My level was at 16 with 0 CC this morning. CYA was 35 but was told this was probably not accurate. I know this advice is all best guess but I was advised to shock more and now the CC is at .5 ppm. According to the info I was OK before shocking this morning. Sorry but this is getting frustrating. I assume my best course is to use the pool calculator and my test kit and see what works. My son is a neurochemistry and bio double major. Maybe I should hand the kit over to him since he teases me about my new "chemistry set".
Replacing water in above ground pool
- Thread starter PamKern
- Start date
Having a CC reading up to 0.5 ppm is not indicative of a problem.
I would keep at shock levels today, then do another OCLT allowing for a longer mixing time before doing your nighttime FC test.
16 ppm is fine at 35 ppm cya, just a little more aggressive. Since the process is a bit of a roller coaster, you could dose up to 16 ppm every time it drops to 14 ppm.
I would keep at shock levels today, then do another OCLT allowing for a longer mixing time before doing your nighttime FC test.
16 ppm is fine at 35 ppm cya, just a little more aggressive. Since the process is a bit of a roller coaster, you could dose up to 16 ppm every time it drops to 14 ppm.
Keep the faith, you can do this!
How's your water look?
The CC going from 0.0 to 0.5 indicates that CL you added was not wasted, it killed off the algae and other organics and some of it is trapped as CC. The continued shocking process and the sunlight will get rid of the CC. At this time, the only way you would be wasting CL would be to let your levels drop and let the algae. continue to grow.
You will get there!
How's your water look?
The CC going from 0.0 to 0.5 indicates that CL you added was not wasted, it killed off the algae and other organics and some of it is trapped as CC. The continued shocking process and the sunlight will get rid of the CC. At this time, the only way you would be wasting CL would be to let your levels drop and let the algae. continue to grow.
You will get there!
Unfortunately during the last hour we had a mega storm rip through here and my pool is now filled with branches and leaves. Plus we have a huge maple tree down. At least it didn't hit the pool. Of course that would solve all the problems haha. As soon as the lightening stops I am going to clear the debris from the pool and test again. I had shocked it again this afternoon as the FC had dropped to 12. It has been over 100 degrees and the sun was brutal. I assume that may have been a partial cause of the drop. I was actually beginning to see farther down on the pool walls. At least the rain cooled us down a bit. Not sure what it did to my water yet.q
Be careful! I don't know where you are but I was talking with a co-worker in Texas and she commented that it was storming so bad at her place she was surprised she still had power. I am in dry, sunny CA.
As to losing FC, 4 ppm per day is completely normal in sunny areas with CYA 30-40 ppm. Add some wind and extra heat...
As to losing FC, 4 ppm per day is completely normal in sunny areas with CYA 30-40 ppm. Add some wind and extra heat...
We are in southwest Ohio. Lot's without power around here too but fortunately we are not one of them. The chain saws are going like mad clearing debris around the neighborhood. More storms are being forecast for the next few days. Got all of the junk out of the pool and tested again. FC is at 16 and CC is .5. I will add bleach this evening again and test in the morning. I see an end to cloudy water coming. I may have to turn Friday's pool party into a cocktail party because of rain but at least my pool will be clear soon!
YEAH!!! No one was hurt in the storm and the pool survived unscathed.... AND THE THE CLOUDY IS LEAVING
My pool is still cloudy. Very blue but still cloudy. My CC has been at or below .5 ppm for a over a week. I have been keeping FC at 5 to 7 for the past few days as it seems the level always holds overnight. I am posting my test this morning because I am wondering if calcium hardness could have something to do with the water staying cloudy. Also, we had pulled our plastic steps as they seem to always cause an algae problem by holding water that doesn't circulate. We have a dock style deck (a whole other problem that a deck guy talked us into 5 years ago so we can't use a regular ladder or steps, only a dock ladder if we want to exit the pool to the deck and not on the side and walk around) We replaced the dock ladder a few days ago as we had none after our old one broke last year. This one is aluminum and immediately turned dark gray with white sandy scales the day after we put it in the water. Is that because of calcium hardness or just the way aluminum reacts to pool water? The last one was powder coated and rusted through. So anyway, test results this morning.
