Cloudy water, high TA

[adiadasman]

Hey guys, trying to open my pool for the year but I am having trouble getting the water clear. I made the mistake of leaving the pool uncovered for the winter, so it was a swampy mess with lots of debris when I started. Got my CYA and FC up and pool cleared up considerably, eventually the water was clear and I could see the bottom. Started scooping and vacuuming the stuff off the bottom and everything was going fine. After a heavy rain 5 days ago the water turned kind of a milky white and I cannot seem to get it clear. I have been running the filter non-stop since it clouded up with no change. I have been trying to continue getting debris from the bottom, but I am operating blind because I can only see about 1 foot below the surface. Here are my current tests:
FC 7.5
CC 0.5
pH 7.4
TA 380 (I know this is high, more on that below)
CH 150
CYA 40 (Have been raising slowly, just added enough to bring it to around 50 3 days ago)
Salt 3100

Now I know my TA is high, but I battle that every year and have never had this problem. My fill water starts out at TA 320 out of the tap. TA was 410 2 days ago and I started lowering pH with MA and aerating.
Any help would be appreciated. It is warm enough to swim now and I want to use my pool!

 

[jblizzle]

TA has nothing to do with the cloudiness. You need to follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process until you pass the 3 criteria to stop.

You could try a little DE in the filter to see if that helps to clear up the cloudiness: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/133-add-de-to-a-sand-filter
... this can be done toward the end of the SLAM.

 

[Richard320]

What he said ^^^

Follow his link. In brief, what you'll be doing is raising FC level to 20. This is because you've added CYA to get to 50; assume it's there. Every couple hours, test it again and raise it back up to 20. Brush and vacuum and clean the filters as necessary. It may take a few days, but you should start seeing a decrease in chlorine consumption and some clearing after the first full day. Don't stop maintaining the FC until you pass the three tests.

 

[adiadasman]

I have been keeping the FC level as high as possible, but I can only really work on the pool in the morning before work and evening after work. I have been adding about a gallon of 8.25% in the morning and evening to keep the FC level above 10. The 7.5 reading was just after work and it was a very sunny and hot day today. I assumed that I had killed off at least most of the algae as my CC level had dropped so low and stayed low. Is that not correct? I guess I am just getting discouraged as I have seen zero improvement in days.

 

[Richard320]

I have been keeping the FC level as high as possible, but I can only really work on the pool in the morning before work and evening after work. I have been adding about a gallon of 8.25% in the morning and evening to keep the FC level above 10. The 7.5 reading was just after work and it was a very sunny and hot day today. I assumed that I had killed off at least most of the algae as my CC level had dropped so low and stayed low. Is that not correct? I guess I am just getting discouraged as I have seen zero improvement in days.

You won't see any improvement until you achieve shock level for your CYA, which is 20 FC.

You just need to do what these people did:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...-the-TFP-Forum!!!-Another-Green-to-Clean-tale
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/75213-the-pool-is-winning
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/72594-Proud-owner-of-a-glorious-swamp
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/76128-TFP-Success
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/72930-Dark-Green-Pool

Just scroll through and look at the pictures.

 

[adiadasman]

Thanks for the help. I added another gallon of 8.25% at dusk, let it circulate for an hour and then tested. FC is 21.5. I will leave my SWG going overnight to bump let level up a bit more then test again in the morning. I am trying to find a cheaper source for bleach, cleaning up this pool is cleaning out my wallet at the same time, LOL.