Cloudy Pool, Pics

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T

thothtp

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May 15, 2008
18
To catch up to my situation, I bought a house with an inground pool, having never owned one before. When this spring came around, I pulled off the cover to a nice green swamp. After shocking first with hypo-cal and then Bleach once I found this forum and learned the gospel, the algae seems to be gone. What is left however, is a nice beautiful blue pool, that is so cloudy you cant see anything more then 4 feet down. Here are some pics.

Picture236.jpg

Picture237.jpg




So now I need to know where to go from here. These are my numbers as of today. Keep in mind this is using a crappy wal-mart hth test kit, my TF-100 is still on its way.


FC: ~5 (this is after shocking it to somewhere above 10 last night with bleach, my kit only goes up to 10 but calculator wise it should have been about 14)

CC: ~5

Alk: 85

PH:7.2

CYA: first test at the pool store showed 23. Second test, 0. Horay for accuracy. My test kit shows <30, can still clearly see the dot with a full tube.




Now last night, my FC was above 10 after shocking, and my PH was about 7.2. I bumped it up to 7.5 with borax before going to bed. This morning it is back down to 7.2, I am guessing from the Trichlor pucks.

I have a chlorine feeder full of tri-chlor pucks on full blast. I know I can't use these forever, but with my CYA almost nil I will use them until that comes up.



So now the questions, where do I go from here? How do I clear up the cloudyness? the Cartridge Filter is running 24/7, and I just cleaned it out again last night. I read here that if you are losing more then .5 FC overnight, then you are likely still oxidizing particles. Is that true at shock levels though? or is that only true if you go from say 4 down to 3.5 overnight. Don't shock levels of FC dissipate pretty quickly anyways, so you can go swimming again?

Should I continue monitoring it at maintenance levels of FC (around 3-5 or so) until the pool clears, or should I keep shocking? Should I be doing anything else? I should probably bring my Alk up right? I have stabilizer to dump in, but I have been cleaning my filter out so much I am reluctant to do that for fear I will have to clean it again in the next week. What levels of Alk and CYA should I be shooting for?

I will continue to vacuum and brush regularly, and clean out the filter anytime its pressure jumps.


Thanks guys
 
You probably already know that the FAS-DPD chlorine test in the Taylor K-2006 test kit and the TF100 test kit will let you measure chlorine levels more accurately (0.2 or 0.5 ppm resolution) and to higher levels up to 50 ppm. If you already have a test kit similar to the Taylor K-2005 that is drop-based for everything except it uses a DPD chlorine test, then you can get the Taylor K-1515-A to just get the FAS-DPD chlorine test.

As for what to do, you have choices. You can keep shocking at a high chlorine level (12 ppm FC or so) with brushing and filtration or if you get stuck or impatient then you could use a flocculant (OMNI Liquid Floc Plus, for example) and vacuum the sediment to waste assuming that's an option for you. However, you may just be a couple of days away from a clear pool. The process does take longer to clear the cloudiness than going from green to cloudy as you can see in this thread.

Shock levels only drop faster during the day in sunlight or when there is algae to oxidize overnight. Though there is some proportionate loss at higher levels overnight, it's not very much. If you are losing more than 1 ppm FC overnight even at shock levels, then you most likely still have things to get oxidized and the cloudy water is more proof of that -- it wouldn't be cloudy if there wasn't more dead algae to oxidize.

Richard
 
It is generally better if you keep all of your posts about cleaning up the pool together in one thread. Now that you have started this one you might as well keep using it, but as long as you are still talking about cleaning up the pool please stick with this thread. It is easier for us to help you if all the information is in one place.

If you lost somewhere between 5 and 9 FC last night then there must still be organics in the water. From the photos it really looks like all the algae must be dead, but the FC loss overnight test is the definitive test. The key is to test the water after sunset and at least 1 hour after adding chlorine and then again the next morning as early as possible (so as little as possible is lost to sunlight). Given your current test kit you many not be able to distinguish small losses from no loss, but a big obvious loss like the one you describe means there is still something in the water.

