Pool Start Up: Cloudy light white blue water

[skm]

FC - 4 ppm
CC - 4 ppm
pH - 7.8
TA - 120 ppm
CH - 180 ppm
CYA - 0 ppm
Borates - Not using
Test Kit - Sorry, do not have a good test kit, above test results are from the local pool store.

Hello,

My pool pump broke down three months back and I have just installed a new pool pump. In the meanwhile, pool was accumulating all sorts of things - leaves, dust, frogs, bugs etc.

After installing the new pump, I cleaned the pool somewhat (few buckets of waste) and then the water got too dirty (dark green) for me to see what am I cleaning. So, I decided to start the balancing process. I got the water tested and put the required amount of chemicals suggested by the pool store. After putting all the chemicals, water changed color to soft white blue color. It is very cloudy and the bottom is not visible even at the shallow end. I waited for a day and then got the water tested again. The result mentioned above are from that testing. My local pool store guy asked me to put some clarifier and wait for 12 hours which I did yesterday. It is now more than 20 hours and nothing has changed - pool water looks still the same.

I will appreciate if you would please advice me on the next steps to help resolve this problem.

Thanks a lot.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, skm

To clear your water you need to do the shocking process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

In addition to the above pool school article, this article will be helpful (and the link in it): http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/defeating_algae

In order to do this efficiently, you will need your own appropriate test kit. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison I like the TF-100, most bang for buck.

 

[RobbieH]

Follow Linen's instructions, and do not follow any more instructions from the pool store. If you try to mix the two, it will be difficult to walk you through the process from start to finish.

Cloudy blue means you are on your way, but you have to follow the shock process through to completion.

 

[skm]

Linen, RobbieH,

Thanks for your response.

I will continue with the shock and post again with the results.

Regards

 

[skm]

FC - 5 ppm
CC - 5 ppm
pH - 7.6
TA - 120 ppm
ATA (?) - 120 ppm
CH - 180 ppm
CYA - 10 ppm
Borates - Not using

Water Condition: Same as before - white blue, not able to see the bottom even on the shallow end.

Test Kit - Ordered Taylor test kit. Just bought a LaMotte Insta-TEST 5 Plus test kit (tests FC, TC, TA, PH & TH) so that I can test water frequently on my own instead of having to go to local pool store for testing.

Hello,

After yesterday's advice to continue the shock process, I added 11 liter of 6% bleach for a desired FC of 10 ppm. I added bleach around 7pm PST. Could not test the water till today due to lack of a better test kit (Bought one today). Just went to local pool store and got the water tested again. Results are posted above.

As the FC is still not up to the shock level, I intend to continue with the shock process by adding the required amount of bleach in an effort to bring the FC level to 10 ppm.

Appreciate if you would please let me know if I need to take some other steps.

I also have a question, is the filter performance may be causing this issue to continue ?
The reason I am asking this question is because my local pool store guy seems to think so.

Thanks for your help.

Regards

 

[frogabog]

Until your water reaches shock level, and is maintained at shock level, the filter will not be able to clear the dead algae. Right now you've got some alive algae, and some dead. Algae is like a zombie, it will re-animate till you get a good double tap in and kill it 100%. In fact, algae is worse than a zombie because you can kill it dead a million times but if you don't keep it dead (shock level) it will always reanimate.

Once you are able to reach shock level and maintain it with your testing things should go much faster. Guessing with an inadequate kit unfortunately means you don't know when or if you fall below shock level which causes the one "step forward, two steps back" activity you're experiencing.

Pool store people like to make wild guesses about pools because they haven't the knowledge that we teach here about the shocking process. Anyone who would sell you shock product with the instructions to dump it in and expect a miracle will not know what to do when said miracle doesn't occur. You can't blame the filter till you've got test results that show that your algae is dead and you've passed the OCLT and have .5ppm or less combined chlorine for a number of days with no visual results on water clarity. It can take a while after the algae dies to get it all filtered out.

 

[GreatCanadian]

I'm not surprised that you haven't seen any improvement. The instructions from the pool store pretty well guarantee that. I doubt your filter is the problem, other than it probably needs to be backwashed (and probably fairly frequently during the shock process). If you haven't backwashed, perform a backwash, and get a "clean" reading from the pressure gauge. Meaning, after you backwash, rinse, then switch back to filter and take a reading from your pressure gauge. This is your clean reading. You need to remember this. When the reading increases by about 25% you need to backwash again. This is in order to maintain efficient water flow and filtering.

 

[skm]

Frogabog, GreatCanadian,

Thanks for your response.

I will continue with the shock process.

I have been regularly doing backwash. Last time was just before adding bleach yesterday. I will do another one today. Reading has remain constant at approx 10 psi.

Regarding test kit, I have ordered the Taylor K-2006. Estimated arrival is July 31st. In the meanwhile, I have to do with the LaMotte 5 way test strip which was the best kit available in local market.

Thanks

 

[linen]

Reading has remain constant at approx 10 psi.

Is the gauge working? Does it read 0 when pump is off? We recommend cleaning when your pressure goes up 25% from clean pressure. Cleaning a sand filter to early (small pressure increase) will actually reduce it's effectivness.

Regarding test kit, I have ordered the Taylor K-2006. Estimated arrival is July 31st.

I wish more people would realize that tftestkits.net will get a kit to them fast (usually 2-3 days std), and they sell both the TF-100 (preferred by many of us, due to value/dollar) and the K-2006. Waiting that long for a test kit sure doesn't help getting a pool clean

 

[skm]

Hi Linen,

Yes, the gauge is working. It does read 0 when pump is off and move up to 10 psi.

Sorry, I have already put the order now for K-2006. Will go for TF-100 from tftestkits.net next time.

Thanks

 

[linen]

Sorry, I have already put the order now for K-2006.

No need to apologize, it doesn't affect me one way or the other. I just mentioned it for the sake of future readers who are in need of a FAS-DPD chlorine test kit. Waiting for a test kit can really be a PITA when you have water issues.

 

[GreatCanadian]

If your clean pressure is 10 then don't backwash until you reach about 13. 12.5 is 25% increase.

 

[onBalance]

If the filter pressure has been remaining constant and not increasing, then that means that the filter is not removing any of the cloudiness.