Hello new to the forum. I have a 12' x 30" above ground pool approx. 1600 gals. I did have beautiful crystal clear water, that is until I used some cheap test strips. The strips said I was low on the Ph side, so I added wally world special Ph Plus. That instantly turned the water cloudy. So I went to Amazon and bought me a whiz bang pool test kit with liquid droppers and everything. It is now been 1 week and still cloudy water. My readings from my test kit today 7/8 are: FC 3.0, Combined chlorine 2.0, Ph 7.2 and TA 160. The filter was replaced today and will run through the night. The water temp is about 72-74 degrees. I stired up the white sediment on the bottom that I can see. Any help with my cloudy pool? I just want it to be crystal clear like it was 3 weeks ago. Please help?
Cloudy Pool Newbie Help!
- Thread starter dprewitt
- Start date
Welcome to tfp, dprewitt 
I am not aware of any drop based test kits from walmart (the HTH 6-way drop based) that will measure FC and CC. What kit are you using for those parameters?
How big and what type is your pool?
You need to do the shocking process. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool
I am not aware of any drop based test kits from walmart (the HTH 6-way drop based) that will measure FC and CC. What kit are you using for those parameters?
How big and what type is your pool?
You need to do the shocking process. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool
Sorry about that I bought the test strips when I bought the pool and realized how un reliable they are. I bought a Poolmaster Basic 5 Test kit. The pool is a Summer Escapes metal frame above ground 12'x 30".
At that size of pool, I would probably do a full drain refill then start over following this:http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/temporary_pool_guide
Your test results are missing CYA and CH, which are both important numbers. I believe when a pool clouds up right after increasing pH, that could be because of a high CH. I will link to this post from Richard (chem geek), even though it is about a hot tub. The same applies to pools. why-would-a-hot-tub-turn-cloudy-when-i-add-ph-increaser-t52191.html#p429207
Im guessing that CYA is Cyanuric Acid & CH is calcium hardness. My test kit dosnt support those fields. Do you think adding the PH Plus could of made my pool cloudy? If I need to raise the PH again is there another product I can use that wont make the ppol cloudy??
Adding pH (acid) to the pool might cause cloudiness if your CH is high and can be worse if TA is off. I'm agreeing that at 1600 gallons I'd drain and start over. It will probably be easier than trying to fix the problem.
My guess is that with a CC of 2 that you have an algae outbreak that's not related to pH. Without knowing CYA, my guess is that your FC has been too low for your CYA level. It is a guess at this point, but it's what I'm thinking.
My guess is that with a CC of 2 that you have an algae outbreak that's not related to pH. Without knowing CYA, my guess is that your FC has been too low for your CYA level. It is a guess at this point, but it's what I'm thinking.