HELP! Hazy, turned Cloudy, turned Milky

[JohnathanStein]

Good morning, to whomsoever may be monitoring! Water is clear. Vacuumed yesterday afternoon, and, while the water got a little cloudy afterwards, could still see bottom! New filter yesterday, a bit yucky this morning, so put another new one in; will rinse & rotate the two new ones. Readings:

TC: 5+ (brighter-than-5 yellow, but no longer orange)
pH: 7.1

No chemicals today (always have 3" tablets in two floaters, though). Water was at shock level for three days. I note that pH isn't climbing back up as it has been -- perhaps due to reduced TA? Don't see any reason to test TA until it's back up to 7.5 or so.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I'm watching... if something jumps out at me I'll mention it but you seem to be doing fine.... anyone swimming?

 

[JohnathanStein]

Yup! High chlorine & all. The almost-4-yr-old is bugging me right now, so we'll go in and I'll scrub the interior sides, just for kicks.

 

[cubbybeave08]

The problem with these intex pools is they are notoriously difficult to clean once they are a mess. The pumps don't have enough strength to actually suck crud off of the bottom of the pool. And the filters aren't thick enough to filter out everything. One thing that I found is that if I took the paper off of one filter and stuffed it inside the other filter it did help to clean things up. The biggest problem is that they don't move enough water to actually filter the water before all of your powder settles again. Are you running pump over night...24 hours?

 

[JohnathanStein]

It's been running 24/7 since this problem started...about 2 weeks straight.

On the intake, I just have the plastic screen/cover on, about a foot below water level, so it sure ain't gonna pull anything off the bottom. The vacuum seems to do an OK job.

I actually prefer the skimmer for intake, but it's just not reliable enough to leave on, unattended. Although I did find that, after trying various size rocks, finally sticking a piece of brick in the basket -- between 1/2 to 2/3's of one -- would keep it weighted down, MOST of the time. Still gotta keep an eye on it, though. Dunno if it's the expansion/contraction of the air ring that moves the ring "hook" or something to do with the water tube; whatever it is, it makes the top of the skimmer rise/tilt enough out of the water to start sucking air.

Of course, before this powered chemical fiasco, I only ran it for a few hours each evening.

 

[cubbybeave08]

It's been running 24/7 since this problem started...about 2 weeks straight.

On the intake, I just have the plastic screen/cover on, about a foot below water level, so it sure ain't gonna pull anything off the bottom. The vacuum seems to do an OK job.

I actually prefer the skimmer for intake, but it's just not reliable enough to leave on, unattended. Although I did find that, after trying various size rocks, finally sticking a piece of brick in the basket -- between 1/2 to 2/3's of one -- would keep it weighted down, MOST of the time. Still gotta keep an eye on it, though. Dunno if it's the expansion/contraction of the air ring that moves the ring "hook" or something to do with the water tube; whatever it is, it makes the top of the skimmer rise/tilt enough out of the water to start sucking air.

Of course, before this powered chemical fiasco, I only ran it for a few hours each evening.

JS...I feel your pain...THAT STUPID RINGED POOL was the most hated thing I ever owned...It is the reason I got a permanent AGP...I could never keep it clean...of course I didn't know as much as I do now... but it shouldn't be that difficult. I wish I had an easy solution...I generally drained and refilled at least once a summer...just because of this. It may just come to that I hate to say....if you can't get it cleared with the vac and filter, it may take less time to just dump and refill. Others may say differently...but once you get it refilled you are equipped to handle keeping your chemistry balanced so this might not occur again.
Beave

 

[JohnathanStein]

Beave -- Actually, up until this year, I've not had any problems with a 10' ringed pool for 3 years, and this 18' the last 2 years -- just kept chlorine tablets in the floaters, and that's it. Water always clean & clear.

Maybe it's the heat & frequent strong rain we've had this year; it seems the dog's outside water dish (stainless) gets algae frequently, lately, and I bleach it when I clean it. I do like bleach -- keep a 10:1 solution in a spray bottle for cleaning around the house, especially toilets/sinks, as well as the chicken's waterer and rabbit hutch catch pan.

Just out of curiosity, do you drain & fill those AG pools, or do you have some way of keeping them from freezing?

