Brand New Pool Cloudy— Help I’m Desperate!

[Royaloaker]

To properly perform the OCLT, you need to turn the SWCG off.

Step one in the instructions...LOL

"How do I perform the overnight chlorine loss test?

1. If you have an SWG, tablet chlorinator, or other chlorine feeder, shut it off completely."

Re-read the instructions (HERE-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test) Do the test again tonight.

Increase because there is no FC demand at night (no UV), so your cell added FC.

I did turn it off last night.

 

[PoolStored]

I did turn it off last night.

GAH!!! misread your other post. Sorry!

Not sure why a little increase?

Testing error. No big deal. Use a 10mL sample, every drop is .5FC. 10mL sample test is fine and accurate enough. The .2 discrimination is a lot of drops and introduces errors.

Clean your vials every so often with rubbing alcohol. Hold the reagents vertical. Squeeze SLOOOOOWLY, so the drops drop under their own weight. If you squeeze them out fast, they are smaller drops. Quick swirl. Either way this is good.

Was this your OCLT? Then something else is going on. How did you turn off the SWCG and when did you turn it off?

 

[Royaloaker]

GAH!!! misread your other post. Sorry!


Testing error. No big deal. Use a 10mL sample, every drop is .5FC. 10mL sample test is fine and accurate enough. The .2 discrimination is a lot of drops and introduces errors.

Clean your vials every so often with rubbing alcohol. Hold the reagents vertical. Squeeze SLOOOOOWLY, so the drops drop under their own weight. If you squeeze them out fast, they are smaller drops. Quick swirl. Either way this is good.

Was this your OCLT? Then something else is going on. How did you turn off the SWCG and when did you turn it off?
View attachment 593527

Yes, those were the results. I turned it off on the app right after I did the testing last night. I’m waiting for my husband to buy me a turkey baster for the Crud on the steps

 

[PoolStored]

There was no need to add muriatic acid today. From post #9. Why did you add it (so I understand your thinking)?

Leave your pH alone! When your FC > 10, the pH test does not work. Turn down your SWCG a bit and let FC drift down to about 9, then retest pH.

In general, with a TA of 200, your pH will rise naturally. When pH gets to 8.0, reduce your pH to 7.4. Wait for pH to rise to 8 again and repeat. This process will lower your TA over time. When your TA gets to 80, stop lowering to 7.4 and only lower to 7.8 and pH should stabilize.

I turned it off on the app right after I did the testing last night.

Let's redo the test tonight. Follow my advice about doing the test. 10mL sample, clean vials, vertical reagents, slow drops. Turn off the SWCG 1/2 hour before the test, leave the pump running after turning off SWCG. Turn on pump 30 minutes before morning test or run pump all night.

All your numbers are fine and nothing bad is going to happen to the pool while we sort this out.

 

[Royaloaker]

Ok I just used a straw w my finger over it (high tech), so there was some water with it. No fizzing, but it cleared immediately w the acid. Just added 3 cups of acid and filter is on high. How long before I test again?

 

[Royaloaker]

There was no need to add muriatic acid today. From post #9. Why did you add it (so I understand your thinking)?





Let's redo the test tonight. Follow my advice about doing the test. 10mL sample, clean vials, vertical reagents, slow drops. Turn off the SWCG 1/2 hour before the test, leave the pump running after turning off SWCG. Turn on pump 30 minutes before morning test or run pump all night.

All your numbers are fine and nothing bad is going to happen to the pool while we sort this out.

Bc in #11 you said lowering the TA is good if the Crud I pulled off the steps immediately cleared up in a jar when I added acid, wouldn’t that confirm it’s calcium buildup on the steps/clouding the water?

 

[PoolStored]

Bc in #11 you said lowering the TA is good if the Crud I pulled off the steps immediately cleared up in a jar when I added acid, wouldn’t that confirm it’s calcium buildup on the steps/clouding the water?

Got it! Yes, lowering TA will likely help. This thread is moving fast and not quite synchronous. All good.

The only issue I have is that your pH test is invalid when FC is above 10. You don't know what your pH is until you let FC drop below 10 and retest pH at that point. We don't want to add acid unnecessarily.

Turn your SWCG off. Test every 4 hours for FC. When it gets below 10, then test pH.

Let's set a target FC of 9 for you. That way you are in range for your FC, and you can test pH. After your pool comes down to 9FC, manage your SWCG to maintain ~9FC

immediately cleared up in a jar when I added acid, wouldn’t that confirm it’s calcium buildup on the steps/clouding the water?

Potentially, that is what I'm thinking. However we should rule out algae (OCLT), and get your FC below 10, then you can manage pH to lower TA.

When you lower TA and pH with an acid addition, just retest the next day. If you get antsy, test 2x per day.

