Bright blue, cloudy pool and how i should clear it?

[jblizzle]

Some of them seem to make everything turn to goo that gets all stuck in the filter if you do not use them correctly.
Or they just have no affect and you have wasted money.

 

[punkbuddy89]

Im still not getting consistent results when testing my FC. Im filling the test tube to the 10 ml mark each time, im using the same size scoop of dpd powder and im wiping the tip of the reagent bottle with a damp cloth before i begin each test. Im holding it vertically and there are no noticeable difference in the size of the drops. But at times i can get a difference of several ppm. I just tested the water and got FC or 6. I immediately cleaned the tube again and tested the exact same way i tested before but this time i got 10. Its making it hard to tell if something is consuming my chlorine or not. I was expecting it to be around 10 when I went out to check it but getting the 6 just completely threw me for a loop.

 

[jblizzle]

How much powder are you using? You can not use too much, but you can use too little and get questionable results. Maybe try using a little more?

 

[punkbuddy89]

let me take a picture of what i use. Ive read to use a heaping scoop and seem many people questioning what a heaping scoop is. Be right back

 

[punkbuddy89]

Using this amount, there is always a little left at the bottom of the test tube.

 

[jblizzle]

OK ... that should be plenty. So that is not likely the problem. Are you consistent with the speed of the drops? Are you swirling the whole time?

The Speedstir actually makes things a good bit easier to be consistent.

 

[punkbuddy89]

Maybe the speed of the drops is causing the problem then. i am swirling the whole time. But sometimes i will get 5 or 6 drops in very rapidly. but its usually at the beginning. i always slow down toward the end to better observe the color changes.

 

[jblizzle]

Try to keep the drops every second ... if you go too fast, the drops can be smaller. They should each seem to hang a bit before falling.

 

[punkbuddy89]

I will give that a try. Hopefully I dont run out or reagent before my refill arrives though.

 

[punkbuddy89]

I have some stabelizer to raise my cya. I want to get it up in the 30s. But should I wait to use it until my pool clears up. I finally got some DE in my sand filter so hopefully that will start clearing my pool up a little faster. The cloudyness doesnt seem to have changed much at all over that last few days. I just put the DE in yesterday though. But if that does catch more particles and i have to backwash periodically, would i just be wasting the stabelizer if i put it in now?

 

[jblizzle]

If you hang the CYA in a sock in front of the return, you will not lose much while backwashing.

Usually good to have the CYA around 30ppm for the SLAM process.

 

[punkbuddy89]

Alright ill do that. And again, thanks for all the help!!

 

[sbogart]

New guy here, but I have to say thanks for a lot of good info. I had my first pool...a 20' AG go green. While I cheated on the fix this time based on some advice from a friend who does pools, I learned a lot about the importance of filter maintenance, brushing, vacuuming, etc. That I didn't think about.

That said, my pool is on the mend because of some good advice here. I also have a good test kit on the way to set it up the right way.

Love the site!

 

[david.c]

Welcome to the forum. :lol:

Excellent first post. You provided very pertinent information. You have grasped very quickly what we teach and you are on your way to a clear pool.

The slow process from cloudy blue to crystal is maddening for many. I believe it has a lot to do with filtration capacity. That filter is really a bit too small for a 26k pool and is likely slowing your clearing process.

Have you seen the suggestion for adding DE to the filter? If not, post back and we'll explain. That might be valuable in your particular case.

I would call your pH 7.6

what is DE??

 

[JohnT]

what is DE??

Diatomaceous Earth. It is used in pool filters.

 

[msgtdan]

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/add_de_to_a_sand_filter

Here's the link for it.

 

[punkbuddy89]

So Im still just waiting on the filter to do its job. Keeping my FC up at shock level. I havent been able to do an OCLT because its been raining every night after I check the levels, for the last few days. I am just barely noticing any improvements in clarity. A week ago at this time i couldn't see the bottom of the shallow end at all but now i can faintly make out the color and shape of a pool toy that is in the shallow end. Does this speed seem right to anyone? Maybe Im just lacking POP. lol.

I just did my tests and here are the results for today.

FC 11 - raised it back up to 15 to be at shock level
CC 0
TC 11
PH 7.2
TA 100 - 110
CH 90 - 100

CYA im assuming is about 40. It was around 20 when I checked it last friday. But that test was taken about two or three days after we had drained and filled the pool some. And earlier in the day that we drained it, we added about 5 lbs of trichlor shock before we decided to drain some of the water. So is it possible that the CYA from the trichlor was still in the water after we drained and hadnt shown up in the test yet so thats why i got a result of 21 last friday? Because on July 22 I got some stabilizer to raise my CYA to around 30 but when i tested the water, it was already about 33ish. So i didnt add the stabilizer. And I tested the cya again later the next day and it was around 40. I havent added anything with CYA since probably around the 16th of this month. Now Im out of CYA reagent so im just going by my CYA being 40 until i can get more reagent. (This paragraph probably isnt worded the best and might be confusing. If you dont understand what Im saying, let me know and Ill try to word it better.)

Also while looking at the filter pressure today, I was wondering if I should be pulling water from the skimmer and the drain in the deep end, or from just the skimmer alone? Im pulling from both right now and to me that would make the most sense but I figured I would ask the question anyway.

 

[jblizzle]

Trying to clear the pool, I think suction from both makes sense ... you likely have little surface debris to require more skimmer suction.

 

[punkbuddy89]

Update on the pool: Its still cloudy but is making progress, although very slowly. I passed an OCLT last night with a FC loss of 0 and my CC is always 0 to .5 but mostly 0. I did a deep clean to my sand filter by running a water hose into the bed of sand and mixing it all up and breaking clumps and there was quite a bit of crud that washed out of it. I feel like that has helped some.

Also, does it matter if the filter is perfectly level? I noticed when i took to top off our filter, the sand was sloping from one side of the filter downward to the other side. Then when I was letting water overflow, it was all going over the side that the sand had been higher on, indicating that the filter isnt level. Would that cause any issues?

Lastly, Ive been losing several ppm of chlorine during the days. From 11:30pm to 6:30am, I lost 0 ppm of FC. But from 6:30am to 11:15am I had already lost 3ppm and there is still a full day of sun light ahead that will be using up my FC. I was finally able to figure the my CYA is in the 30s. Does CYA not protect FC from sun if the FC is at shock value? What I mean is, if my CYA is 30, but FC is 14, is there not enough CYA to protect all of the FC at that level. If I let my FC come back down after Im done shocking, will the ratio of FC/CYA be better at preventing FC loss from the sun?

10 points to anyone who can count how many times I said FC in that paragraph. lol

 

[JohnN]

FC loss is a percentage of starting value. So when you are at shock level, you will lose more chlorine to the sun. You may want to consider adding DE to your filter to speed up the clearing process.