Greenish-blue water and cloudy

[vagrowr]

I've been working on my pool for about 10 days now and I can't get rid of the cloudiness. I think the water is greenish-blue as well but I'm not sure if that's just the cloudiness. I've been shocking like mad for several days. Readings from 7:00 this morning:

FC - 19.0
CC - 1.0
pH - 7.5
TA - 160
CH - 150
CYA - 50? (water is cloudy so not sure if this affects the test)

A quick note on the FC reading, I've gotten different results from the same sample. I tested 20 and dumped out the water but forgot to do the CC test so I filled again to 10mL from the same water sample then tested a 17. I tried again and got an 18. At high levels, is this normal to have a range?
What I've done thus far: added about 3/4 gallons of sulfuric acid 35% (switching to muriatic) and the TA didn't budge. Backwashing when necessary which is only once a day at this point even though it's probably not necessary with the PSI only rising 1 bar. I added clarifier at the recommended rate near the beginning of this struggle. I also have some metal stains on the plaster (comes off with vitamin C). Ok, that's all I got. Why is the water off color and cloudy?

 

[Smykowski]

The most likely reason is an algae bloom, and following the SLAM procedures to the end will fix it.

Don't backwash until the pressure rises 20-25%. Sand just takes longer to get the pool clear, so get ready to settle in.

Don't worry about TA or the stains for now. Get the water clear and the chemistry balanced, and you can tackle other problems down the line.

 

[Richard320]

You still have organics in the water, hence the cloudiness and the CC reading. Could there be rotting leaves in the bottom you can't see? That will slow you down a lot. Try vacuuming blind.

Once you're in the SLAM process, ignore everything but FC and CC. You can fix everything else in a matter of hours once the water is clear.

As mentioned in the Shock Level And Maintain article, adding a little DE (or cellulose) to your sand filter can help clear the cloudiness.

It's normal to have slight variations in the drop tests. +/- one drop easily. And if the water hasn't had a long time to circulate, you can have uneven concentrations within the pool. I wouldn't worry about that.
And finally, who recommended clarifier? It certainly wasn't in Pool School!

 

[vagrowr]

No, clarifier not in pool school, lol. Had some on the shelf and said "what the heck".......There are leaves on the bottom of the deep end. Netting out every day. Very little left so I will try a vacuuming. Was also going to get some DE tomorrow so sounds like I'm on the right track and just need to stay the course. Thanks.