Greenish cloudy water

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Metsy10

0
Jul 6, 2013
130
Scotch Plains, NJ
Hi all -

Must be pool season here in NJ! I did a test yesterday using my TF100 kit. My TC was 2.5. My pH is 7.2 and my standard free chlorine (the yellow part of the test tube) was between 8 and 10.

I did the CYA test and seems that there is none present in the pool? Reason I say this is because after doing the CYA test, I could fill the whole tube and still see the bottom black dot - it was crystal clear.

Last year based on the advice of this forum I switched from standard chlorine tables to the BBB method. Since the pool was just opened last week, the pool guy added 5 gallons of liquid shock and added the floater in.

I believe there should be a level of CYA present in the pool, but given that CYA turned out to be an issue last year (when I was still using the old chlorine method), I'm just looking for a gut check that I should add an stabilizer?

Now off to the green issue - it's metal stains. I know it's metal stains based on the vitamin C tablet method. Given that I have two issues, any advice on the best way to address both and in what order? I feel like I can tackle each one separately on it's own, but don't want to mix stuff up and negate anything!

If I need to provide anything further for background, please let me know. I'm out of practice from this horrid weather in NJ!

Many thanks,
Lorraine

- - - Updated - - -

Also as a footnote, the sand in the filter was replaced just last year.
 
I would address the metal stains last.

1. Add enough CYA to get to around 40 ppm.
2. Add enough FC to get to 5 ppm and then keep it between 3-5 ppm for the swim season.

3. You got some things mixed up on your testing (the yellow comparator block only goes to 5 ppm and it looks like you did not test for CC's...you should)

It would be a good idea to repeat the FAS/DPD test (incoluding cc's) and report those results back so we're all on the same page.
 
duraleigh said:
I would address the metal stains last.

1. Add enough CYA to get to around 40 ppm.
2. Add enough FC to get to 5 ppm and then keep it between 3-5 ppm for the swim season.

3. You got some things mixed up on your testing (the yellow comparator block only goes to 5 ppm and it looks like you did not test for CC's...you should)

It would be a good idea to repeat the FAS/DPD test (incoluding cc's) and report those results back so we're all on the same page.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the leads on this, much appreciated. I will pick up the stabilizer if I can get it today! You are correct, I had the correct test results on the yellow block (5) but wrote the wrong the numbers when I wrote this out yesterday. Based on your advice I redid the FAS/DPD test. Results were as follows: I added one scoop of the powder and the water turned pink indicating a presence of chlorine. I then added 2 drops of the R0871 solution to turn it back to clear. 2 drops X .5 = 1 total Free Chlorine - correct? Then I added the 5 drops of R-003 and it turned pink again. I added 5 drops of the R00871 which would leave CC results of 2.5. So I would have a total chlorine level of 3.5?

Assuming that my results above are what you would expect and based on the pool calculator, I need to add 166 oz of liquid bleach to get the free chlorine up from a 1 to a 4. Then I also need to add the CYA - around 143 oz of the solid or 370 in the liquid. Is there a particular order I should do this in? Are there any side effects to other I should be prepared for? For example, the CYA section on the calculator says that it will potentially (if not positively) lower the pH. If that's the case and based on results, I see that it happens, do I need to wait a certain amount of time prior to treating that? Should I wait "X" days prior to testing for it?

Many thanks again!
Lorraine

- - - Updated - - -

JasonLion said:
Get the water balanced and everything working smoothly before attempting a metal stain treatment.
Click to expand...

Jason - thanks, and will follow this direction prior to doing anything with the metal.
 
Your math looks good.

Don't worry too much about PH. The CYA will lower it a little, but not too much. If you do have a chance 24 hours or more after adding CYA and FC is below 10 at that point, you can test and adjust PH as needed, but if you can't do that till later don't worry about it.
 
Based on your advice I redid the FAS/DPD test. Results were as follows: I added one scoop of the powder and the water turned pink indicating a presence of chlorine. I then added 2 drops of the R0871 solution to turn it back to clear. 2 drops X .5 = 1 total Free Chlorine - correct? Then I added the 5 drops of R-003 and it turned pink again. I added 5 drops of the R00871 which would leave CC results of 2.5. So I would have a total chlorine level of 3.5?
Click to expand...
Your FAS/DPD test results look accurate this time but they indicate a need to SLAM your pool. A 2.5 ppm test result of CC's is too high (you want .5 ppm.....no more) and the best way to get that down is to SLAM.

The procedure for doing so is in the SLAM article in Pool School.

Is it easy for you to get a pic of the pool water? Is the water color clear green or murky green?
 
