cloudy saltwater pool can't get clear Help!!!

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D

dragon slayer

0
May 31, 2008
5
Strawberry Plains , Tennessee
Hi
I had used baquacil :( last year had lots of problems so this year I have a Saltwater pool I drained old green water all but a foot then changed sand in filter refilled pool added salt and ran filter about week the green gone now just cloudy and it don't seem like its going to clear up what can I do to get it clear ? I have not got my own test kit yet but will be getting one soon here is what pool stores test where they wasn't very helpful they said they don't know anything about Saltwater pools. I think they were just mad I won't be buying all that high price baquacil stuff from them anymore :lol:

Free Chlorine .5 ppm
Total Chlorine 1.8 ppm
Combined Chlorine 1.3 ppm
Total Alkalinity 79 ppm
pH Level 7.8 ppm
Cyanuric Acid 8 ppm
 
Welcome to TFP!

If you have a SWG, you want CYA between 60 and 80. With very low CYA levels you lose a lot of chlorine to sunlight and will have trouble maintaing the correct FC level.

It might help to bring PH down a little, perhaps to 7.4. PH is alright where it is, but over time it is likely to go up some more and become too high.

If the pool is green you need to shock the pool. That means bring the FC level up to 12 by adding chlorine manually and keep it there by testing and adding more chlorine as needed. The SWG can help you maintain the FC level, but the initial addition should be quick and a SWG is not good at that. I suggest using bleach to add chlorine.

Once you clear the water by shocking and bring the CYA level up the SWG will be able to take care of things from there.
 
When I first got my SWG, I tried to run it with low CYA. Every time it rained or I had a lot of bathers or any other type of "pool event" (worms happen!), the pool would get cloudy. I finally broke down and starting keeping my CYA to spec and life has been SO much easier. Most SWGs need 60 to 80 (and there have been lots of great discussions about why this works, look for chem_geek as the author).

You also need to keep the FC somewhere above 3, I try to keep my at 4 to 5 using the OTO (yellow) test. That level might be high for non-SWG, but for a salt pool, it is fine. No one will even notice, you skin/hair don't smell like chlorine, it just works.

BUT, keep a jug or 2 of bleach around! Sometimes you get a LOT of rain or a LOT of bathers. Normally, a gallon or gallon and a half of 6% bleach will clear up any cloudiness asap and you won't have to run your SWG on super.
 
You still need to shock the pool. Shocking means bringing the FC level up to shock level, 20 when CYA is 70, and holding it there until CC goes to zero, there is no FC loss overnight, and the water is clear.
 
FC will come down slowly over a week or more. If you turn off the SWG it will come down a little faster but be sure to remember to turn the SWG back on at the right time.

With a CYA of 70, I figure any FC under 20 is safe to swim in. Indoor public pools have far higher active chlorine levels than that because they don't use CYA.
 
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