Cloudy water

[tcooperthomas]

New pool owner and very happy to be here. I have had some ongoing issues with cloudy water. As recommended I just received my K-6000 test kit and here are my 1st results...
FC- 2.4
CC- .4
PH- 6.9
TA- 110
CH- 260
CYA- 70ISH
CSI- .4

Now that I have accurate numbers I will start adjustments, but if anyone has a suggestion regarding the cloudy water I would love to know. I haven't done anything for several days while I waited for the test kit. Thank you and have a great night!!!

 

[AimeeH]

Welcome to TFP. Glad you found us if your are ready to take over control of keeping a sparkling pool.

You most likely have cloudy water because you have algae. With CYA of 70, your free chlorine is too low and has allowed the start of algae. I highly recommend reading up in pool school on ABC's of pool chemistry then to clear your water, follow the SLAM process. And ask lots of questions if you have them.

ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

There are several items things every pool owner should know about swimming pool water. We share details on the basics of Pool Water Chemistry.

www.troublefreepool.com

SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain

We’ve all had to deal with a green pool. Clear algae from your pool with a SLAM! Read here to use shock level and maintain to clear your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[frogabog]

Welcome and congratulations on you new test!

Use the 10ml water sample for testing FC and CC. Then each drop is .5ppm. That's good enough for your purposes and ours! Do as Aimee said above. Note also FC/CYA Levels. Your FC is WAY too low. Your minimum is 5ppm, your target is 10ppm. Your SLAM level is 28ppm.

Consider a partial drain and refill to reduce your CYA closer to 40 or 50ppm. If not 30 so that you can use less chlorine while you SLAM. You can always add more CYA afterwards if needed.

 

[tcooperthomas]

Thanks for the advice! I have partially drained the pool (to bottom of the skimmer) three times and refilled...the cya is still over 100. I misread the test kit the first time, so it has been over 100 from the test. I am doing another partial drain and refill now. Is it possible that my city water is really high in cya? I'm I missing something else? Thanks again for all the help!

 

[frogabog]

Water doesn't have CYA unless it's added by people.

Your CYA was probably extra high. Try a diluted sample of pool water. 50% tap water, 50% pool water. Run the CYA test as normal, then multiply by 2.

 

[tcooperthomas]

You are correct...it is about 180-200. Keep emptying and refilling the pool?

 

[frogabog]

Good golly Molly!!! So it was triple that before since you've already drained 50% twice? Yikes!

By all means, drain and refill. No wonder you've been having problems. To get that down to a reasonable level you'll need to drain the equivalent of about 75%.

Did you inherit this pool with a new home? Any idea what the previous owners were doing to chlorinate it?

 

[tcooperthomas]

We did inherit the pool, but I made it worse by not understanding the connection between chlorine and cya. I was mega shocking with granules and using dichlor tablets. Everything I put in was jacking up the cya. So happy to have this resource. Thank you very much.

 

[tcooperthomas]

Once its below the skimmer, what's the best way to keep draining?

 

[frogabog]

Do you have a submersible pump? If not, they aren't super expensive although you can probably rent one from Home Depot as well.

Make sure not to drain too much with a vinyl liner. I believe you want to keep at least a foot of water in the deep end, although I will defer that to someone who knows more about inground vinyl pools. Don't take my word on that unless someone else chimes in and verifies it. I think you have time to wait for someone to notice this thread though...

 

[mknauss]

I believe you want to keep at least a foot of water in the deep end, a

Keep a foot of water in the shallow end ---

 

[frogabog]

Thank you Marty!!

 

[tcooperthomas]

Thanks guys! I have the water pump and it's working well. I appreciate the advice. Have a great night!