 

[cubbybeave08]

Beave -- Actually, up until this year, I've not had any problems with a 10' ringed pool for 3 years, and this 18' the last 2 years -- just kept chlorine tablets in the floaters, and that's it. Water always clean & clear.

Maybe it's the heat & frequent strong rain we've had this year; it seems the dog's outside water dish (stainless) gets algae frequently, lately, and I bleach it when I clean it. I do like bleach -- keep a 10:1 solution in a spray bottle for cleaning around the house, especially toilets/sinks, as well as the chicken's waterer and rabbit hutch catch pan.

Just out of curiosity, do you drain & fill those AG pools, or do you have some way of keeping them from freezing?

I assume you mean my big AGP...No you don't drain and fill...YOu drain down a little for me 4 to 6 inches below the return and then I put an inflatable pillow in the middle and put a winter cover on top. I take off the pump and filter and all the hoses. And that is it. Really simple. It takes me a weekend, because I like to do things slowly and surely...the biggest issue is making sure that you have the pool up to shock level. It will maintain 16 ppm most of the winter, and into the spring...I opened last year with FC of 10 ppm. And as far as freezing...my pool froze solid both last winter and the winter before. I am NW Indiana...probably roughly same weather as you. As for the Intex...I never would have left it up in the winter...although some people do?

 

[JohnathanStein]

Water looks clear. Morning readings:

TC: 5
pH: 7.2

 

[JohnathanStein]

I've been wondering if I should test in the evening, rather than morning, since that's the best time to add chlorine. AM Readings:

TC: 4
pH: 7.3

 

[JohnathanStein]

Water nice & clear this morning:

TC: 3+
pH: 7.3

 

[JohnathanStein]

OK, forgot to post readings on Sat:

TC: 4
pH: 7.4

 

[JohnathanStein]

Things looking good, so decided to skip a few days, and test in the evening, prior to adding bleach, if needed:

TC: 2
pH: 7.4

Not adding anything. Have two floaters w/3" tabs, water looks clean & clear, will vacuum the little bit of dirt tomorrow.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Yes, test in the evening, add chlorine as needed. You can test again after an hour of so if you like, to see if you are at or above your target. Then you can test again in the morning, to compare the tests and see how the chlorine is holding. How's the water looking?

Edit: Oh, u answered the question before I could ask.

 

[JohnathanStein]

Um, why test again in the morning? I have the two floaters, so if I let the chlorine get down to 1, then raise to 4 with bleach -- per PoolCalculator -- I should only need to test twice a week, hopefully.

Or, so my thinking goes...

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

By testing in the morning, you can take sunlight out of the equasion and make sure there is nothing organic that is consuming more chlorine than otherwise would be 'normal'.

I forgot about the floaters. You'd have to take those out, in order to get an accurate read.

You don't HAVE to do it this way. You can try your thinking - seems reasonable enough. During the heat of the summer I tend to test at least once daily - just for peace of mind I guess.

You may want to get a CYA reading soon - just so you know your FC range and stay above the "min".

 

[cubbybeave08]

Sometimes I test three times a day...at least once a day anyhow...I haven't tested the last couple of days due to the weather...last night I dropped in a full gallon just to get up to shock because of the three inches of new rain water added to the pool yesterday. STUPID RAIN...however...gotta say Rain has been great on my water bill...I have only added water 4 times this summer. The rest has been rain water!

 

[JohnathanStein]

Haven't had a problem w/rain -- in the past. What does it do to your pool?

 

[duraleigh]

What does it do to your pool?

Unless it floods into an IG pool where the decking doesn't have enough slope, rainwater should have very little effect on a pool.

A 3" rain in a pool averaging 4' deep dilutes everything (well, not pH and TA) by 1/16.

 

[Peter_S]

Johnathan - the suggestion made by frustratedpoolmom (vacuum to waste) sounds like a good one next time your filter can't keep up. It works on above ground pools. You don't need a height differential. I do this whenever I need to drop the water levels. After it rains there are usually leaves and other crud in the pool and this method gets the big stuff out without clogging the skimmer basket. (It also gives me something to do while the water level comes down ...lol!)