FC 7
CC .5
PH 7.8
TA 210
CH 330
CYA 40
We have replaced a good amount of water because we have been vacuuming to waste as well as the drought conditions around here.
So is my calcium a problem or should I just keep at it as I am noticing slow improvement?
FC 7
CC .5
PH 7.8
TA 210
CH 330
CYA 40
We have replaced a good amount of water because we have been vacuuming to waste as well as the drought conditions around here.
So is my calcium a problem or should I just keep at it as I am noticing slow improvement?
Sounds like the water should have been at shock level instead of high/minimum due to the fact that the water didn't pass the "water is clear" criteria in the shocking process.
I agree with Frog in that you may not have been done with the shocking process, but since you appear to be passing the OCLT consistently I think it is possible that you are experiencing calcium clouding. Short term, try and lower the ph down to 7.2 and see if the cloudiness lessens. Long term, lowering TA will also help if it calcium clouding.
Me again.
CC .5
FC 14
CYA 48
PH 8.2
TA 220
CH 340
My pool is still very blue but there has been no lessening in cloudiness for the past week. Today it actually looks slightly cloudier. I have been keeping it at shock level and have been working on clear water since July 11.
The pool calculator recommends replacing 24% of water. We have been gradually replacing and our hardness is going up so the hardness of our water seems to be way too high.
PH has also gone up in the past few days so I am adding muratic acid.
Alkalinity is also high.
The only change has been the aluminum ladder but we pull it out when not using.
I feel like the water will never get clear short of buying water to refill it. That is not in the budget at this point.
Any other thoughts? I am sending a photo too if I can figure out how.
CC .5
FC 14
CYA 48
PH 8.2
TA 220
CH 340
My pool is still very blue but there has been no lessening in cloudiness for the past week. Today it actually looks slightly cloudier. I have been keeping it at shock level and have been working on clear water since July 11.
The pool calculator recommends replacing 24% of water. We have been gradually replacing and our hardness is going up so the hardness of our water seems to be way too high.
PH has also gone up in the past few days so I am adding muratic acid.
Alkalinity is also high.
The only change has been the aluminum ladder but we pull it out when not using.
I feel like the water will never get clear short of buying water to refill it. That is not in the budget at this point.
Any other thoughts? I am sending a photo too if I can figure out how.
From what I've read you don't need to replace the water. A CH of 340 isn't that high. What you really need to do is work on the pH and that will ultimately lower the TA. For a short while you'll need to proactively lower the pH. Every time it gets to 7.6, lower it back to about 7.2 or even 7.0 but no lower. That will lessen the clouding (if it is calcium clouding) and bring the TA down. Which you need to do anyway.
Thanks, I will keep at it. I am determined to have a few clear water swimming days before it is time to close for the season. :lol:
FC 7
CC 0
PH 7.8
TA 210
CH 350
CYA 38
Still struggling with cloudiness. The pool has been beautifully blue for quite a while but we still cannot see our feet at the bottom, 54" deep. It is clearer than when we started but no where near where it should be. I am convinced the hardness and alkalinity are causing the cloudiness at this point. I have been adding bleach and muriatic acid as recommended by the pool calculator and testing almost obsessively. We also added water as we had a leak that is now repaired. I suppose I will continue on and hope that it clears before we have to close it for the season.
Would there be any sense in using a floculant at this point?
I certainly don't want to make things worse.
Thanks for all of the advice thus far. I would have never gotten to blue water without all of your help.
CC 0
PH 7.8
TA 210
CH 350
CYA 38
Still struggling with cloudiness. The pool has been beautifully blue for quite a while but we still cannot see our feet at the bottom, 54" deep. It is clearer than when we started but no where near where it should be. I am convinced the hardness and alkalinity are causing the cloudiness at this point. I have been adding bleach and muriatic acid as recommended by the pool calculator and testing almost obsessively. We also added water as we had a leak that is now repaired. I suppose I will continue on and hope that it clears before we have to close it for the season.