With your CC at 2.5 you need to SLAM the pool. You also stated your CYA at zero. Your CYA may have been converted to ammonia.
I would add enough bleach to bring your FC up to 10. That is SLAM level for zero CYA. Retest it in 30 min's and bring it back up to 10 if need be. If you have ammonia it will consume the chlorine very quickly. That's way you should test FC every 30 min's.
After your FC loss slows down and your CC's come down then you can start your CYA addition. ?
 
Picture attached of the pool and the stabilizer I bought to do the CYA levels with. I haven't added any yet though, because it sounds like I may need to SLAM first. I know it may be hard to tell from the pool photo but the water is cloudy (although I can see the seam line on the deep part of the pool at 8ft, it's just not clear it is cloudy).

The green tint in the photo is from the metal staining (that I know of so far).
pool2.JPG
chemicals2.JPG
 

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Ok - one hour post slam (trying to go from a 4 to a 10 for FC). Reading on the Free Chlorine now shows 8.5 - we used 17 drops until we hit clear. However, when we tried to do the CC test, it did not ever go to pink with the 5 drops of solution. It stayed clear. I am not sure if I should have even been attempting to do that test, but we did it anyway.
 
Thanks all! Does this mean I continue to keep the bleach up at 10 for a certain period of time? Or now that the CC is down, do I no longer need to continue the extra bleach for elevated levels of chlorine? Obviously the water is still cloudy and has no marked improvement yet, nor did I expect any, but did the CC keep it cloudy and now that I have that in check will it clear up? I'm thinking I need to the OCLT test first to confirm everything in the morning and if that's okay, that would be where I then need to get the CYA levels (currently 0) up to 40? (I have the stabilizer in the photo above). If I'm okay to do the stabilizer, do I have to wait for the chlorine to decrease to something similar to normal or as long as the OCLT results are good I'm good to add the stabilizer?
 
Metsy10 said:
Thanks all! Does this mean I continue to keep the bleach up at 10 for a certain period of time? Or now that the CC is down, do I no longer need to continue the extra bleach for elevated levels of chlorine? Obviously the water is still cloudy and has no marked improvement yet, nor did I expect any, but did the CC keep it cloudy and now that I have that in check will it clear up? I'm thinking I need to the OCLT test first to confirm everything in the morning and if that's okay, that would be where I then need to get the CYA levels (currently 0) up to 40? (I have the stabilizer in the photo above). If I'm okay to do the stabilizer, do I have to wait for the chlorine to decrease to something similar to normal or as long as the OCLT results are good I'm good to add the stabilizer?
Click to expand...
Slow down.... There's three parts to ending the SLAM.
1) The water is clear. Can you see the drain clearly? There's nothing still on the bottom of the pool, no algae on the walls? When you brush, nothing gets stirred up? Clear water is the first test.

If it's clear, then proceed to step 2: CC is .5 or less.

If it is less, then you do step 3, the overnight loss test. If it passes, you don't need to add more bleach that morning. If it doesn't, you keep up the SLAM.

All three must pass before you discontinue the SLAM.
 
I would add enough stabilizer to get you to 30 ASAP. Without it most of your chlorine is being destroyed by the sun during the day! Put it in a sock, tie it off, and hang in front of the return. Give it a squeeze every once in a while and it will empty pretty quick. It does takes up to a week to fully dissolve and register on the CYA test even after the sock is empty.

-- EDIT--
Tonight after sundown, add enough bleach to reach 10 ppm FC. Test FC and CC after 30 minutes of circulation and make a note of it. Retest in the morning before sunrise to see how much you've lost. Less than 1 ppm FC loss and less than 0.5 CC = PASS!

-- CORRECTION --

Overlooked the fact that your water is still cloudy. Like Richard mentioned, the OCLT is the last "confirmation" step of the SLAM process. The water must be clear before you move on. Keep hitting it hard, but I still recommend getting some CYA in there or it'll be a drawn out battle.
 
Just confirming I have this right:

1 - Add stabilizer? If I should, am I okay to do this now given that the original SLAM took place 3 hours ago?
2 - Perform the test for the OCLT tonight and tomorrow morning. Confirm results are in line with what is expected.
3 - Only based on the OCLT results do I move forward - with anything.

Or considering that the water is still cloudy 3 hours post SLAM, should I assume I need to keep that up overnight and then not do anything with the stabilizer?
 
1. Yes, add the stabilizer like I mentioned.
2. No, do not move forward with the OCLT.
3. Correction, only based on your water being clear do you even move on to the OCLT.

4. Continue with the slam process never letting your FC drop below 10.
 

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