cloudy water

[carnochanm]

I had my liner replaced and am trying to get my water right. I have a Inground pool that is 18,000 gallons of water. It is 16 by 32. I had my water tested at the pool store on June 2. Here are the results
FC 0.0
TC 1.5
CC1.5
PH 7.6
hardness 0
alkalinity 239
Cyanuric acid 5
copper 0
iron 0
nitrate 0

They advised me to shock with 2 lbs of shock. Add muratic acid 2 gallons. Add Hy-Cal 1 45 lb bag. Add stablilizer . I did all this and I sill have cloudy blue water. It seems to be getting worse as the days go on. I am going to get it retested tomorrow. I will post results tomorrow. Please help. I am very frustarated. I use bleach to shock with.
Renee

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

You should get a good test kit right away. It is impossible to trust pool store numbers.

With a vinyl pool there is no need for calcium. Generally it doesn't hurt as long as it doesn't get too high. Adding a lot of calcium all at once can cause cloudiness, though not generally when you PH is as low as those 2 gallons of acid are probably going to make it.

To get your alkalinity down you should aerate the pool. If you have any kind of water feature turn it on, or aim the return up just enough so that it breaks the surface and causes turbulence.

Are you adding bleach reguarly? I expect that you need a lot more chlorine than those 2 lbs of shock provided.

We need to see your new numbers after all the additions to give more specific advice.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Welcome!

Congrats on taking your pool into your own hands. The very first thing you need to do is get a good test kit and quit relying on the pool store. Very few of those guys know what they are doing.

Your water was tested 9 days ago. Are you adding bleach or other chlorine daily? with practically no CYA (stabilizer) your chlorine is going to be degraded by the sun in a few hours, and therefore will not be around to kill the algae and other things. If you have not added chlorine, this is the most likely cause of your cloudy water.

I am sure the acid was to lower your TA, but it also lowered your pH. Can you aerate your water (aim a return upwards, get in and splash around?) This will help raise your pH without raising your TA (alkalinity)

Lastly, you don't need calcium in a liner pool. I think high calcium plus high TA can equal cloudy water.

Others can help you in more detail than you can ever imagine! just get some bleach in there pronto (at least a gallon), and post some new numbers tomorrow.

 

[carnochanm]

I took my water back and the pool store says the only thing that is missing is the cholorine. How often should I add bleach. Do I need to add every day. I added 2 galloons this morning. This afternoon still no chlorine reading. I added 2 more galloons tonight and waited 1/2 hour and tested. Still no chlorine reading. They said I might have nitrates?

 

[JasonLion]

Do you have a new cyanuric acid reading? If you have test results from today please post all of your numbers.

It sounds like there is still some algae to fight. You need to add bleach (or another chlorine source) two or three times a day aiming to get your FC level up to at least 10, and probably higher depending on your CYA level. In your pool it is about three gallons of bleach to bring FC from zero to 10. Test the chlorine level and bring it back up to shock level (10 for now) as frequently as you can, and particuarly in the evening. When the FC level holds overnight you have beaten the algae.

Good Luck!