each day, so it's really difficult for me to tell more.

 

[olred]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

Powdered shock is out of desperation to get this done. Ill stop adding it.

I havent tested CC every day, the first 3 days it was 0. I tested it today and it was .5

 

[JasonLion]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

Granular shock is usually made out of dichlor. Dichlor adds CYA to the pool very rapidly. Higher CYA levels required more chlorine, and this rapidly becomes a losing proposition.

Have you noticed any improvement in the water quality or done an overnight FC loss test yet?

 

[olred]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

I can do the overnight test tonight. Since I just added the bleach and granular shock how long should I wait before retesting the FC level tonight? and will the results be off since I used the granular shock.?

 

[BoDarville]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

olred:

Welcome to TFP and congrats on your new baby girl.

Here is a Pool School article on the shock process: Shock Your Pool. It is also important to maintain the appropriate FC shock level during the shock process according to your pool's CYA. Click the Chlorine/CYA Chart link in my sig below to determine this level.

Agree with the other posts on this thread that recommend ceasing the use of powdered shock (which likely contains either CYA or CH). Too much of either can be problematic.

Continue the shock process until all of the following criteria are met:
• CC is 0.5 or lower;
• An overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less;
• And the water is clear.

 

[olred]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

how do you "maintain" the shock level? Do I have to test the chlorine level every 30 minutes? If I would have been doing this for 8 days I would have ran through several test bottles of the chlorine test regeant by now. Not sure if there is some other way to maintain the level, so I just tested it once per day.

 

[mpacheco72]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

This will explain the OCLT....pool-school/overnight_fc_test. If you pass the OCLT then you won't need to shock. If you don't then you'll need to pool-school/shocking_your_pool. It does seem like you'll use all your reagent right off the bat, but it's really the only real way to get your pool crystal clear.

 

[BoDarville]

Re: treating cloudy blue water using bbb method for first ti

how do you "maintain" the shock level? Do I have to test the chlorine level every 30 minutes? If I would have been doing this for 8 days I would have ran through several test bottles of the chlorine test regeant by now. Not sure if there is some other way to maintain the level, so I just tested it once per day.

Here's how you maintain the shock level:
1. Measure the FC level
2. Add enough chlorine to bring FC up to shock level (or a little higher)
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as frequently as practical, but not more than once per hour, and not less than twice a day, until:

• A. CC is 0.5 or lower;

• B. An overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less;

• C. And the water is clear.

 

[Newpoolschool]

Why is my pool cloudy? Help
Ph 7.6
Alk 120
Ch 140
Cya 37
Fc 3
Tc 3