 

[Royaloaker]

Got it! Yes, lowering TA will likely help. This thread is moving fast and not quite synchronous. All good.

The only issue I have is that your pH test is invalid when FC is above 10. You don't know what your pH is until you let FC drop below 10 and retest pH at that point. We don't want to add acid unnecessarily.

Turn your SWCG off. Test every 4 hours for FC. When it gets below 10, then test pH.

Let's set a target FC of 9 for you. That way you are in range for your FC, and you can test pH. After your pool comes down to 9FC, manage your SWCG to maintain ~9FC


Potentially, that is what I'm thinking. However we should rule out algae (OCLT), and get your FC below 10, then you can manage pH to lower TA.

When you lower TA and pH with an acid addition, just retest the next day. If you get antsy, test 2x per day.

Ok thank you! Yes, chlorinator is staying off. So I should test starting tomorrow bc I added the acid? Won’t be able to do every 4 hours starting tomorrow bc we work full time.

 

[PoolStored]

Test FC this afternoon (5ish) and evening (8ish)...see what your FC is doing. If below 10, then test pH, and adjust your cell to maintain 9. What cell do you have and what is your pump run time and cell % set to normally? We can get an approximate setting for when your FC gets to 9.

The only point of every 4 hours was to catch FC at about 9 and not let it go lower.

 

[Royaloaker]

Test FC this afternoon (5ish) and evening (8ish)...see what your FC is doing. If below 10, then test pH, and adjust your cell to maintain 9. What cell do you have and what is your pump run time and cell % set to normally? We can get an approximate setting for when your FC gets to 9.

The only point of every 4 hours was to catch FC at about 9 and not let it go lower.

We have a Hayward S340, pump run time is literally 22 hours bc of our debacle (the other 2 hours go for the separate in-ground spa), and before i got my test kit yesterday, chlorinator was set by pool contractor to 60%.

 

[proavia]

Does water flow from your spa to your pool?
Do they share the same pump and filter or are they totally separate from one another?

 

[kimkats]

I think they said yes, they did grun it off.

 

[Royaloaker]

Does water flow from your spa to your pool?
Do they share the same pump and filter or are they totally separate from one another?

No flowing but they share pump and filter

 

[Royaloaker]

Test FC this afternoon (5ish) and evening (8ish)...see what your FC is doing. If below 10, then test pH, and adjust your cell to maintain 9. What cell do you have and what is your pump run time and cell % set to normally? We can get an approximate setting for when your FC gets to 9.

The only point of every 4 hours was to catch FC at about 9 and not let it go lower.

Oh actually, here’s the schedule the pool contractor set up

 

[PoolStored]

What pump do you have?

I think, given that your cell is very oversized, if you have a Variable speed pump, I'd set it up to run at low speed (~1600rpm) for 24 hours at 10% output. That would produce 2.3ppm per day and keep your FC fairly level.

Are you comfortable setting up pump run times, RPMs and % output? Are you comfortable with your ability to turn pump and cell on and off and change the pump speed?

 

[Royaloaker]

What pump do you have?

I think, given that your cell is very oversized, if you have a Variable speed pump, I'd set it up to run at low speed (~1600rpm) for 24 hours at 10% output. That would produce 2.3ppm per day and keep your FC fairly level.

Are you comfortable setting up pump run times, RPMs and % output? Are you comfortable with your ability to turn pump and cell on and off and change the pump speed?

Yep no problem

 

[PoolStored]

Do you have a VSP? Update your signature with make and model of pump and SWCG.

 

[PoolStored]

Assuming you have a VSP, here is what I would do, when your FC is back below 9 and you are ready to turn the cell back on.

1. Backwash your filter.
2. Turn on the SWG.
3. Turn on the pump.
4. Lower your RPM until you get a "NO FLOW" error on the SWG. Note that RPM.
5. Setup your pump to run 24/7 at that noted RPM + 200. This gives you some room for a dirty filter.
6. Setup your SWG to be 13% (I think the S3 allows increments of 1%) This should generate 3ppm per day from your cell.

Monitor your FC daily. If it does not maintain 9, then increase the output %. If FC rises, then lower the %.

Running 24/7 at low speed is cheap, and it will keep FC even throughout the day.

 

[Royaloaker]

Yes I do have a VSP. Having a challenge finding the info on the equipment for some reason— will look more. Another issue— just noticed pump is running high (typically 10 psi, now about 16). We backwashed it late 2 days ago, and it was fine this morning. Should we backwash now though I added the acid a few hours ago?

 

[PoolStored]

Backwash when pressure rises 25% from clean. Backwash your filter. Note clean pressure (you can put it in maintenance item in Pool Math). When pressure rises 25%, backwash again. So clean pressure is 10, then backwash when pressure hits 12.5-13.