Cloudy water

[rmclain73]

To start there a few things I should mention. This is my second season with the pool, and the first "issue" I have had. In the past we have always had a solar cover on when the pool was not in use, but for the last month we have been going without as it looks nicer, and my wife and son can use the pool without having to deal with it. Since going without the cover evaporation, and chlorine loss have increased as it should.

I noticed this morning my water has gotten a little cloudy. It appears clear in the shallow end, but the deep end it is a little more noticeable.

Current Levels:
FC 8.5
CC 0
PH 7.4
TA 80
CYA 80
water temp 84

I have noticed over the last week that my SWG is not producing enough CL as it should. My salt is low and I just have not had time this week to get to pool store and get more. Heading up there later today. I have been supplementing with bleach to keep FC between 6 and 7. This morning when I ran my test, my FC was only at 2.5. I have since added bleach. It was at 6.5 yesterday afternoon before I left to go out for the day. My wife and son used the pool for 4 hours my wife told me. She also said she put some sunless tanner on her legs. Could the tanner be what is causing the pool to be cloudy, or is this the start of a algae outbreak?

 

[mknauss]

You dropped below minimum for a CYA of 80. So you may be starting an algae bloom. But it will also be quick to kill if you hit it now. SLAM

You can get salt at grocery stores, Home Depot, etc. Just use plain water softener salt. Typically blue bags. You do not want the ones with iron sequestrate in them.

Take care.

 

[rmclain73]

I hit the pool with liquid chlorine and brought it up to slam level of 31 around 3:00pm. As of 7:15pm it's still holding at 31 and CC is still 0. Water is also back to its normal clear. I'll do the OCLT test and be done I believe. Still not sure if the water just needed more time to filter, or something started to bloom in the short time it fell below the minimum FC. Also, salt has been added and once my chlorine level drops I'll fire up the SWG and it should produce enough chlorine once again.

 

[mknauss]

Good job.

FYI on the SWCG - it is either working or it is not. If there is enough salt for it to run it produces the same Chlorine as it does at 3500 ppm. When the Low Salt light is on it is still producing full Chlorine. Only when it goes to Very Low Salt does it turn off.

Take care.

 

[rmclain73]

Good job.

FYI on the SWCG - it is either working or it is not. If there is enough salt for it to run it produces the same Chlorine as it does at 3500 ppm. When the Low Salt light is on it is still producing full Chlorine. Only when it goes to Very Low Salt does it turn off.

Take care.

My salt was at 2800 and the generator asks for 3200-3400. While the low salt light was not lit, it was not generating chlorine the last two days. I checked to see if it needed an acid wash, but no build up was present. Something else may be going on with it so I did get a few gallons of liquid chlorine while at the pool store just in case.

 

[mknauss]

The SWCG has a light that indicates it is generating. Was it on the last two days? I would suspect it was and you had organics in the water that was consuming it quickly.

Good luck.

 

[rmclain73]

The SWCG has a light that indicates it is generating. Was it on the last two days? I would suspect it was and you had organics in the water that was consuming it quickly.

Good luck.

The light was not on indicating it was generating. Even when I set it to output 100%. That's why I find it odd the low salt light was green and not red. Taylor salt drop test was showing low salt.

 

[rmclain73]

Updating this in the event anyone else runs into the same. My SWG stopped making chlorine for a few days so I was using bleach to supplement. I was using a weaker bleach and was not getting my FC high enough. I ended up with cloudy water, but was lucky enough that a fast 2 day slam took care of things. The issue that started this all was my salt cell. I was getting a green light that salt was ok. Flow was also ok. However the cell indicator light was not coming on. In doing some searching on this thread, and speaking with the manufacturer, I have come to find out that there is sometimes a "sweet spot" where the cell will indicate salt is ok but not high enough to make chlorine. My Taylor salt test kit showed I was below 3000ppm. I added salt two days ago and brought it up to 3400ppm. All is working fine now. Just another reason to test your salt from time to time even if your SWG says all is well.