Cloudy water - time to drain?

[Drew80]

I've had partially cloudy water for a few weeks now despite shocking twice. Measurements are below:

FC - 5
pH - 7.4
TA - 90
CH - 550
CYA - 80
salt - 3000

Everything looks generally ok except CH, and even that isn't astronomically high. Would that be enough to cause cloudiness?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Drew, in the years you've been a member and posted here you must know we don't just "shock" a pool and call it done.

Have you performed a full SLAM procedure? Using Liquid Chlorine?

At the minimum I would up your FC level.... if you're at 5ppm daily, and the sun takes a few points daily, you're going be risking an algae outbreak. You may have a low level outbreak going on now causing the cloudiness and it just hasn't turned green yet.

SLAM Process

Maddie

 

[Drew80]

Yes yes, I know.

I was looking for general guidance rather than a step-by-step procedure. More of a "why" than "what do I do". Particularly since my CH is high, and no SLAM procedure is going to fix that.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Nascent algae outbreaks can cause cloudiness. That's where there is low level algae outbreak but you can't really put your finger on it as its not green yet.
Either way the solution is usually the same- More Chlorine.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Also... keep your pH on the low end of 7s which will help you avoid calcium scaling.

Maddie

 

[Drew80]

Also... keep your pH on the low end of 7s which will help you avoid calcium scaling.

Maddie

I usually do. It just creeps up continuously because of the SWG, and I haven't added muriatic in a few days. My next purchase is a chemical feeder.

 

[IceShadow]

It creeps up because of your TA level. The SWG just isn't lowering the pH the way pucks would. Once your TA is down around 50-60 it probably will slow down on the creep.

 

[Drew80]

@IceShadow I've been trying to get TA down for literally 4 years with no luck. I finally just decided to ignore it and only focus on pH. Happy to entertain any suggestions, but I feel like I've tried everything.

 

[IceShadow]

Most likely the TA is going up due to your evaporation and fill adding more to the pool. You could force it down but it will likely come back up with more evaporation-fill.

 

[Drew80]

Especially over the summer. We've already hit 100 a few times this year, so I've been filling a couple inches a week.

 

[IceShadow]

Maybe a solar cover to limit evaporation if your pool can use one?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

With your plaster pool even if your TA runs a tad higher, it helps to keep an eye on your CSI to help balance things.

CSI and LSI - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Maddie

 

[PoolStored]

@IceShadow I've been trying to get TA down for literally 4 years with no luck.

So, here is my 2 cents. I can lower my TA, in a 30K pool, 10ppm, with the rig below on a sump pump. Lower your pH to 7 with Muriatic Acid. Run the aerator until your pH rises to 7.4 and repeat until your TA is in the 60-70 range. (CO2 outgasses at the fastest rate from 7.0-7.2/4. This will reduce your TA. You want to creat LOTS of VERY TINY bubbles to outgass CO2.

 

[Drew80]

@PoolStored did you make that rig yourself?

 

[PoolStored]

Yep, simple. Just pvc, screws on top of sump pump. Cap the end and drill a bunch of holes in caps.

 

[duraleigh]

Is your fill water TA high?