Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemicals

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S

southgaamy

0
May 13, 2013
17
We have a brand new 27'x54" AG pool with a Hayward 1 hp 2speed pump and 200 lb sand filter. Filled pool with well water (19,300 gal) over 3 days. Finished filling this am and looked beautiful, crisp, and clear. Started up the pump and backwashed and rinsed filter. Used Taylor test kit to test water and pH was 8.2. I have been reading pool school and posts on this forum since before ordering the pool and had read to worry about pH first, then CYA and chlorine. So, the pool calculator said I should add just over 2 cups of MA, but because I had also read that the CYA would lower pH, I only added 1 cup. Also added 5 lbs CYA in two socks hanging in front of return. Added 1 gal 8.25% bleach. After pump running 1 hour retested water.
FC- 6
CC-0
pH-7.2
TA- 120 ppm
CH-70 ppm
CYA- didn't test yet becuase I read to wait at least 4 days to a week to test after adding
PROBLEM IS: Now the water looks terrible. It is dull, cloudy, and looks greenish. REmember, this morning it looked beautiful, so I don't believe it is alage. I am heartbroken, because I was just sure this BBB method was the way to go, but now I don't know what to do.
 
Re: Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemica

Green quickly after adding bleach is almost always from metals in the water. For mild cases simply waiting will clear it up. For more severe cases you may need to add some sequestrant. That wouldn't account for the cloudiness however. If this all happened shortly after you turned on the pump the cloudiness could be from dust that had settled on the bottom during the fill.

I suggest you do an overnight FC loss test to make sure there isn't any algae, and otherwise give the filter some time to filter out the cloudiness. If the green doesn't go away in 24 hours and you don't have algae, add a startup dose of sequestrant.
 
Re: Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemica

The water is clear i think, just the green color prevents you from being able to see through it. What sequestrant should I use, and do I add sequestrant every time I add bleach?
 
Re: Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemica

It is pretty common to have iron in your pool water if it came from a well. As long as you refill from that well, you will have iron problems and you may have to replenish the sequestrant to keep the iron suspended.

That said, there is no harm in waiting 3-4 days for it to clear up. Simply keep all your chemistry at normal levels and observe if the water starts to turn less greenish and then more blue.

You're still using BBB principles because BBB is about understanding what's happening in your pool and knowing what to do about it.
 
Re: Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemica

Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic The Pink Stuff (regular), The Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and The Purple Stuff (salt) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find many other brands with similar active ingredients, some of which are noticeably less expensive.
 

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Re: Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemica

I feel your pain...first year I had my 15' Intex I filled using my well water. And never did it again...so much junk in it, took 2 weeks to clear it up with daily cleaning and running the pump constantly. I have my water trucked in now, nice and clean from the city. Be patient...it will clear up! :)
 
Re: Water went from clear to cloudy after adding 1st chemica

Update: The water def turned green because of the metals in the well water. I added three quarts of Aqua Chem Scale, Metal and Stain Control and ran pump on high continuously for about 24 hrs and now the water is beautiful again. Yay!!!!! Went ahead and tested CYA, although its only been 2 days, and it is at 50. According to the charts, I need to keep FC at at least 4 with a CYA of 50. It is at about 3 right now, so I guess I'll be adding some bleach tonight. My fingers are crossed that the water will stay blue after adding more chlorine, since it will only be a couple of cups. This is a lot of work and no one has even been in this pool yet, but I know it will be worth it.
 
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