Help! Green partly cloudy water.

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R

Rookie22

0
Jun 17, 2016
16
TX
Pool Size
16800
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
We went on vacation last week and the pool was just brushed and vacuumed from Wednesday to Sunday. We used Chlorine tablets all of the time, but will be changing that now. Chlorine and PH were fine before we left. When we returned we had cloudy green water. There chlorine was almost non existent and the pH was very high. I added half a gallon of acid and a pouch of shock last night as it was all I had on hand.

The water this morning is still green and not as cloudy. Here are my test results. Please advise as this is my first full Summer with a pool.

FC = 7.0
TA = 90
pH = 7.2
CH = 275
CYA = 90

I am using the pool math app, and not sure of what to do next. Any and all help is appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Can I assume those are test results from your own proper test kit?

If so, you need to replace about 50% of your pool water.

Then follow the SLAM Process
 

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

You can rent a high speed sump pump from Home Depot and do it quick, or get a low power sump pump from Harbor Freight or Amazon and do an exchange. Read the article linked above.
 
mknauss said:

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

You can rent a high speed sump pump from Home Depot and do it quick, or get a low power sump pump from Harbor Freight or Amazon and do an exchange. Read the article linked above.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I have two sump pumps running and all of my pool equipment turned off. Hopefully by the end of the day it will be low enough to start filling back up. I appreciate all of your help! I will hopefully start the slam process tomorrow and be back to swimming by this weekend! Should I backwash my filter as soon as the water is at the appropriate level before slamming?
 
You backwash your filter when your filter pressure rises by 25% over the clean filter pressure.

Do not let the plaster dry out in direct sun as it can crack.
 
mknauss said:
You backwash your filter when your filter pressure rises by 25% over the clean filter pressure.

Do not let the plaster dry out in direct sun as it can crack.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I wouldn't have known that. Now I am doing the replacement method to keep the water above the plaster. Should I turn my pump on or leave it off during the water transfer?
 
Did you read the linked article?
The pool pump MUST be disabled during the exchange process.

I hope you read how to do the exchange and the calculations on which way to exchange.
 
CYA can take a little while to register when it's added, but when water is exchanged, the CYA test can be used right away. You'll want to verify the CYA dropped as expected, then follow the SLAM Process at the appropriate FC level for your CYA. :)
 

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Also, it says the pump should run 24/7 during the slam process? What about my waterfalls, should they be on as well? Should the pump run on my preset high speed or is a medium speed enough? Sorry for so many questions. This is my first slam.
 
Rookie22 said:
Also, it says the pump should run 24/7 during the slam process? What about my waterfalls, should they be on as well? Should the pump run on my preset high speed or is a medium speed enough? Sorry for so many questions. This is my first slam.
Click to expand...
The pump does need to be running 24/7, but low speed is fine. You just want constant circulation. It would be a good idea to allow the chlorinated water to run through any features you have periodically.
 
Thanks. The water is definitely not as green as it was yesterday, just really cloudy. My chlorine levels haven't dropped any overnight either. I will brush it a couple of times today and keep the chlorine level high and trust the process.
 
Rookie22 said:
Thanks. The water is definitely not as green as it was yesterday, just really cloudy. My chlorine levels haven't dropped any overnight either. I will brush it a couple of times today and keep the chlorine level high and trust the process.
Click to expand...
If you're maintaining proper SLAM levels and not starting with an absolute swamp, going to blue cloudy is fairly quick, usually a day or three.

The cloudy stage can take a while depending on how much dead algae is in the water. It needs to get through your filter, and sand filters take the longest to clear up the water. There have been people who are clear after a few days and people who take weeks to get it really clear.

Make sure you're backwashing when your pressure goes 25% over clean pressure, not before. Sand filters filter best when they're slightly dirty. Keep checking clarity level with your brush / pole in the water each morning and see if you are getting improvements as you go. If it stalls out let us know.

Once you can see the bottom you can swim safely, as well. SLAM levels of FC are safe to swim in (just don't swim if higher than SLAM level FC for your CYA level). You need to be able to see the bottom of the pool to ensure no one slips under the water and isn't seen.
 
IceShadow said:
If you're maintaining proper SLAM levels and not starting with an absolute swamp, going to blue cloudy is fairly quick, usually a day or three.

The cloudy stage can take a while depending on how much dead algae is in the water. It needs to get through your filter, and sand filters take the longest to clear up the water. There have been people who are clear after a few days and people who take weeks to get it really clear.

Make sure you're backwashing when your pressure goes 25% over clean pressure, not before. Sand filters filter best when they're slightly dirty. Keep checking clarity level with your brush / pole in the water each morning and see if you are getting improvements as you go. If it stalls out let us know.

Once you can see the bottom you can swim safely, as well. SLAM levels of FC are safe to swim in (just don't swim if higher than SLAM level FC for your CYA level). You need to be able to see the bottom of the pool to ensure no one slips under the water and isn't seen.
Click to expand...
Thanks! My chlorine is still holding steady. I haven't had to add any. The water is still cloudy, but I can tell it's getting better. I do not have any CCs anymore either. If it could take days or a week for the water to clear, do I keep chlorine at slam levels until it is completely clear? Also, when do I start testing and maintaining pH again?
 
You worry about pH once the SLAM is done. Until then you can't test as the pH test doesn't work when FC is 10 or higher.

And yes, you keep the chlorine at SLAM levels until completely clear. Otherwise it risks the algae coming back in the clouded water.

SLAM Process

See the "You are done when" section. :)
 
I was hoping this process wouldn't be taking as long as it has. The water is still cloudy. I can see the bottom, but its cloudy. It is 100+ degrees here in Texas and the wife and kids are ready to jump in. If I keep the FC right at SLAM level, is it safe to swim in? It could be weeks to get the water crystal clear based on this weeks progress. Anything I can do to help speed up getting rid of the cloudiness? In the past, when it was a little cloudy, adding acid to get the pH seemed to clear it up.
 
Rookie22 said:
I was hoping this process wouldn't be taking as long as it has. The water is still cloudy. I can see the bottom, but its cloudy. It is 100+ degrees here in Texas and the wife and kids are ready to jump in. If I keep the FC right at SLAM level, is it safe to swim in? It could be weeks to get the water crystal clear based on this weeks progress. Anything I can do to help speed up getting rid of the cloudiness? In the past, when it was a little cloudy, adding acid to get the pH seemed to clear it up.
Click to expand...
You could let the FC drift down below 10, adjust your pH back to 7.2, then bring FC back up.

FC is safe to swim in up to SLAM level so you would be fine if the FC is right at SLAM level. You do want to be able to at least see the bottom of the pool to be sure if someone slips under the water you can see them. It doesn't need to be crystal clear but if you can't see the bottom, that's not safe to swim in.

Sand filters take the longest to clear the cloudiness. Some tips:

- Backwash when the PSI raises over clean pressure by 25% but not earlier. Slightly dirty sand will capture more than clean sand. Be sure you do backwash though so it doesn't get too clogged up and inhibit water flow through the system.
- If you haven't yet, opening the filter and running a hose through it (carefully so as not to damage the laterals at the bottom) to get the crud out and deep-clean the sand is a good idea. Dirty sand does catch more, but if there's too much crud in there it seems to inhibit the filtering capabilities.
- You can add DE to your filter through the skimmer to increase filtering capability as well. There's a Pool School article about it - see that. You have to babysit it a bit when you do as the DE can make a lot of stuff get caught and spike your pressure/clog the filter, so you have to watch it and backwash it out (and add more DE after if you want to keep with the DE in the filter).
 
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