Brand New Pool Cloudy— Help I’m Desperate!

[PoolStored]

which can all result in cloudy pools.

If they follow TFP chemical advice, they should NOT get a cloudy pool. About the only time one *might* get a cloudy pool is when you add calcium on the same day you use a chemical that adjusts pH. Those two should be on different days.

3. I would continue to take daily readings of ALL items for at least a month so that you can familiarize yourself with "normal" readings.

There is no reason to do a full panel daily. FC and pH daily, full panel weekly is plenty.

Make sure that your SWG is rated for approximately 2X the size of your pool.

Her cell makes 1.9lb/day. It is very large for her pool.

I would also look at the Taylor test kit on how much acid to add if needed.

There is no reason to do an acid demand test. Manage pH, and use pool math for calculating muriatic acid additions.

6. After your FC/CC/PH are in line. Now it is time to focus on Alk. Decrease or increase as needed.

There is generally, no reason to raise TA, unless it is below 50. Her fill water is about 80 TA, so she will not have large TA swings.

She can simply manage pH and ignore TA (test for it, but don't "treat" it). Follow this:

1. When TA > 80: When pH gets to 8.0, lower your pH to 7.6. pH will rise. When pH gets to 8.0, lower to 7.6 again. Over time, TA will come down on it's own.
2. When TA is between 60 and 80. DON'T lower pH below 7.8. pH will be fairly stable between 7.8 and 8.0. Just keep it there and don't try to lower pH more than 7.8

 

[Hkdman]

Calm down. All I am saying is that she should do a full panel until she understands how her pool reacts. As an example, my CH is always higher than my neighbor. No reason for it - it just is. By doing a full panel she will be able to understand her pool. Again - for 1 month. At this point, I do FC and PH daily (which may be overkill), ALK weekly, and CH and CYA monthly.

Regarding the cloudiness - again - calm down. I am not suggesting that the TFP method does not work - if I did suggest such a thing - I would not be following it myself. All I am saying is that when I looked at the email string, there were so many variables being thrown at her. My suggestion, and take it for what it is worth, is that sh should be methodical in fixing the readings one by one instead of miraculously fixing everything immediately. Once she has each reading in line with TFP guidelines - then she will be set.

The PoolMath is a good tool, but just that, a tool. The acid demand test will always be more accurate. Even PM tells you that PM should be a guideline only and that things such as temperature, etc. can impact how much/little chemicals to add.

 

[PoolStored]

Calm down.

calm down

I am calm. Nothing in my post indicated I was upset. I merely stated facts and TFP advice. Not sure why you take offense.

All I am saying is that when I looked at the email string, there were so many variables being thrown at her. My suggestion, and take it for what it is worth, is that sh should be methodical in fixing the readings one by one instead of miraculously fixing everything immediately. Once she has each reading in line with TFP guidelines - then she will be set.

I don't think you read the entire thread. We were attempting to clean up a pool after installation. The approach was methodical and intentional, given the pool and the information presented. In the end, it was an incorrectly installed filter. It was reset and the pool cleaned and refilled.

 

[Royaloaker]

What is your salt test result?

Sure, go ahead and turn it on. Are you going to run the pump 24x7 on low speed, say 50% speed?

If you have it setup for 24 hours, try running your spa for 2 hours, SWG on 10% (this should add 3.1FC to the spa, and pool for 22 hours and cell output at 15%, this should add 3.2FC to the pool.

Test your FC now, turn on the schedule above, and see where you end up tonight.

"Effects of Adding" in pool math will allow you to replicate these numbers.

Ok PS, can you pls look at my recent testing and tell me what to do? I forgot to add the calcium last night so I’ll do tonight. Salt is a little high but in searching, seems ok.

 

[PoolStored]

Everything looks good. Raise your FC to 8 with the Liquid.

Setup this schedule:
24 hours of runtime. Run the pump at 50% speed. Spa for 2 hours, SWG on 10% (this should add 3.1FC to the spa, and pool for 22 hours and cell output at 15%, this should add 3.2FC to the pool. Set the spa to run during the morning.

^^This should be a basic schedule. Start that now, cell on!!!!!!

