Help...Cloudy Water!

[poolneophyte]

My previously crystal clear water has become cloudy and I can't figure out why. I did an OCLT on 7/12 and passed losing only 1.0 ppm of FC overnight. Current test results as of 10:30AM EST today are as follows:

Temp=84
PH=7.5
FC=8.5
CC=0
TC=8.5
TA=70
CH=30
CYA=75
Borates=50

I have a DE filter that I use with cellulose media. I am considering increasing the chlorine level to target a FC of 10 until it clears up. Any ideas what I should do to clear up the cloudiness or what may be causing it?

 

[BoDarville]

Assuming you did not just have a big swim party. That can cause previously clear water to lose its edge.

Your FC of 8.5 is on target for a CYA of 75, per Chlorine/CYA chart. You can try increasing it slightly and see if that helps. Another thing to try is increasing your pump/filter run time.

 

[poolneophyte]

I already run the filter for 12 hours per day at 2800RPM. I added some chlorine after my post this morning and increased the pump speed to 3000RPM and will see if that helps. We haven't had any big parties. Daily bather load has been 3-4 kids for a few hours each afternoon. The kids regulary get out to use the bathroom so I hope that they aren't peeing in the pool. It has been very hot and sunny so there is probably a lot of sunscreen and sweat getting rinsed off in the pool. That may have something to do with it. Last summer I targeted a FC of 10 with a CYA level of 80 and did not have any problems. I may just try to increase my FC level to 10 and see what happens.

 

[BoDarville]

It has been very hot and sunny so there is probably a lot of sunscreen and sweat getting rinsed off in the pool.

That definitely will have an impact on water clarity.

 

[chem geek]

A 1 ppm OCLT may be not a failure, but it's not great either and is probably from the bather load from the kids. Sunscreen will definitely form a film on the water and if splashed in it can make the water a little dull looking. So yes, between a faster turnover rate and a higher chlorine level you could clear the pool somewhat faster.

Now are you talking about really cloudy or just dull looking and not the crystal clear you had hoped for?

 

[poolneophyte]

chem geek,

I thought the same thing that a 1.0 loss is just barely passing. To answer your question, I wouldn't say the water is overly cloudy since I can see the phillips head screws on the main drains. There is definately something that I condsider to be out of the norm. I would say that the pool just lost its sparkle. Should I run another OCLT tonight? Also, when I ran the last OCLT, I shut off the SWG but left the pump running all night. Is that ok to do?

 

[chem geek]

You can do another OCLT if you want to, but it does sound like it's just the bather load (inc. suntan lotion) clouding the water and that higher chlorine levels and more filtering would combine to clear it up faster. You might suggest that your kids put the suntan lotion on about a half-hour before they go in the pool and to be sure to smooth it into the skin and not have globs of it that can easily come off. Also, if they are sweating being outside, they can rinse off briefly (using an outdoor shower, if you have one) first before getting into the pool.

In our pool, my wife uses it every day for about an hour and the suntan lotion she is unable to reach on her back often comes off so there's always a film on the water during and after she's used the pool. It usually clears up by the next day (even by the end of the day) and it doesn't make the pool particularly dull, but this is just one fairly careful person, so I can figure that a bunch of kids just lathering themselves with lotion could wreck a lot more havoc moving the pool away from sparkling perfection.

 

[poolneophyte]

Well, I think the dullness/cloudiness issue was due to algae. I increased the flow rate and bumped the chlorine up to 11 by manually dosing. I also put my SWG up to 100% and did a lot of brushing. At first I noticed that the chlorine was being consumed despite running the SWG all night at 100%. Now, the pool has become crystal clear again like it used to be. Last night, we had a heavy thunderstorm that added about 2.5" of water to the pool. I had my wife test the water this morning and was surprised when she told me that the FC level jumped to 17 with no CC's. I'm assuming that we caught the algae before it really got a hold on the pool. I plan on letting the FC drop down to the 8-10 range and leave it there. I have never had any luck using the SWG numbers on the Chlorine/CYA chart. Are there any problems using the higher Non-SWG numbers from the chart even though I have a SWG? It just seems like my pool stays much clearer with FC being in the range of 8 - 10 and my CYA being between 70 - 80.

 

[Richard320]

No, you can run FC up at the same level as us jug-dumpers.

 

[poolneophyte]

Richard,

That's what I thought but figured that I should ask the question anyway.

Thanks,