High Phosphates/Milky water

[TJardim]

We opened our pool 9 days ago and have had nothing but trouble so far. Hopefully, someone will be able to help.

We have a 15700 gal, above ground, salt water pool with a cartridge filter. This is our 2nd season with pool. Have been running pump non-stop but can not get milky water clear. Our 1st test showed no FC, no CYA but everything else was okay. Added dry stabilizer and set chlorinator to high. Re-tested around 24 hrs later, CYA was close to 30 (added more stabilizer), FC was still 0 (added 2 lbs of shock).

This might be a good time to explain that we had a question that our salt water chlorinator, towards end of last season, was not working. Called company and they walked me through cleaning it with mixture of water and muriatic acid. Right after, we had closed pool for year. Called them again a few days ago, and said we first had to get nitrates, phosphates, total dissolved solids and pH at correct levels, then they will talk about chlorinator. So, my Taylor kit didn't test those things, I took to pool store. Everything was good, except very very high phosphates.

Went to Lowes bought and added to pool, 2 bottles of phosphate reducer, along with more dry chlorine. 2 days later nothing changed. Back to pool store to test again. Phosphates still off chart. Now I bought their Super Phospate Reducer ($40 a bottle), and calcium for hardness (they said was low), along with 2 more bags of vinyl shock). Now this is getting expensive AND pump has been running entire week.

2 days later test again....another half bottle of phosphate reducer and 2 more bags of shock....today STILL looks the same!!!! BTW we started cleaning filter 2x day, starting yesterday we did 3x and today we will do 4x day, although pressure never goes above normal. We also been vacuuming.

I now bought our own Taylor phosphate kit and will re-test later today but pool still looks the same, so I am sure numbers haven't gotten much better, if at all.

Other then draining the whole pool (which I don't even have a clue how to do and where water would go) or expense of refilling, I hope someone can help!

Thanks.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Sounds like the pool store sold you some of their costly magic.

Can you post your actual test results, ideally from your own test kit? Without seeing the numbers, the main thing I would focus on is chlorine. If you are adding chlorine and it is being used up, plus you have cloudy water, that sounds like an algae bloom to me. Stop spending $ (unless its on a good test kit) and post your test results.

 

[triptyx]

Welcome to TFP!

Nitrates, phosphates, and TDS isn't incredibly relevant to a clean and clear pool. Yes, algae like phosphates, but if there is a banquet in a room, and you're hungry, but the room's air supply is full of chlorine that will kill you, that banquet won't do you any good. TDS is usually.....salt!! Imagine, there is a lot of salt in a pool with a salt water generator! You're definitely getting "pool stored" - that's where they sell you hundreds of even thousands of dollars of magic elixers that don't solve your problem.

Ok, the water is milky - JJ has it right, we need to start with a full set of test results:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Let's get that done and then we'll have a good foundation of information to get you started on not wasting money and buying exactly what your pool needs for clean, clear success.

Edit - if you can please put your pool details and test kit into your signature, that will help the experts here to give you good advice right off the bat as well. Thank you!

 

[TJardim]

FC .2
CC .2
pH 7.2
TA 200
CH 450
CYA 95
SALT 3200
CSI 0.07
Phosphates 4000ppb

Sunny (in Fla), 87F, UV high, wind 19mph
Thanks for help.

 

[triptyx]

From the CYA of 95, I'll guess that is a result from a pool store test or guess strip?

A good test kit is essential to keeping your pool in good shape. Nobody is going to care to test it as well as you do, and if you're not giving the people at the pool store an opportunity to sell you unneeded chemicals, you're going to come out ahead financially.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!

www.troublefreepool.com

So the thing that draws my eye immediately is the FC of .2, and the CYA of 100 (we'll just round up). That CYA might be higher than that. CYA binds to the chlorine to help protect it from the sun and also to help avoid massive swings. When CYA gets that high, A. it's hard to get an accurate number - it might be a lot higher than that, and B. you need to get your FC up much higher to allow there to be enough free chlorine to actually go about the task of killing algae and viruses/bacteria. The "dry" chlorine you're adding may be dichlor or trichlor, both of which are stabilized with CYA which is left in the water after the chlorine is gone. I know with the pandemic it can be messy trying to get alternative sources right now, but as it is you're going to need to drain water to lower that CYA to something more reasonable. Luckily, with a salt water generator, you want CYA in the 70-80 range, so you may be able to get away with a partial drain / refill depending on how high CYA really is.

Here is a good chart showing you how CYA levels should affect your FC levels:

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

Here is a good link on what your levels should be:

What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?

Use our tool to find ideal chemical levels for any swimming pool. Check TFP recommended levels on pH, free chlorine, cyanuric acid, and more.

www.troublefreepool.com

Once you have that sorted out, you'll likely want to SLAM your pool to get rid of the algae. You'll need a good supply of liquid chlorine or plain bleach (not clorox, not splashless or scented) which may be difficult until we're done with the pandemic.

SLAM

SLAMing is the process of raising your FC high and maintaining it there to kill … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

Lots of reading, I know! Please feel free to ask more questions as needed.

 

[woodyp]

Find another company, waste of time trying to change their minds.