After opening pool, 3 days later still not clear water, though blue?

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theskyisthelimit99

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Jun 28, 2016
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Pittsburgh, pa
Before opening this year the pool was extra nasty green with a layer of residue on the floor of the pool.

I did the usual 8 or so gallons of chlorox.

The next day the water was blue. But things are still cloudy even 3 days later.
20210526_193350 murky.jpg

Last night on night 2 or 3, i checked the chlorine levels, it was only around a 2 despite the salt water intex running 6-8 hours of the day. I checked salt levels they were around 2700, so since then i added more salt and 2 more gallons of chlorox.

I havent checked the chlorine levels yet, its been about 3 hours (things are still murky).
I did let the sand pump run for 24 hours the first day and 12 hours the second as well. I also noticed there are still some water bugs and some creepy short tiny worm like things in the water (they showed up in the robot).

Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks in advance
 
Hey Sky !!!
theskyisthelimit99 said:
I did the usual 8 or so gallons of chlorox.
Click to expand...
Sorry but your usual is not our usual. Our usual is the SLAM Process. Followed to a 'T', to its entirety or it will be back in a few weeks.

The good news is you appear to have a leg up. Once you've killed most/all of the algae it goes blue and shifts from a chemistry fight to a filtering fight. At first you need 24/7 runtime to keep everything mixed and now you need it 24/7 to filter because there is ALOT of crud to filter out. You keep the FC at SLAM level to not lose any ground in the meantime.
 
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not sure if you are using the term "clorox" as a generic or if you are really using it. the latest thinking is that clorox and other store bleaches have undergone a formula change and they have stuff in them that you don't want in the pool. you can get liquid chlorine from big box and pool stores (and you can use it for laundry bleach) that is usually stronger and cheaper now.

agree with posts above, you might want to refresh SLAM procedures in pool school - SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain - Trouble Free Pool
 
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I do probably need to revisit the slam method in particular, however..

Yeah i had been using the generic chlorox from dollar general for years, the 7.65% or whatever content they list, its always worked. This is the first year with an issue.

So last night i checked, the two jugs i used the day before left things at a 15 or so with the r0878 drop test (30 drops).. then next morning it was a 14.5.

Its been cloudy in the sky all day, so i doubt much of that has been absorbed yet.

Things are still cloudy and from what i can see there is very little debris left on the base of the pool, i really see no issue there. I backwashed the sand pump the other night too. Ph is 7.5
 
Hopefully you're not using the SWG to keep up the SLAM. I've read here it's best to leave it off till you're finished with the SLAM.
What is your CYA?
Also with that high of FC, your pH will read unusually high, so it's not an accurate number yet to pay attention to. You can wait to check it after the SLAM is finished.
The cloudy water will clear as you continue to SLAM and run the pump and filter 24/7.
Vacuum up any visible debris or dead algae clumps, then brush the walls and floor.
You'll need some P.O.P too, (pool owner patience) to clear this one. :wink:
 
mariane said:
Hopefully you're not using the SWG to keep up the SLAM. I've read here it's best to leave it off till you're finished with the SLAM.
What is your CYA?
Also with that high of FC, your pH will read unusually high, so it's not an accurate number yet to pay attention to. You can wait to check it after the SLAM is finished.
The cloudy water will clear as you continue to SLAM and run the pump and filter 24/7.
Vacuum up any visible debris or dead algae clumps, then brush the walls and floor.
You'll need some P.O.P too, (pool owner patience) to clear this one. :wink:
Click to expand...
I do have salt water generator on, makes sense in retrospect to be off. It's been 1 week never has this issue before. No debris or very little left in pool. Hope it clears soon I guess. I have had it on mostly 24 7 tho the last 24 hours just about 8 hours through the day
 

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mariane said:
Based on your cya, what is your SLAM level supposed to be maintained at?
If you don't run the pump/filter 24/7, it will take longer for the dead algae to be filtered out.
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Well i ran out of the agent to test for cya, but in the past its lingered around 50-60 pretty sure (had to keep adding the cya chlorox brand stuff to keep it high enough).