Would there be any sense in using a floculant at this point?
I certainly don't want to make things worse.
Thanks for all of the advice thus far. I would have never gotten to blue water without all of your help.
I at times have CH at 400+ with high TA/CH fill water (300+) and no cloudiness, ever (ps... I found TFP before our initial fill). First, you have a large pool and a sand filter is the least efficient at filtering out dead algae...it will get it done, but it takes a longer time than with a DE or cart filter. I'm not an advocate of this, but you've been at it long enough and if you have already tried adding DE to the sand filter, and made sure the filter is actually set to filter and everything else seems to be working right, including passing the OFCLT...then try a floc, it may just be what the dr ordered.
Thanks. My kids are having a party tonight so I will probably give it a shot tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.
Just want to chime in since we were in a similar state last year with cloudy water.
Personally (and I think tfp rules say the same) don't flock. You end up vacuuming to waste, losing a ton of water and now have to add fill water. It sounds like you have difficult fill water, so I would avoid using products that require you to vacuum to waste.
That said, I know others say that they have high ch and don't have cloudiness, but we did. When I got my TA down to 100 (vinyl pool) my ch was less and my water is crystal clear like never before.
Also, did you put in new zerobrite? We used that this year and it took almost two months to clear the water. What finally helped was pulling the top off the sand filter, draining the water out and sticking a hose in to flush the zeo. The water was so gray coming out.
We put our filter back together and added a little de to the filter. Then with a little pop, in a week the water was perfect.
So keep up the chlorine levels so you pass the oclt, lower your TA to the appropriate level for your kind of pool, and wash the zeosand. Keep your ph near 7.6 or lower with your ch level. That high ph with high ch is sure way to get scale and it happened fast (two days) for us.
Good luck and don't give up hope. The folks here are great!
Personally (and I think tfp rules say the same) don't flock. You end up vacuuming to waste, losing a ton of water and now have to add fill water. It sounds like you have difficult fill water, so I would avoid using products that require you to vacuum to waste.
That said, I know others say that they have high ch and don't have cloudiness, but we did. When I got my TA down to 100 (vinyl pool) my ch was less and my water is crystal clear like never before.
Also, did you put in new zerobrite? We used that this year and it took almost two months to clear the water. What finally helped was pulling the top off the sand filter, draining the water out and sticking a hose in to flush the zeo. The water was so gray coming out.
We put our filter back together and added a little de to the filter. Then with a little pop, in a week the water was perfect.
So keep up the chlorine levels so you pass the oclt, lower your TA to the appropriate level for your kind of pool, and wash the zeosand. Keep your ph near 7.6 or lower with your ch level. That high ph with high ch is sure way to get scale and it happened fast (two days) for us.
Good luck and don't give up hope. The folks here are great!
I will try rinsing the zeobrite. We replaced it this year thinking that was part of the problem. As I said, we were trying everything. I just feel like we are running out of swim time. We can swim in the cloudy water but it is just very frustrating. It is storming today so I will have to wait until tomorrow to deal with it anyway. I keep thing it is the alkalinity too. Could be wrong. At this point I have no idea what the solution will be. Watching the clear pool water on the Olympics isn't helping me feel better, haha.
This might sound a little harsh, but from what I am seeing, we are telling you to keep you ph low and you are not following our advice. Bring ph down to 7.2 and see if it clears up. Every time ph gets above 7.5 , bring it back down to 7.2 so that your TA starts to come down.
If you read my previous posts I have been adding muriatic acid to bring it down. I follow the pool calculator for amounts. We had a leak and each time I added water it got worse so I added more acid. We wanted to actually be able to swim in it this weekend so I did not add anymore Saturday since we need to wait 10 hours according to everything I have read. I will start again this evening. I get so much conflicting advice that I am not sure what direction to follow. As I said earlier, my goal is to lower ph and hopefully alkalinity will follow and I have been adding muriatic acid to reach that goal so I am pretty sure I have been following that advice. I think I am going to follow the pool calculator and stop posting.