HELP: LSI & Water balance

[BeatTheHeat15]

I've had my saltwater, gunite pool for over 3 years and test with the Taylor kit and have never had my LSI not in the proper range. Also, my pool has been cloudy for over a week but can't figure out why. Here are my latest numbers:

Ph 7.2
FC 2.5
Alk 70
Cal 260
CYA 43

My calcuim has always been in the 300's, this is the first time it's ever dropped below 300.
I also sprayed Wet & Forget on my raised hot tub stone and it got in the pool. Not long after that, it was cloudy. Please help!!!

 

[Texas Splash]

A couple red flags I see:
1 - Your CYA test seems odd. With the Taylor K-2006 kit we round up or down the result in increments of 10. So either 40 or 50.
2 - Your FC is too low as noted on the FC/CYA Levels.

I suspect you are seeing the early signs of algae. Use some liquid chlorine to increase the FC to about 7-8 ppm today and consider doing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to confirm is you have an algae issue or not.

The CH is not a big deal right now.

 

[Mdragger88]

What @Texas Splash said
& the wet & forget in small amounts shouldn’t do any harm

Wet and Forget product?

Hey y’all! It’s swimming time in Florida already. Yay! But my patio looks terrible! Boo! At the end of last summer I sprayed everything down with bleach and a lot of areas are dingy already. Also the white screen enclosure cage is green and streaky on the large beams. My sister was telling...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[BeatTheHeat15]

A couple red flags I see:
1 - Your CYA test seems odd. With the Taylor K-2006 kit we round up or down the result in increments of 10. So either 40 or 50.
2 - Your FC is too low as noted on the FC/CYA Levels.

I suspect you are seeing the early signs of algae. Use some liquid chlorine to increase the FC to about 7-8 ppm today and consider doing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to confirm is you have an algae issue or not.

The CH is not a big deal right now.

Thank you for responding! The CYA got cloudy between 40 and 50 but closer to 40.
Ok, but why liquid chlorine and not shock granules?

I'm also starting to see calcium build up on the top of the grout of some of the waterline tile too. I'm consistent in testing water so this is frustrating. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Mdragger88]

Other forms of chlorine change other parameters, not just fc.
Trichlor & dichlor add cya & lower ph, cal hypo raises ch thus the suggestion for liquid chlorine.
The
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is best done with fc in target range for your cya.
Use
PoolMath for calculating your dosage & calculating CSI.

CSI and LSI - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Your fc has fallen to low which has likely allowed algae to grow causing your cloudy water. The oclt will help confirm this or rule out organics as the cause of the cloudy water so you can take the steps to correct it.
Failing the oclt means it’s
SLAM Process time.

 

[BeatTheHeat15]

Yes, I get that the different chlorines affects other things but I was thinking I could raise my calcium too. It's been in the 300's for 3 years. Just don't get why I'm getting the build up on my grout all of a sudden.

I have had plenty of organics in the pool because it's been windy for almost 2 weeks and my polaris needed a part and was down for 3 days. So I'll do the chlorine test.

I'm going to get stabilizer to raise my CYA too since I'll be needing to add that soon.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Just don't get why I'm getting the build up on my grout all of a sudden.

Can you post photos of the affected areas?

 

[Mdragger88]

Do the oclt @ target fc levels - your cya counts as 50,
If the dot disappears between two values you always round up.

If you’re concerned with calcium scaling/build up increasing ch is not something you would want to do. Use liquid chlorine.

DO NOT add cya until you have passed the
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
& are certain you are algae free incase you need to do the
SLAM Process.

 

[BeatTheHeat15]

Here are the pictures. Please ignore the leaves and pollen and those brown things from the oak trees. I'm surrounded by trees and it's been extremely windy the last couple days.
Please let me know what you think of the calcium buildup. Thanks

 

[Texas Splash]

That white seeping through the grout looks like efflorescence.

Efflorescence - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[BeatTheHeat15]

That's good to know that it's not a problem from the balancing of the water. That's a lot of info in that article , thanks for sharing. I'm going to have to read that many times to grasp it...lol
So it basically means the grout wasn't sealed or the proper grout wasn't used?
I do have some grout missing in some spots b/c I had used a toothbrush to clean the grout and it made some of the grout crumble and fall off and I'm waiting on the builder to fill in those spots. Would that cause it to happen? I'm assuming not b/c it has to have grout to attach to?