Cloudy deep end poor circulation

nickprette

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2016
51
Lomnbard,IL
Hello, I have a 31,000 gallon in ground pool 12ft deep and 80 percent of the pool is over 6 ft (not the greatest design). Anyways there's two returns in the shallow end and one skimmer in the shallow end, one of the returns is actually on the pool floor (35 year old pool). So the circulation is fabulous in the shallow end and the water is very clear, while the deep end has a non functioning main drain. Im attempting to get that fixed but scheduling isnt great. So my problem is my deep end is cloudy to the point you cant see the main drain. there's a couple different issues id like to ask you all about. I try to run the Polaris robot all day to help deep end circulation but always come home too a clogged screen where the robot connects to the return, therefor the robot is barely doing anything. I just recently as of today plugged in my hand vacuum with out the pole and hung it over the diving board so its sitting like 10ft under water, does anyone think that will help circulation? As far as water testing the local swim store says my water is perfect but when I do the drop test myself the PH is almost red rather then any of the purple shades on the chart. Does that mean its far past any reading and very high PH? So basically I want this deep end cleared up so I can enjoy the weekend. Ive heard floccing is a good idea but currently cant vacuum to waste until next week because my site glass is missing so theres just a giant hole in my sand filter where the water wants to flow through if changed to waste. So is vacuuming to filter ok after floc? Ive tried clarifier and that did nothing for me. Then the next day I tried shocking it. That also did nothing. I know I asked alot in this post but please try to help. Also add on question does anyone think shutting down the filter for a couple days after shocking help everything drop? I only ask because I had an issue where the filter was off for maybe 3 days after shocking and the pool went crystal clear and everything dropped to the bottom. Also this water im talking about is only 10 days old freshly delivered. Thanks.
 
Vacuuming to filter after floccing is a good way to hopelessly clog your filter. Floc works by gluing things together. It'll glue sand together, or DE, or dead algae and cartridge paper... whatever type filter you have. Bad idea.

The vacuum in the deep end would have been my suggestion.

Do you have any idea what's wrong with the main drain? Could it be something so simple as a missing diverter valve in the skimmer? If you have two open holes in the bottom of the skimmer and only one has suction, the other likely goies to the main drain and you need the diverter to direct the suction.

lovingHDTVSkimmerDiverter-1.jpg
attachment.php

Now onto the real source of your problems....
As far as water testing the local swim store says my water is perfect but when I do the drop test myself the PH is almost red rather then any of the purple shades on the chart.
Neither pool store tests nor test strips will give you the control you need to get your pool sparkling and keep it there. I suspect a lot of that cloudiness is dead algae carcasses. But since it isn't clearing, you're at a stalemate. You have enough chlorine to keep it in check, but not enough to kill it off completely. So you kill some and it makes the water cloudy, but the rest just reproduces and so you have an endless supply.

Take a few minutes to read ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Then use the search box upper right for terms like "cloudy water" and you'll be overwhelmed with results. And it usually boils down to not testing and treating the pool properly. There's a good writeup in pool school about test kits. You can read it, or just skip it and head for TFTestkits.net and get a TF100. Armed with the right tools, we can help you get that water so sparkly you won't believe it. See also I have a few issues with the TFP method...
 
Thank you Richard, I read up on pool school and it helped. I decided to go with the slam method and shocked last night. I kept my hand vac in the deep end to help circulate and took the robot out. I probably should have took the robot out earlier this week. Maybe it was stirring everything up and making it cloudy? I purchased the test kit you suggested. I test the chlorine lastnight and this morning unfortunately my chlorine test only goes up to 10 but as far as i can tell it didnt look like i lost very much chlorine last night but who knows. Does the test kid you recommend go up to 20? I also fixed my issue with vacuuming to waste so now i can freely backwash and drain. Once again my pool has been running 24/7 since Sunday and no change in the deep end. Is my theory crazy that the pool needs to be shut off in order for algae to drop? Should I floc now that I can vacuum to waste? I know thats all lesslies pool will tell me to do is floc but I would appreciate your recommendation, thank you.
 
