First time pool owner, BBB method opening, cloudy water.
- Thread starter JesseWV
- Start date
RobbieH said:
Well I don't want to be adding bleach every day or multiple times per day when swimming begins. From what I understand, and please correct me if I'm wrong, without CYA the chlorine levels will drop quickly when exposed to sunlight and/or heavy bather load.
Yes, you are correct. However, CYA at 100 is quite high and tends to lead to other problems. For example, if you ever get algae you will need a huge amount of chlorine to get rid of it.
JasonLion said:
It's strange but the CYA level was only 50 about 5 days ago but has went up to at least 90 since I added liquid bleach to shock. I'm still waiting for my real test kit. These strips suck.
That is the test strips being wrong. Wait to get reliable test results before doing anything drastic.
I've been running the filter for over a week now and the water seems to have got as clear as it's going to without doing something else.
Previously I'd noticed that when vacuuming it seemed to stir up dirt on the bottom making the water look murky for awhile. Yesterday my son was watching me vacuum and said that whenever I go over particularly large patch on the bottom that noticeably dirty water comes out of the return.
I backwash every 3 days or so and the waste water is slightly cloudy but not brown. I'm worried that something is wrong with the sand filter. Am I right to assume that no dirt should be coming out of the return when doing routine vacuuming?
Previously I'd noticed that when vacuuming it seemed to stir up dirt on the bottom making the water look murky for awhile. Yesterday my son was watching me vacuum and said that whenever I go over particularly large patch on the bottom that noticeably dirty water comes out of the return.
I backwash every 3 days or so and the waste water is slightly cloudy but not brown. I'm worried that something is wrong with the sand filter. Am I right to assume that no dirt should be coming out of the return when doing routine vacuuming?
Dirty water should not be coming out of the return. Your sig doesn't list what filter you have and I didn't go back and look, but if it's a multiport the spider gasket may be letting dirty water pass from the dirty side to the clean side.
I bet the reason your pool hasn't cleared up more is because of a filter issue. Get that fixed and it should clear nicely.
Why are you backwashing so often? Is the pressure rising 6 to 10 psi over normal?
I bet the reason your pool hasn't cleared up more is because of a filter issue. Get that fixed and it should clear nicely.
Why are you backwashing so often? Is the pressure rising 6 to 10 psi over normal?
Your filter could be messed up, but ultra fine powder (sand, etc) can go through your filter- adding a little DE to the filter can help this. adding it is also a good way to check the filter...
I end up with a bottom full of it regularly- my whole yard is ultra sandy, so it blows in all the time.
Some stuff on the bottom is normal, until it gets caught in the filter-
BTW, sand filters actually work better when they're partially "full"; I wouldn't backwash as often, as long as your pressure is not going sky high- check the pressure after a backwash, don't backwash again til 8-10 psi higher...
I end up with a bottom full of it regularly- my whole yard is ultra sandy, so it blows in all the time.
Some stuff on the bottom is normal, until it gets caught in the filter-
BTW, sand filters actually work better when they're partially "full"; I wouldn't backwash as often, as long as your pressure is not going sky high- check the pressure after a backwash, don't backwash again til 8-10 psi higher...
Bama Rambler said:
Yes. When the pressure goes up above 15 I backwash. It doesn't do much. The lowest I've ever seen it is 12.
I have a Hayward S160T Sand Filter w/ Vari-Flo valve.
The Vari-Flo valve is also starting to concern me. It makes a squeaky wet rubber sound when turn it. Every time I operate it I'm afraid something is going to break.
It seems like it needs some lubrication. I've read not to put petroleum jelly on it. Does anyone know where I can find the proper lubricating substance that won't cost me an arm and a leg?
The Vari-Flo valve is also starting to concern me. It makes a squeaky wet rubber sound when turn it. Every time I operate it I'm afraid something is going to break.
It seems like it needs some lubrication. I've read not to put petroleum jelly on it. Does anyone know where I can find the proper lubricating substance that won't cost me an arm and a leg?
You want a silicone or teflon based plumbers lubricant. Any pool store or hardware store will have it.
The Vari-Flo is a multiport. Silicon pool lube, like Aladdin Magic Lube is what you want. I suspect you're going to need a new spider gasket too.
I noticed the pH and TA seem to be slowly rising. Today the pH was around 7.9 and TA was 160 so I added some hydrochloric acid to get the pH down to 7.2 and will do some aeration to bring the pH back up to 7.5
Before: TC=2.2, FC=2, pH=7.9, TA=160, CYA=100
Added 75oz Muriatic Acid, let circulate 20 min, added 192 oz Bleach, circulate 1 hour.
After TC=7.1, FC=7, pH=7.2, TA=80, CYA=50
Is it normal for TA to drop so much from such a small amount of MA?
Is it normal for CYA to drop from either one of these additions? (Not that I care too much because 50 is great, just unexpected)
Also, for aeration would it be bad for the pump/filter to introduce air into the skimmer via a small piece of PVC tubing attached to the bottom of the skimmer bucket?
