Can't get water to clear up.

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Edge70

Edge70

Well-known member
May 16, 2021
109
Belleville Ontario Canada
Pool Size
22700
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello guys... here are my pool store test results.
PH 7.4, TA 88, CH 111, FC 2.4, TC 2.5, CYA 150, Phosphate 3521

Pool is 84700L in size. Vinyl liner. Not Salt water... just normal chlorine based pool. Opened a little over a week ago and water was quite green. Water has cleared up a bit but still not clear. Pump is running 24/7. Any thoughts why we aren't seeing the water clearing up? Thanks for your help.
 
Edge, its quite easy for me to see why your pool isn't clear--> You've been going to the Pool Store! You've let them be in control of your chemistry and testing.
*If* I were to trust those results to be accurate (and we don't) it looks like you've been using a mess of pucks to chlorinate your pool and they've allowed the stabilizer CYA to build up to horrible high levels. The more CYA you have, the more FC it takes to sanitize the water.

No one but pool stores cares about phosphates if they have a pristine clear pool free of algae. No algae, who cares if the "algae food" exists??

Please start reading our Pool School articles, starting with this one-
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
FC/CYA Levels
SLAM Process
Recommended Levels
www.troublefreepool.com

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Get a hold of a Taylor K-2006 C pool test kit available up in Canada and start using it.

Maddie 🐞
 
@YippeeSkippy I actually have a Taylor K-2006 test kit and I normally do use this. I was busy at work this year so decided to let the pool company open the pool and get it running. I haven't done my own tests yet but I will do so today and let you guys now what I get for numbers.

Yes, I do use pucks in my pool chlorinator. Maybe time to stop doing this and move to just chlorine. I liked the pucks as they are easy and I don't have lot of free time to look after the pool but maybe the trade off isn't worth it? My thinking is that the filter isn't working quite properly. It's been a few years since we added new sand so maybe just needs a good cleaning. I'll start with getting some taylor test kit number together. Thanks.
 
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So I used the kit tonight and here's the results....
FC 10
CC .5
PH 7.5
TA 140
CYA 140
Note, I didn't test for CH as it's a vinyl pool and I read that it's not necessary for this.
Pool seems to have cleared slightly today. Can barely see bottom of the deep end now. Thoughts anyone???
 

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I've done a couple of vacuum to waste sessions to get water out of the pool and i've been refilling. Water is slowly getting clearer but still quite cloudy. Should I add a bit more liquid chlorine to the pool? FC last night was down to 8. Will check it again shortly. Would like to get the water clearing up for the soon.
 
What is your CYA now? Note that drain a bit + refill will only take it down so far - a no-drain water exchange where you gently put water into one end of the pool while pumping out the opposite end is more efficient at exchanging water.
 
@IceShadow, I actually did the vacuuming to waste to get some dirt out of the pool... took about 4-5 inches of water out. Then I did about 3-4 mins of backwash and finally rinsed the filter before returning it to filter mode. After that is done and the water level has dropped I have my pump running with just the main drain return valve open as the skimmer is too low. Now I'm refilling the pool to replace the water that I had pumped out. Is this an ok method to change the water? I haven't checked my CYA level tonight but the FC was down to 6. I suspect that the CYA would be around the 100 level. I added bit of liquid chlorine tonight and will test again tomorrow. I'll run all the numbers then and advise.
 
You can calculate the amount of water exchanged - I have to imagine your pool is at least 3’ deep, but let’s say it’s only 3’ deep. That’s 36”. 5” would be 14% of the pool. That would bring your CYA from 150 to 130. So you do it again - now it’s 112. A third time would take it down to about 96.

If you can afford the water to do it this way, and the patience, great, but it would take 9 exchanges to get it down to under 40 CYA - and that’s if you have a 36” deep pool. Most likely it’s deeper and that number goes way up.

More efficient is a no-drain water exchange. That procedure can be found here: Draining - Further Reading . We have had a lot of people do this to great effect. :)
 
Ok, I reviewed the information on doing a no drain water exchange. I'm a little confused though because you do actually drain some of the water so why is it called a no drain water exchange? How do you know how much water to exchange?
 
You add water at the same rate you are draining water. The water level in the pool should not change. Whether you drain from the deep end and add at the surface or vice versa depends on water chemistry and the temperature differential between the pool and fill waters.
 
If a CYA of 140, and you are using liquid chlorine to chlorinate the pool, then a goal CYA of 40 ppm. So 100/140. Round up to 75% of pool volume.

Helps us if you fill out your signature.
 
So if I have to replace 75% of the water in the pool, how is doing this method any less expensive then doing a series of draining and filling? I've already drained probably 10-12" out of the pool and replaced the water. I'll continue with this new method tomorrow though.
 

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