First test - cloudy water

[ddeantodd]

Hello everyone. I'm in the same boat as several I see on here: I bought a house recently with an IG SWG pool. I started out going to the local pool store, bought a bunch of chemicals, and got my pool back to 'blue/clear'. But the water is cloudy about 2-3 feet down. It's been at this state for about a week now. I've backwashed and rinsed the sand filter a few times during this time.

I found this website, bought the TF-100 kit, and just did my first test. Below are my results:

FC - 4
CC - 1
pH - 7.5
TA - 120
CH - 125
CYA - 70

My SWG says there is currently a 3600 ppm salt level, and I have my output % set to about 60.

From what I can tell by reading the Pool School, my TA is high, and my FC may be too low. Is that correct, or am I missing something?

Any and all advice to get my pool balanced and cleared up would be very much appreciated!

 

[Casey]

SLAM the pool. Everything looks ok for now... Follow the guidelines in Pool School.

Get the CC down and filter 24/7 and you'll get back on track! Keep posting questions. Welcome!!!!

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

TA is the last thing to even consider worrying about. You need to follow the SLAM Process until you pass the 3 criteria to stop, you are currently failing at least 2 of these. Usually this is best done with the SWG turned off, later worry about getting the SWG back dialed in.

 

[ddeantodd]

Thanks! I'll work on the SLAM this weekend and see if that clears things up. So the process is to basically SLAM the pool, meet the 3 criteria, then turn the SWG on and play with the output until the target FC level is where I want it to be (~5)?

 

[jblizzle]

That is it in a nut shell

 

[ddeantodd]

How long should I wait to test for FC after I throw the bleach in?

 

[jblizzle]

At least 30 minutes.

 

[Richard320]

Cloudy water almost always means algae

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[ddeantodd]

How long does one (on average) take to SLAM? I've been working on it since Friday morning, and I've seen minimal improvement clarity wise (maybe a half foot or so clearer depth wise). I've kept my FC at or above 28 (CYA of 70), and the CC has gone down from 1, to near-or-at 0.

I'm guessing I need to be more patient, but it seems like I'm buying out all my local stores of bleach.

 

[Smykowski]

Every pool is different, but if it started swampy green, plan on at least a week.

 

[pwrstrk]

How long it's going to take, it's hard to say. Not uncommon for a week to ten days. Maybe more, maybe less.
What I can tell you is the longer you maintain SLAM level the quicker it will go and brush, brush, brush !
I know it's hard , but learning to get POP ( pool owner patience) will help out also.
Just keep at it ! ?

 

[ddeantodd]

When I started SLAM, it was already blue/clear. But really hazy and cloudy (could only see about a foot deep), and my CC was tested at 1 (from TF -100).

 

[Richard320]

I believe the fastest I've ever seen is three days, but the guy worked some weird shifts so he set his alarm and got up every two hours during a three day weekend. I think the worst was a month, but his water was clear well before that. A black sludge pond is usually good for about two weeks. I'd guess 10 days for you, but a whole lot depends on how diligent you are about maintaining FC and brushing and how well your filter works. You could always try adding DE to your sand filter. It might speed things up.

 

[ddeantodd]

Ok, thanks! I will turn my patience up and keep SLAM'ing away. I'll grab some DE and give that try too. Thanks for the responses!