Before: TC=2.2, FC=2, pH=7.9, TA=160, CYA=100
Added 75oz Muriatic Acid, let circulate 20 min, added 192 oz Bleach, circulate 1 hour.
After TC=7.1, FC=7, pH=7.2, TA=80, CYA=50
Is it normal for TA to drop so much from such a small amount of MA?
Is it normal for CYA to drop from either one of these additions? (Not that I care too much because 50 is great, just unexpected)
Also, for aeration would it be bad for the pump/filter to introduce air into the skimmer via a small piece of PVC tubing attached to the bottom of the skimmer bucket?
27.5 foot round by 3.75 foot depth is around 16,700 gallons. 75 fluid ounces of full-strength Muriatic Acid (31.45% Hydrochloric Acid) in that volume of water would lower the Total Alkalinity (TA) by 18 ppm. 192 fluid ounces of 6% bleach would raise the FC by 5.5 ppm. I used The Pool Calculator to make these calculations. The CYA would not change from adding either acid nor bleach.
Are you still using test strips or did you get a Taylor K-2006 or TFTestkits TF-100 test kit? Your numbers are confusing because in these drop-based kits you would normally report Free Chlorine (FC) and Combined Chlorine (CC), not Total Chlorine (TC), and the increments using a 25 ml sample are in 0.2 while with a 10 ml sample are in 0.5, but you have a TC of 7.1 in one case.
As for aeration, I'd wait on that until you get a good test kit and find out what your true water chemistry values. An easy way to aerate the water, if you do end up needing to do that, is to point returns up (assuming you have eyeball returns) and run the pump on high (if it's a 2-speed or variable speed). That usually churns the water surface a reasonable amount. You do not want to open your skimmer basket and introduce air into your pump, filter, etc.
Are you still using test strips or did you get a Taylor K-2006 or TFTestkits TF-100 test kit? Your numbers are confusing because in these drop-based kits you would normally report Free Chlorine (FC) and Combined Chlorine (CC), not Total Chlorine (TC), and the increments using a 25 ml sample are in 0.2 while with a 10 ml sample are in 0.5, but you have a TC of 7.1 in one case.
As for aeration, I'd wait on that until you get a good test kit and find out what your true water chemistry values. An easy way to aerate the water, if you do end up needing to do that, is to point returns up (assuming you have eyeball returns) and run the pump on high (if it's a 2-speed or variable speed). That usually churns the water surface a reasonable amount. You do not want to open your skimmer basket and introduce air into your pump, filter, etc.
I still don't have a good test kit yet so I guess I'll just take it easy until I get one. The wife vetoed it for the time being as not being "that important." She made me cancel the order. *sigh*
Bama Rambler said:
All the CYA is from 4lb of Dichlor when I first opened and shocked the pool. I did this on purpose to get some stabilizer in the water because there was 0. The CYA was 50 the next day but slowly began to creeping toward 100 over a week or so. I suppose it takes awhile to completely dissolve in granular form?
I actually don't want it at 100, I'd like it around 50. I'm just curious as to what caused it to fall. It was around 90 before I put the Muriatic Acid in and a jug of bleach then it dropped to 50. From what I understand you have to drain/refill to lower CYA so it shouldn't have dropped. I know the test strips I'm stuck with for now are junk but they have been consistent measuring the CYA when done day after day without adding chemicals.
I have 3 kids and they want to swim every day. I don't have a solar cover yet so I don't want CYA to get too low or I'll be adding chlorine all the time.
Also, I noticed on the Dichlor bags it says it's safe to swim 15 minutes after shocking. I'm assuming this is not the case with liquid bleach shocking? How long do you have to wait to safely swim after shocking with bleach? Until the FC gets down to 10ppm or less? It took 3 days for FC to go from 20ppm to 10ppm with direct sun and the CYA around 90. I suppose you can't do it at the last minute like with the granular Dichlor?
I think the biggest issue you're having is your testing method. Those strips are gonna cause you headaches as long as you use them. Enough said about that!
If you want you can go ahead and believe what that Dichlor bag is telling you. It told you that it would raise your CYA levels to astronomical levels and you should raise your FC to compensate too didn't it? (Oh wait, no it didn't)
You can swim up to shock level for your CYA no matter what source of chlorine you use (yes, even bleach).
If you want you can go ahead and believe what that Dichlor bag is telling you. It told you that it would raise your CYA levels to astronomical levels and you should raise your FC to compensate too didn't it? (Oh wait, no it didn't)
You can swim up to shock level for your CYA no matter what source of chlorine you use (yes, even bleach).
Bama Rambler said:
It should be illegal to sell them if they're so inaccurate.
Seriously? Swimming in 20ppm is safe? How can this be? I've read that it's illegal to have more than 7ppm at public pools in most states.