Because of the overnight FC loss and because of CC being above 0.5 you should maintain FC at around 12 to 15 till you stop losing chlorine overnight and CC goes to 0.5 or lower. FC loss during the day is to be expected.

Don't worry about the CYA. From your description I figure your current level is around 20, which is good enough for now. The tablets will continue raising the CYA level and as long as you don't let it get too high you will be fine.
 
My apologies, I figured since this was no longer really an algae problem and more about chemistry I should move it here.

I also just realized I misspoke about the CC, I meant to say TC. As far as my crappy test kit can tell my CC is 0. This is using the OTO test in the kit along with a test strip showing FC. Not anywhere near accurate enough, but its the best I have for now. Tracking shows that my TF100 kit should be here Tuesday, I can't wait to start using that.

I have a cartridge filter, so I cannot use Floc right? Thats what I was told at the pool store.

I guess I will keep hitting with bleach until it holds. Even at 14 FC I should only be losing .5-1 overnight? I will shoot for that. Will clarifier help at all at this point?

Finally, should I be bringing my alk up right now, or not bother until the water is clear? Whats the ideal level for CYA once I start adding it?


Thanks
 
It's not the cartridge filter per se that is the problem, but the fact that you probably do not have a 3-way valve that will let you vacuum to waste. So the pool store is right that you cannot floc. You could use a clarifier if you're impatient and don't care about spending more money, but again chlorine alone should clear the pool. For now, I'd just keep hitting it with bleach until the FC holds overnight.

I wouldn't bother changing the TA since 85 is just fine. As for the CYA, during this process you can get to a point where it is at 30 ppm and that will help the chlorine stick around during day. You can always add more later after the pool is completely cleared, but it's hard to lower so start out low and see how things go.

Richard
 
You need to be able to vacuum to waste in order to do a floc treatment. It is unusual for a cartridge filter to allow that.

Even very high FC levels will not lose any FC overnight unless there are organics in the pool (typically algae but sometimes ammonia or fertilizer).

Your TA is a little low for using tablets but just fine for using bleach. If you are planning on sticking with tablets for a little while you should bring the TA up to perhaps 100.

You don't really need floc or clarifier, just maintain the FC level and give the filter time to do it's job.
 
Ok, just got my TF-100 kit, what a great setup. Here are my numbers:

FC: 3.0
CC: .5
TC: 3.5
PH: 7.2
Alk: 80
CH: 200
CYA: <20, with a completely full tube the dot is maybe obscured 30%

I am still using the Tri-Chlor pucks for now, until my CYA gets higher. The chlorine feeder has about 3 pounds in it, and is roughly half dissolved so far, since opening 6 days ago. I have it on the maximum flow setting.

I have also been adding 12.5% liquid Chlorine when needed to maintain shock levels at first, and now around 3-5ppm, although now I can be more accurate thanks to the TF-100. According to my cheap tests the chlorine was holding overnight and only dissipating during the day, but I will check it again now that I have the TF-100.

Last night I added a dose of clarifier, and it seems to be making a difference. I can now very clearly see details on the bottom of the shallow end, but the deep end is still unclear.

I have all the BBB supplies, plus some stabilizer and 2 more Tri-chlor pucks. I also have some Di-Chlor shock that some friends gave me that they did not need. I would like to be as economical as possible.

What do you guys think I should do from here on out? My plan was to do one more thorough brush and vacuum, then clean out my cartridge filter, and then add some CYA. What else should I do?

Finally, there is no way that super high CYA levels could make a false negative on the CYA tests is there? I know for a fact the previous owners used Tri-Chlor pucks and granulated shock, so I really expected to find high levels of CYA. I guess its possible that they only used Hypo-Cal shock and the closing partial drain and over winter refilling of the pool (mesh cover, so a lot of snow melts in) diluted it back to almost nothing.

Thanks again guys
 
You seem to be doing well. Your plan sounds good.

CYA can vanish over the winter, or long periods of being closed, and when that happens there is an initial large chlorine demand. I suspect that is what happened here.
 
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