I ran the pump for 24/7 for several days, no change, then settled for 8 hours per day, 2 weeks now, same situation.

This is the 4th year maybe 5th on the same sand in the sand pump, i was holding off till next year to change it. Would that contribute to the issue, if so not sure how to go about changing it while things are going on (i guess shut off both valves, grab a shop vac after draining the sand pump tank and hope the vac sucks out the old?)

Today i checked levels, yesterday it was a 10, after a sunny day today it only dipped to an 8.
 
it can be pretty difficult to do a SLAM properly not knowing CYA levels and only running the filter a few hours per day. not saying you can't do it, but just the limited filtering time is going to increase how long it takes to clear up the situation. sand doesn't wear out or go bad unless it is gunked up with some kinds of pool store magic bullet nonsense. it can get dirty enough to need a good deep cleaning, but it really seems like you need to reread and follow the SLAM instructions after you ascertain your CYA level.

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

if you have access to cheap water, it might just be easier to dump and refill the pool.
 
theskyisthelimit99 said:
Well i ran out of the agent to test for cya, but in the past its lingered around 50-60 pretty sure (had to keep adding the cya chlorox brand stuff to keep it high enough).

I ran the pump for 24/7 for several days, no change, then settled for 8 hours per day, 2 weeks now, same situation.

This is the 4th year maybe 5th on the same sand in the sand pump, i was holding off till next year to change it. Would that contribute to the issue, if so not sure how to go about changing it while things are going on (i guess shut off both valves, grab a shop vac after draining the sand pump tank and hope the vac sucks out the old?)

Today i checked levels, yesterday it was a 10, after a sunny day today it only dipped to an 8.
Click to expand...
CYA does not change unless you are dumping water. "Clorox Brand Stuff" is adding chlorine and cya. Adding this to keep up your chlorine levels is also adding more cya, which then requires higher levels of FC to maintain and the need to get the FC a lot higher than 10 to do a SLAM.
Your FC level is no where near SLAM level with a cya of 50. PoolMath
I plugged your pool size and cya numbers in Pool Math and your FC needs to be at 20 consistently to perform a SLAM. Even if you have cya at 30, your shock level to maintain is 12. If you don't get FC to at least 12 and keep it there, it will not kill the algae.
You are not doing a SLAM. Run your pump 24/7 and get the FC up or you won't see any improvement nor clear the water. Your cya might have gotten so high with adding the Clorox 4 in 1 that you can't get enough FC to clear the pool. It might even be ready to go green again.

OR
I agree with Pv2 "if you have access to cheap water, it might just be easier to dump and refill the pool."

You've got several options.
 
These,
The TFP method is proven but will not and can not work unless you follow through. There's no way it'll work like this. You need to follow as Mariane said. Your filter nor the pump is what clears this mess up but only FC at the perfect level can achieve that.
 
mariane said:
CYA does not change unless you are dumping water. "Clorox Brand Stuff" is adding chlorine and cya. Adding this to keep up your chlorine levels is also adding more cya, which then requires higher levels of FC to maintain and the need to get the FC a lot higher than 10 to do a SLAM.
Your FC level is no where near SLAM level with a cya of 50. PoolMath
I plugged your pool size and cya numbers in Pool Math and your FC needs to be at 20 consistently to perform a SLAM. Even if you have cya at 30, your shock level to maintain is 12. If you don't get FC to at least 12 and keep it there, it will not kill the algae.
You are not doing a SLAM. Run your pump 24/7 and get the FC up or you won't see any improvement nor clear the water. Your cya might have gotten so high with adding the Clorox 4 in 1 that you can't get enough FC to clear the pool. It might even be ready to go green again.

OR
I agree with Pv2 "if you have access to cheap water, it might just be easier to dump and refill the pool."

You've got several options.
Click to expand...
Yeah i completely misread that slam chart at first, oops.

So now 1.5 plus days continuous running, keeping FC at 25+, im noticing maybe a slight improvement, though not a ton, im starting to be able to see the robot on the bottom of the pool a bit. Im hoping 1 more day at 25+ and maybe this will clear. I ordered more cya reagent, it comes sat.
 

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