When it the schedule is up and pump is running, I want you to turn up the heater a couple degrees. After 10 minutes, the outlet water pipe should feel slightly warmer than the inlet pipe. If it feels hot, or if you hear the water in the heater boiling, there may not be enough water flow to the appliance. Report back your findings, and raise the output to 55%, wait another 10 minutes. If still hot, raise it to 60%.

Is there a configuration for pump speed associated with the heater? How did the builder setup the heater control?

 

[PoolStored]

@Royaloaker Just saw your logs...

15.5FC might be alarming, it is not, at a CYA of 50, anything up to and including SLAM level (20FC) is perfectly safe. Rather be high than LOW!!!

Did you have it on 30% or 50% today?

If 30% you have a really good cell. 15.5-11.5 = 4, should have made only make 3.5FC at 30%
If 50%, then you made 5.8 and used 1.8FC...this makes more sense.

Your builder did one GREAT thing for you, he oversized your cell.

Just turn it off for 24 hours or longer, let it come back down to about 8, then turn it on at 15% for 24 hours and see how it holds.

For this season, you will be chasing FC up and down, until you learn how much it need for a day with cover on (Maybe 1FC), a day when cover is on and you swim at night (Maybe 2FC), a full day of swimming and sun with lots of swimmers (maybe 4FC). This also changes with the season, in the spring and fall, your FC demand will drop. June July will be the highest. Great Job and I'm sure a clean pool!

Time for you to post up here:

How Clear is TFP Clear? Let's See (Pics Only Please).

How clear should my water be? A very common question. Here is mine on a calm morning where I could finally vacuum. Yes I know, I'm still manually vacuuming. It took me 7 years to finally get an SWG, I'm working on a robot. :) So now let's see your water clarity.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Royaloaker]

Everything looks good. Raise your FC to 8 with the Liquid.

Setup this schedule:
24 hours of runtime. Run the pump at 50% speed. Spa for 2 hours, SWG on 10% (this should add 3.1FC to the spa, and pool for 22 hours and cell output at 15%, this should add 3.2FC to the pool. Set the spa to run during the morning.

^^This should be a basic schedule. Start that now, cell on!!!!!!

When it the schedule is up and pump is running, I want you to turn up the heater a couple degrees. After 10 minutes, the outlet water pipe should feel slightly warmer than the inlet pipe. If it feels hot, or if you hear the water in the heater boiling, there may not be enough water flow to the appliance. Report back your findings, and raise the output to 55%, wait another 10 minutes. If still hot, raise it to 60%.

Is there a configuration for pump speed associated with the heater? How did the builder setup the heater control?

This got buried!! Oops sorry!

 

[PoolStored]

This got buried!! Oops sorry!

No worries.

You can switch to testing pH and FC daily. The rest do weekly, pick a day, Saturday morning with your coffee. Save your reagents. The ONLY one that is absolutely important daily is FC. It is your pool's heartbeat. Keep the patient alive. pH, TA, CH and CYA are weekly issues.

We talked about potentially raising your CYA. With the size of your cell and your FC demand, there really isn't any need this year. The amount of cell that you will save, vs. micro adjustments you would need to do with the cell at a CYA of 70, and the fact you have a cover, are just not worth it. When your CYA comes down to 40 (might take a month), add another 10 to get back to 50. One less thing to worry about this year.

 

[Royaloaker]

Hi all!!! Just came to say we had landscaping added, we are getting our cover, trellis for climbing hydrangeas, and fire table installed this week, and we are taking a week off from work next week (a staycation). @PoolStored you've scared me into FC submission, and I aim for 10 FC at any given time Levels are looking pretty good, and besides the mulch dust from our landscape installation driving me nuts, everything has been lovely! Thanks for everyone’s support, moral and otherwise! Happy Saturday

 

[PoolStored]

 

[PoolStored]

10 FC at any given time

For clarity, you should stay in FC range for your CYA. Don't forget to test CYA and adjust FC appropriately, or adjust CYA back to your CYA target. Always follow this...Link-->FC/CYA Levels

 

[Royaloaker]

For clarity, you should stay in FC range for your CYA. Don't forget to test CYA and adjust FC appropriately, or adjust CYA back to your CYA target. Always follow this...Link-->FC/CYA Levels

I’m afraid to raise my spa CYA bc we keep it covered mostly & bc of the frequently high FC. The pool is within the range shown though, consistently for my CYA levels.