flat looking water

[aussieta]

ok a bit of history on the pool, bought house december 2013
water sparkled like a diamond, you could not look at it on a sunny day
had water tested at two different pool stores while waiting on test kit

17 december
fc 1.8/0
cc 1.6/0
tc 3.4/0
ph 4.8/7.4
TA 14/33
CH 56/61
cya 50/29
got pool stored to the tune of $300
8kg bicarb, 4 kg calcium, 1kg stabilizer
told to add whole lot when i get home with filter running, increase run time and chlorinator output
water went cloudy and didn't improve (knowing what i know now, should not have added at same time)

22 december
fc 6.3
cc 0.7
ph 7.6
ta 94
ch 192
cya 70
told to leave filter running and cloudy would clear up and to reduce chlorinator

3 january
fc 3.1
cc 1.5
ph 7.8
ta 110
ch 102
cya 46
told to add 300 ml muriatic acid, 2kg calcium, 200grams stabilizer and increase chlorinator, water still cloudy

10 january got taylor 2006 test kit
fc 3.6
cc 0.3
ph 7.4
ta 90
ch 120
cya 70
considering the advice i was getting not as bad as i expected added another 4 kg calcium and increased chlorinator. water still cloudy

24 january
fc 1.6
cc 0
ph 7.6
ta 90
ch 170
cya 80
pool store advised 1kg sodium dichloroisocyanurate (still not sure what that is)

25 january add 20kg salt, 1kg cal/hypo, 500g sodium dichloroisocyanurate (slamming with cal/hypo as easier) after 1 hour fc 21.5

26 january fc 16.5 added another 1/2 kg cal/hypo

27 january white residue on floor but water clear but not sparkling. vacuum to waste
fc 17.5
cc 0
ph 7.8
ta 90
ch 180
cya 70
added 500 ml acid

31 january perform overnight chlorine loss test with 0 loss (fc 10.5 - fc 10.5, cc 0)

since then chlorine has ranged from minimum 8.5 to max 12. most days 11
water appearance has not changed
as the dog constantly drinks from pool, borates are not an option right now
how do i get the sparkle back?
the sodium dichloroisocyanurate and cal/hypo combo made the biggest difference
should i repeat that
now i think i know what i am doing i am reluctant to add anything as numbers indicate i don't have a problem but i want that sparkle back, water temps are dropping now, down to 55 farenheit

16 may
fc 12
cc 0
ph 7.6
ta 80
ch 210
cya 55
salt 3500
temp 13 celcius/55 farenheait

 

[chem geek]

You let your FC level get too low and algae started to grow making the water look cloudy. It wasn't the Dichlor or Cal-Hypo specifically, but rather raising the chlorine level to kill off the algae that made the difference. That is known as SLAMing your pool. You could have readily done that using chlorinating liquid or bleach.

You never did properly SLAM the pool with an FC that was 40% of the CYA level, but at this point you may have a filtration issue and could consider the procedure in the Pool School article Add DE to a Sand Filter. You could also inspect the sand filter to see if there is channeling.

 

[aussieta]

wouldn't 4 months of high fc have sorted this by now
i am convinced there is nothing growing now but i want the sparkle back
slam again?

 

[chem geek]

If you truly did have the FC be consistently high, then that should slowly kill off any alage and your overnight chlorine loss test does seem to indicate it's gone. I was just commenting about how you thought the water looked better after the Dichlor and Cal-Hypo -- the FC was 17.5 after that.

It's up to you whether you want to SLAM or not. Most likely you just need better filtration. Another alternative to DE (or cellulose fiber, but that's expensive) in the sand filter, you could try the Slime Bag, but I think the DE (or equivalent) will help a lot.

 

[aussieta]

whilst you are a lot more knowledgable than me i believe the problem was caused from adding so much bicarbonate soda and calcium chloride at the same time.
there was no visual problem with the water until i added these and the filter was coping fine
the problem occurred the next day
i believe they have combined to form some other compound that is too fine for filter and is not disolving
i am wondering what chemical to add to break down this new substance
the cal/hypo didn't disolve it but did make it settle to the floor so i was able to vacuum the worst of it out

 

[chem geek]

Yes, adding those two close together can create calcium carbonate which can cloud the pool, but that should clear from filtration and also clear faster if one lowers the pH. Another pool owner had similar cloudiness but their levels of CH were much higher than yours. If the cloudiness clears up with lower pH, then that's calcium carbonate, but if it doesn't clear up over time then that indicates your filter isn't doing a very good job of clearing it.

So you can certainly lower your pH to see if that helps to clear it up, but it won't resolve the fact that your filter isn't doing well. Maybe your CH reading isn't correct for some reason (though now you are using a good test kit).