Cloudy Water due to Tropical Storm Fay!

[sweetjrgal008]

I have just been able to get into my pool to start cleaning up after the effects of the Tropical Storm that is sweeping around Florida.

after vacuuming my pool it got semi-cloudy. Had a feeling this was going to happen. So after vacuuming, I ran pump for about 2 hours and then washed out the filter.

This morning got up and pool still a little cloudy, so I used Vinyl Shock in it and I am awaiting the effects that might have on it.

I have just purchased at the pool store. 2 yellow jugs of chlorine and a gallon of Muratic Acid.

I did get to test the water before adding shock and the levels were out of this world
I only have a three way test kit from Aqua Chem and these are the readings.

CH: above 5.0( it turned a very bright Orange)
BR: Above 11.0(same things turn Bright Orange)
PH was around 8.2

I have a 18x42 pool with a Intex 2500 GPH(love It)

What should i do? This is the first year we have had a pool with a storm around.

Misy

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi there....

I'm a bit confused by your test results. You have a chlorine pool, so you should ignore BR (bromine) readings. Your Chlorine is 5.0 (orange, so likely higher...) this was AFTER shocking, or before? A PH of 8.2 is very high... but was it that high before you shocked? Chlorine readings higher than 10 or so can give the PH a false high reading, so it's a good idea to test the PH when your chlorine is in the normal range. Anything over 7.8 should be lowered with Muratic Acid. If these readings were before shocking it's likely from the SWG. How often are you running the SWG, pump? Without knowing your TA, your high PH could be a result of too high TA and running the SWG.

Do you know your CYA level? Since you were at the pool store, can they test the water for you? Because having a full set of test results is really essential.

With the Intex filters, they are very slow at clearing up water problems. They take longer than other types of filters, when cloudiness from algae blooms occur. So you'll need lots of POP - Pool owner patience.

We can help you better with a full set of test results, at this point we're sort of guessing.

So guessing here and assuming your results were before shocking: I would advise you to A. turn off the SWG part of the pump, and just run the pump/filter. Lower your PH using Muratic Acid to about 7.4. After a couple of hours, still running the pump, shock your pool with chlorine, dosing using the pool calculator, according to your CYA level, if you know what it is.

Keep running the filter 24/7 and keep your FC level up to shock level for 24-48 hours to see if that helps clear things up. It's going to be kind of hard to know when you should be done shocking without a good test kit.... If your water clears up by then you can probably let the FC drop down to normal range and resume use of the SWG. Restest the PH, and ensure it is below 7.8. Hope this helps, but I highly recommend you get a good test kit, like the TF100.

Good luck.