Cloudy water, help!

[RusandShelly]

Hi! I'm having a devil of a time getting my pool clear and I am hoping someone on here can help me with it. My water is blue and the numbers all look right. However, there's a haze to the water that just won't clear up, no matter what I try. It's been like this since last spring (no major changes beforehand). I've had a service out and they couldn't make sense of it either. Here's the steps I've taken to date:
-SLAM process numerous times (using liquid chlorine until I couldn't find it any more, then di-chlor)
-Vacuum, brush, vacuum, brush......
-New filter, new sand (300 lbs)
-Vacuum, brush, vacuum, brush...
-Lots of praying

Nothing seems to be working. I'm still netting out some leaves but it's not huge amounts. I'm not having to backwash much, the pressure seems to be steady between 18 and 22. I took a sample to Leslie's to see if my test kit was off, but they agree for the most part. And I know my chlorine is off, it just decided to be spring in Oklahoma and it all burned up in the last couple of days. The FC/TC levels haven't mattered so far though; it stays cloudy/hazy no matter what I do. I picked some cal-hypo shock up at Leslie's while I was there though. Here's the numbers off the report I got from them:

FC- 0
TC- 0
pH- 7.7
Total alkalinity- 110ppm
Calcium hardness- 270ppm
CYA- 40ppm
Iron- 0ppm
Copper- 0ppm
Phosphates- 50ppb
TDS- 1100ppm

Any ideas? Is there a chemical combo that makes water hazy? I.e.- algaecide and di-chlor, clarifier and liquid chlorine? I'm at a loss and sick of throwing money at this thing.

I thank you most profusely for constructive and kind responses.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Howdy Russ/Shelly..... welcome. Sorry to "meet" under bad conditions though...

First off, let me ask a few questions:
- Which test kit are you using?
-What chemicals have you added to the water this year?
-Have you tried a smidgeon of DE in the filter to catch smaller schmutz?

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.

www.troublefreepool.com

-Can you show us a pic?
-How do you normally sanitize your water?
-Well water or city water?

Maddie

 

[tim5055]

Any ideas? Is there a chemical combo that makes water hazy? I.e.- algaecide and di-chlor, clarifier and liquid chlorine? I'm at a loss and sick of throwing money at this thing.

Have you used all of these things?

You say you have tried to SLAM, but it is a process. What test kit were you using during the SLAM?

 

[RusandShelly]

I'm attaching a pic. I use a DPD test kit that I bought in error. I know it's not as reliable as the FAS-DPD kits but I'm stuck with it for a minute. We're on city water. I normally use tabs in floaters and shock weekly or so to sanitize. I've tried DE a few times but it hasn't helped. So far this year I've used: algaecide, approx. 20 gallons of "chlorinating liquid", 1 bottle clarifier, 1 bottle flocculant, 40 lbs di-chlor.

We started trying to open this thing in mid-March and it was a swamp. Thanks for any help!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

ah...well, you've got yourself a bit of a chemical soup there, hon. FLOC and calcium certainly can make a pool cloudy. Do you know if you've still got FLOC in there floating around?

While calcium will cause cloudiness at times, it should resolve. Now unless you've put far too much in? How did you know how much to add especially since you have a vinyl pool that doesn't actually *need* any calcium??

You must get a better test kit. We have to be speaking the same test kit lingo and using pool store results don't cut it. I'm sorry to be blunt. Pool stores sell you a lot of bad products and we've seen horrible test results come from them. No one will take more care to get a test right than you- you're the one who is going to swim in that water.
You can either order a Taylor K-2006C test on Amazon or other places, or a kit a local NC business put together for our method of pool care- TF-100. Of the two kits named that we trust, the TF-100 is a better buy. www.tftestkits.net

Stop adding ANYthing other than liquid chlorine to that pool. Go to the pool section of Walmart and scoop up some Pool Essentials 10% liquid chlorine and add one gallon of that per day until you get your test kit. Then we can see where you are.

Make sure you're vacuuming out any solid debris, and that FLOC needs to get vac'd out to waste (keep it out of your filter).

Can you do these things?

Maddie

 

[mknauss]

FYI -- the 40 pounds of dichlor has added 90+ppm of CYA to your pool. Unless you have backwashed over 15000 gallons of water, the CYA test is very low.

It might be wise to consider a few very healthy drain/refills to clear the soup Maddie mentions out of the pool.

 

[RusandShelly]

I haven't added any calcium yet, I've been using the bleach and di-chlor so far.

And much as I would LOVE to use liquid chlorine, our friend Covid19 has seen to it that liquid bleach is very difficult to come by this year. I've been using di-chlor but I'm switching to cal-hypo to avoid CYA issues. I'll run into calcium issues there too, but what other choice do I have?

As for the CYA, I started with a CYA that was so low it didn't register. That was by design... last year it got pretty high and I didn't want to start the year fighting it. I drained it pretty low when I closed it and let mother nature help me fill it back up. I used the di-chlor on purpose too, for just that reason. Watched the CYA like a hawk, trust me.

So, any ideas?

 

[JJ_Tex]

I show the Walmart in Norman (12th avenue) has Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid. That would be your best bet to stock up, but you can check other walmarts, home depots, lowes, etc.

 

[mknauss]

Home Depot in Norman shows 22 boxes of 3 packs of HDX Liquid chlorine. Might want to call them to see if it is there.

We have found liquid chlorine to be reasonably available in Walmarts, Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply, etc.

 

[PointeTaken]

Home Depot in Norman shows 22 boxes of 3 packs of HDX Liquid chlorine. Might want to call them to see if it is there.

We have found liquid chlorine to be reasonably available in Walmarts, Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply, etc.

Yes, both Home Depots near me got 720 cases each of the 3x HDX pool bleach about a week ago. I can’t imagine we’re the only ones deemed worthy by the powers that be . They also had a good bit of stock left over from a March shipment. Walmart has a good bit but I’ve found they don’t segregate their old lots from the new ones, so you have to familiarize yourself with the date codes that are used on bleach bottles and then sort through dozens of bottles.