Shutting filter off to let alge drop

Can someone tell me if I'm wrong? I want to shock my pool Slam method because my deep end is cloudy, actually I've already done this with my filter running 24/7 but not I want to shock and let it filter for 3 hours then shut the filter off for a couple days and hopefully it all settles so I can vacuum whatever it is to waste. I bought the fancy test kit and you guys wanted me to and all my numbers are in like cya tc, everything: I will post leter but I really can't get this 12 ft deep end cleared up. Thoughts?
 
Re: Shutting filter off to let alge drop

Can someone tell me if I'm wrong? I want to shock my pool Slam method because my deep end is cloudy, actually I've already done this with my filter running 24/7 but not I want to shock and let it filter for 3 hours then shut the filter off for a couple days and hopefully it all settles so I can vacuum whatever it is to waste. I bought the fancy test kit and you guys wanted me to and all my numbers are in like cya tc, everything: I will post leter but I really can't get this 12 ft deep end cleared up. Thoughts?

Your post is a bit confusing to read.

Are you currently SLAMming the pool? If yes, it would be a bad idea to stop circulation for three days. Right now you need to concentrate on maintaining shock level until you can at least pass the OCLT, and your CC's are less than 0.5ppm. At that point we can discuss other options to clear the cloudiness.

Please post a complete set of test results, and let us know which one of the recommended test kits you have.
 
Re: Shutting filter off to let alge drop

No I'm not currently slamming it I only say this 3 day theory because the best results I've scene with going from cloudy to clear was turning my filter off for 3 days so much debris just dropped but I had a friend vacuum it he must have went to fast because it went back to cloudy.
 
Cloudy deep end first TF100 post

Ok here we go, 31,000 gallon inground 12 ft deep end.
FC 5.5
CC 1
TC 6.5
calcium hardness 200 (adding r-0010 and r0011L it turns pink not red is that ok?
TA-160
CYA- 20

cooudy deep end, only shallow end which is a small area is nice and clear.
2 week old sand
skimmer sock in
pool running 24/7

help me out experts
 
So I want to slam with bleach since I've been using a cal hypo product which I just realized caused cloudiness? I'm confused by the pool math is there a rule of thumb for adding bleach to go from 5-10 FC the pool school weight thing is throwing me all off
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
It varies by how many gallons your pool is and the strength of the bleach. PoolMath will tell you how many ounces of bleach to add. Enter the current level in now and the target level in target, enter the bleach percentage and it will tell you how many ounces. Most bleach is 8.25%.

There is a PoolMath tutorial here, Pool School - PoolMath

You can add your pool info to your signature so that we can better help you. More here on what to add and how to do it, Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post
 
It has currently been 18 hours since I dumped in the recommended dosage of bleach my current FC reading is 10 which is shock level for the slam method and current cc is 0.5. Even though after testing FC adding the r0003 to make it return to pink, let's just say it's a very light shade of pink, just wanted to note that. Does this count as overnight chlorine loss? Or do I need to go 24 hours? It's still cloudy in the deep end. Thanks to anyone who can help.
 
It says to shock and maintain. my shock level is 10 because my cya is 20 please tell me if I'm wrong? Should I add conditioner to raise cya? It says to brush or vacuum daily. Just to clarify brushing would just be the walls correct or is brushing the floor and stirring up the algae or whatever it is on the ground a good thing?
 
It says to shock and maintain. my shock level is 10 because my cya is 20 please tell me if I'm wrong? Should I add conditioner to raise cya? It says to brush or vacuum daily. Just to clarify brushing would just be the walls correct or is brushing the floor and stirring up the algae or whatever it is on the ground a good thing?
Very much so. Algae develops a protective slimy film you want to break off.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.