Hello All from Upper Michigan...with cloudy pool

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bntkero

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Jun 17, 2012
8
New to owning a pool and for the past 12 days have been working on getting a 27' foot round, 48" high above ground vinyl pool ready for swimming.

When we started, the pool was limey green and swampish -- it had sat unused for 3-4 years by humans...we did fish out four frogs!

Since beginning we've added:
14 bags of shock, 13-182 oz jugs of bleach, pH+. pHminus, clarifier, alagecide, baking soda, and borax. The pH has stayed within suggested range for 5-6 days now, and chlorine has been good also. However, the pool is very cloudy. Can only see down into the water a about 8 inches from the surface...

We have a sand filter.

With the new test kit you suggested:
FC = 1.5ppm
CC = 3.0
TC = 4.5
pH 7.3
T Alk = 130ppm

calcium = 170

CYA approx 30

Judging by numbers, is there anything awry that would make the pool real cloudy/milky? The sand filter has been running steady since we started.

Really want to go swimming, but the cloudy water isn't so appealing.
 
Re: Hello All from Upper Michigan...

Okay, thank you.

Adding shock. And will re-test to see if FC is high enough. I feel so much better having ordered the test kit suggested here and to be able to have questions answered on this cite. I was discouraged not being sure of what to do and questioning if I was doing anything right. There isn't anyplace I can bring my pool water for testing where I live!

A hour after shocking tested again:
FC up to 15ppm.
CC = 3
TC 18

re-tested after another hour
FC 14ppm
CC 3
TC 17

added half a 182 oz bleach to keep the level up for the night? Plan on getting up early to re-test before the sun gets to the pool...
 
Re: Hello All from Upper Michigan...

Ahh, good advice. My husband found one swirling in the skimmer a couple of days ago. Now it just hangs out on our deck. Not afraid of us or the cat.

7:30 a.m. test
FC 12.5
CC 3.5
TC 16
pH 7.5
we had some rain overnight...
added some more bleach -- have to go get more when store opens up --
Failed to mention before that this pool gets a lot of sun...it is on the South side of our house and no trees for shade.

Based on the CH/CYA chart I'm trying to keep the FC over 12ppm....CYA having been 30...Am I correct in doing this?
 
Re: Hello All from Upper Michigan...

Okay...1pm Test:
FC 10.5
CC 3
TC 13.5
pH 7.5
sunny
Added 182 oz. of bleach. That should raise the FC by 5 according to the chart for my size pool
Will check again in an hour.
Am I adding enough? The water looks grayer. Still very cloudy.
 
Shocking for 2 weeks and cloudiness won't clear...

Just how high in free chlorine ppm should I be going while shocking a cloudy vinyl pool in full sun???...Do I have to go higher yet than 22-24ppm when I haven't been able to clear the water yet with pH of 7.2-7.4...CYA about 30.....We've had the filter running 24hours a day last 11 days....Do you think we need new sand? My husband is getting ready to open up the sand filter and flush the sand with the garden hose as I read somewhere on this site. Would it just be better to get new sand? What kind of sand do we need? This is our first time ever with trying to get a pool running....
 
Re: Hello All from Upper Michigan...

With CYA of 30ppm ... you should only be trying to keep your FC at 12ppm ... at do not go above 19ppm as that can start to damage equipment and bleach your liner. Are you keeping the FC at 12ppm pretty regularly and not letting it drop much below?

Sand filters can be slow clearing a cloudy pool. There are the easiest to maintain, but come at a price of being a little less efficient. Although you should be seeing improvement.

Open up the top and flush the sand by gently moving a hose around in it ... let all the junk float out the top until it is mostly clear. The only reason for you to need to replace the sand would be if you found it to be VERY clumpy and not easily broken apart. Maybe it is channeled and not filtering very well, the flush should help.

What is your clean pressure on the filter and when are you backwashing?
 
