Cloudy water

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J

Jim1590

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2020
57
Stafford Springs CT USA
Pool Size
6000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello, first time posting. Please be kind! Or not :)

As in my sig, 6000 gallon above ground pool. Just got it (used) for this summer and am having a issue with cloudy water.

My levels are good with chlorine at 3.0, pH is 7.6, alkalinity is about 120, corrected from 60 when filled through the city water. Filter cartridge changed pretty frequently and rinsed as soon as I remove them for reuse.

I do have sand / some dirt on the bottom that is slowly coming up with vacuuming and clarifier. A lot of it just spreads around as I move towards it with the pole.YqbfLyuBSiGHKYvFCBLIcA.jpghX82livPStOMm1u9cEzTNw.jpgootXvmUxRVStEzbcPwRMtw.jpg
 
Hi there and welcome. Cloudy water is usually an indicator of the start of algae. I hate to tell you but 3 ppm of chlorine is not necessarily “good.” As your CYA / stabilizer levels start to increase, you need to increase the chlorine accordingly. I strongly suspect your CYA level has increase over time from using tablets (which have CYA), and your 3.0 chlorine level is actually too low.

How are you measuring the chemical levels? If you’re using strips, those are actually “guess” strips and very inaccurate.

What is your CYA level?

How are you chlorinating your pool? If you’re using tablets, you CYA level is probably starting to get high, meaning you haven’t been using enough chlorine for your level of CYA.

If you can provide the information above, it will help those much smarter than me to give you guidance.
 
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Hiya Jim,
An expert should chime in soon.
Nice job putting your signature in. 😀

Next thing they need to know is how you are testing? They can’t give much advice on levels unless you are testing yourself with either the TF100 or Taylor 2006. Pool store results and guess strips are far too inaccurate to make any recommendations.

I can add that if accurate the original TA of 60 was fine.
Clean filter only when you have a 25% rise in pressure.
Read pool school. ABCs of pool water chemistry.

If you don’t have a proper test kit, I would order one. In the meantime don’t add anything else to your pool except to add 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day until it arrives. Do full set of tests and post for the experts.

Good Luck!
 
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Thank you both

I am using Poolmaster 5-way test kit (Amazon.com : Poolmaster 22276 5-Way Deluxe Test Kit : Swimming Pool Liquid Test Kits : Garden & Outdoor)

I chlorinate with a tablet floater and weekly shock with HTH 4-in1 Super Shock, 1/2 pound. The tablets are Trichloro-s-triazinetrione. The shock has Calcium Hypochlorate.

I clean the filter when I see a noted decrease in the outflow and the skimmer door doesn't get pulled in as much.

The TA of 60 also had a pH of below 6.8 so I fixed both with 7 pounds of baking soda. Has been steady for about 2 weeks.
 
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Again no need to raise TA.

probably acid in tablets driving both TA and PH down. Also probably raised CYA sky high. Which means your FC level not high enough to hold off algae.
Without a proper test kit you aren’t able to measure CYA which is one of the key tests to TFP.
 
I used a test strip and the CYA is less than 30. I will take a trip to my pool supply store in the morning and see what they have for a CYA regent testing kit. The test strip mostly matched the rest of my regent testing for the FC and TA. Showed a pH of 7.2 though. I will stick with the regent test for that.

My local water is very low in TA (40) and pH (7.2) so the first step in trouble shooting the cloudy water was to raise the pH so the chlorine would work better. That also raised the TA. I do not plan on adjusting it further now that it is in range for pH. Last year I had to raise both as well.
 
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I would still get your own CYA test. And again, your chlorine level needs to increase as your CYA level goes up. If your CYA is 30, for example, your FC needs to be in the 4-6 range. I strongly suspect you’ve been running too low on chlorine, and that allowed some algae to take hold.
 
@Jim1590 Hello and Welcome to TFP!

Your cloudy water and the "sand/dirt" that moves around on the bottom is from algae. The chlorine level isn't high enough for your CYA. The best way to increase the chlorine (FC) is to use plain bleach or liquid chlorine. Same stuff different name. It is available at your favorite grocery store in the laundry isle. No scents, not splashless, no chloromax.... just plain ol' bleach. You are looking for Sodium Hypochlorite. Follow the FC/CYA Levels to determine needed FC level.
We recommend the SLAM Process to rid the pool of algae. You will also need a test kit that can measure CYA and FC (FAS-DPD type).
I suspect your CYA is much higher than 30ppm. Think for a moment about how much trichlor tabs you have used. In your size pool, only takes 3 lbs of trichlor to get CYA to 33ppm.

The trichlor tabs you use are acidic. As long as your pH is in the 7's you are good to go for daily use. If pH gets too low, the best way to increase is through aeration of the water. Next best way is with washing soda (sodium carbonate). This is not baking soda. The TA doesn't need to be raised above 70 ppm. No need to artificially increase above this.

No more clarifier or floc, those will just gum up your filters.
 

Thanks for jumping in.

I have liquid bleach and will start that process in the morning. I will get a water test done at my local pool store (yes I know it is no sub for my own testing) and I will get a CYA test for home use.

As for the tablets, I have probably gone through 3-4 (2lbs). I will take the floater out of the pool right now.

For the TA and the pH being stable for 2 weeks now after I corrected it, is there any reason to not leave it alone? Me test kit says both are right where they should be.

Thanks
 

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I got reagent refills for:
Taylor FAS-DPD and Taylor CYA
Going to order the test tube for them

Also, my testing shows:
FC 1
TC 1.14
PH 7.5
TA 105
CA hardness 25
CYA 10
Iron 0.1
Copper 0
Phosphate 638
TDS 190
 
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Got the CYA test tube in today and tested the water. The black dot stayed visible the entire tube so I will put the CYA level at 0-10.

Chlorine level in the pool is 1 per titrate test.. I do not have the FAS-DPD in yet.

Pool math is saying add 31 ounces of 10% bleach which I have. I also have powdered shock of 56% Calcium Hypochlorate 1 pound for 13,500 gallons.

I have not added anything yet (just did the testing) and wanted to check to see which one should I go with, half a pound of the shock or the bleach? I do not want to SLAM until I get the FAS test equipment in.

As for the cloudy water, that is essentially gone. I can clearly see objects on the bottom.

Thanks
 
I am making some headway.

I have been adding bleach daily to get to 5ppm. On Thursday, I added 32oz (weight) of granular stabilizer to the pool in a white tube sock hung under the pump return. My skimmer basket was too small to put it there. As of last night, it was all dissipated. I would put my pre-stabilizer CYA reading at 0-10

This morning, FC is less than 1, probably 0.5ppm. CYA is 25. The tube only fills halfway, so I assume I am just mixing another batch and keep filling the tube up?

Once stabilized at my goal of 40, how often will I have to add stabilizer? Should I be getting larger containers?
Does bleach lose effectiveness? When I added yesterday, I used a container of liquid Pool Shock containing 12.5% vs the 10% household I have been using.

Anything more I should be doing at this point?

Thanks
 

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