Cloudy Pool

[Jkbpool]

Have a very cloudy pool. We are located in SW Florida--currently have heater off and pool temperature is 76 degrees. It's not green yet!
Pool had a creeping stain at deep end after construction. We were initially told that it had to cure longer. 3 months after construction the stain had grown. We had tried a sample of natural stain remover given to us by the pool technician--the product workd in the small area we were able to used it. I am waiting to here from the pool tech to find out what the product was...so that once I can see the bottom again I can fit the problem myself.
The pool builder agreed to attempt to solve the problem. The Pool builder added 4 gallons of muratic acid last Friday. They were also servicing our pool. Told us that it was to help with the stain. Until Wednesday you could still see the bottom of the pool. Now pool is cloudy and you can't see clearly beyond the 3rd step. Today they added baking soda and several pucks to the system. They told us that would increase the chlorine level. Concerned we went to pool store and were told to add liquid chlorine. We added liquid chlorine this AM at 2.5 gallons. Said everything else was good but phosphates were a little high.

After 6 cups of baking soda.
Test results from the pool store- only have a 3 part test kit ordering a new one
FAC 0
TAC 0
CH 220
CYA 80
TA 90
PH 7.4
Copper 0
Iron 0
Phosphates 400- not worried


home test kit now shows

PH 7.4
FAC 10
TAC 10
TA 90


The pool is still cloudy 10 hours after adding liquid chlorine. I have the cartridge filter running thru the night. We have cleaned the filter.

What do we do next? How long will it take for the chlorine levels to drop?

 

[Kevindong]

Not an expert in this. But main reason why you have a cloudy pool is algae. I am assuming FAC is FC.. But I don't know why there is a big gap between your text and pool. Let's say. Your test is right. you are seriously low at FC. Well, looks like you need to slam your pool. Add couple gallons of bleach or chorine there for now. And get an proper test kit. Taylor k2006 or TF -100 are both good options. And post number here as soon as got the text kit.
Fc
cc
ph
TA
CH
CYA.

 

[tim5055]

You may have something growing, but you also have a lot of moving parts with multiple folks making recommendations and trying to fix things. I'm shocked that the pool store says you pH is 7.4 after the pool builder added four gallons of acid. The acid was for a no drain acid wash, but it is a little more involved than dumping acid in the pool and walking away.

You gotta stop with the pucks, they add CYA and you are already too high for a manually chlorinated pool.

Mixing pool store advice/testing with TFP methods is just another recipe for disaster. So, you need to decide, pool store, builder or TFP methods.

If you have read around here much you have probably seen that not much credence is given to pool store testing. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Between employees who blindly trust the word of chemical sales representatives and high school kids working in the pool store for the summer you end up with poor results from their testing. In my case two different pool stores told me my CYA was "fine", around 70 or 80. When I tested myself I found it over 200.

To follow the pool care methods taught here you need to arm yourself with the knowledge and tools necessary to care for your pool.

The knowledge is condensed in the Pool School link at the top of every page. It is a great community here, but we do ask that you read and try to understand the information being taught. Questions are always welcome and folks will try to direct you and teach you the methods.

The tools are not limited to the brushes, vacuum hoses and other stuff you use around the pool, but include the most important item - one of the recommended test kits. You can buy a kit at a pool store, but again the pool store kits generally won't cut it. To effectively practice the TFPC methods, the FAS/DPD chlorine test is essential. All these kits contain that test while very few other kits do. Think of it this way, do you see a doctor blindly prescribing drugs without seeing the patient or having tests run? Here at TFP we are going to ask for photos so we can see the condition of the water and are going to ask for a full set of test results.