Re: Shocking for 2 weeks and cloudiness won't clear...

bntkero said:
Just how high in free chlorine ppm should I be going while shocking a cloudy vinyl pool in full sun???...Do I have to go higher yet than 22-24ppm when I haven't been able to clear the water yet with pH of 7.2-7.4...CYA about 30.....We've had the filter running 24hours a day last 11 days....Do you think we need new sand? My husband is getting ready to open up the sand filter and flush the sand with the garden hose as I read somewhere on this site. Would it just be better to get new sand? What kind of sand do we need? This is our first time ever with trying to get a pool running....
Click to expand...
Shock level for CYA of 30 is about 12 PPM.

When you tested FC today, did you also test CC? What is CC?

You do NOT need new sand. Old sand is still good sand.

You should be backwashing each time the psi increases about 20% over clean filter psi reading.

Here's a link to the sand filter cleaning thread: my-sand-is-channeled-how-to-fix-it-t7626.html
 
Okay...12ppm is what I thought was right based on the charts here, but when the water wasn't looking any better I was worried and added bleach and got it up to 16ppm at highest...it had fallen to 6ppm when I tested this am...as I was gone all yesterday and evening yesterday...CC has been consistlenly 3.0 except once a day or two ago was 3.5.,,,Thus TC has ranged from 9 to 19...
Husband rinsed a lot of yuck out of the sand in the filter with the garden hose. Pump pressure after backwashing is 15...and it has gone up to 17 in less than an hour after rinsing sand. We've been backwashing when the pressure has gone up to 20...However, it nearly kills us to lose the water...we live in the county with the most expensive water rates nt he state!
 

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With a clean pressure of 15psi, we recommend backwashing at 20-25% increase, so you should be backwashing between 18-19psi to maintain optimal flow.

Do you have plants/grass that need watering? The FC is generally low enough to not be harmful to them if you can direct your backwash water.
 
bntkero said:
Husband rinsed a lot of yuck out of the sand in the filter with the garden hose. Pump pressure after backwashing is 15...and it has gone up to 17 in less than an hour after rinsing sand. We've been backwashing when the pressure has gone up to 20...However, it nearly kills us to lose the water...we live in the county with the most expensive water rates nt he state!
Click to expand...

It's unfortunate about your water rates, but as your pressure rise is showing, the filter is doing it's job. :goodjob: Keep at it & the backwashing will slow down as the water cleans up. Good luck.
 
Hmmm. Still frustrated as the water hasn't cleared up. When numbers have been in recommended ranges for all -- we've been swimming. However, don't want to invite people over until it's pretty, sparkly and clear. Beginning to think it won't happen this swim season.

Finally managed to get the CC to .5ppm about three days ago. Have I screwed it up when the FC dropped too low a few times. It seems to burn off pretty fast in the warm sunny weather. Hesitant to add any stabilizer because as I understand, it raises the amount of chlorine needed to shock -- and it's already been expensive to maintain.

FC 6.5
TC 7
pH 7.2
CYA 25
TA 110
CA 220
 
Well, with the low CYA, the sun is consuming a lot of your FC. So raising the CYA may actually require you to use less FC every day which would be cheaper.

Kind of hard to follow the shock process to clear the pool and be swimming. Letting the FC drop too low is certainly a problem, how low did it get?
 
It got to 1 ppm. Bad, huh? In the back of my mind - I knew I should keep the shock up, but our summers are pretty brief up here in the U.P. and it was so hot, just wanted to cool off.

I shocked last night before dark and got it to 16ppm FC / .5 CC

This a.m. tested: 13.5 FC / .5 CC -- Adding a 182 oz jug of bleach to get it up...

Have to order a new vaccuum -- we'd left ours out in the sun on the deck, didn't know it'd get brittle and cracked the end of the hose that connects to the skimmer...and also cracked the connection on the head...:( Do we need to order an entire new hose, or can we just get the coupler end that connects to the disc that attaches to the skimmer? Haven't seen anywhere that they only sell the coupler part yet.
 
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