New at this- Semi-Cloudy water, Intellichlor system

[brcyk5]

Hi everyone, please forgive my ignorance to pool care. Usually our PB has gone the extra mile and taken care of everything when they opened (and closed) but this year they had a new person who did the bare minimum. This yr. I was stuck with a very green pool to clean, full of debris. Now that the debris is gone, it went from clean to cloudy overnight this past week.

Here is what I know and the most recent chemistry from Leslie's:
When PB opened: added 6 pounds of shock, 2 gallons of pH decreaser, and 12 pounds of alkalinity increaser, also added 6 pounds of D.E.
*(no salt, even though they norm.do ) so this threw me off once someone brought it to my attention on FB
after initially running for 48 hrs, I backwashed and added DE, then did that again this past week. (they opened LAST Monday). Plus I added 2 gallons of m.acid (hasn't made a dent), and 1 of those bags that is supposed to suck up CYA to skimmer basket from Leslies.

I contacted the neighborhood pool lady, she's great, just swamped, and cant get here till mid week.. Told me to keep backwashing. Since I am the pool lady at my house and traveling this week, I am picking up a boatload of salt for her, DE, and anything else you may recommend.
Really trying to avoid dumping out 1/2 my pool.

If you got this far, you're awesome, and thank you!

 

[Bperry]

Hi everyone, please forgive my ignorance to pool care. Usually our PB has gone the extra mile and taken care of everything when they opened (and closed) but this year they had a new person who did the bare minimum. This yr. I was stuck with a very green pool to clean, full of debris. Now that the debris is gone, it went from clean to cloudy overnight this past week.

Here is what I know and the most recent chemistry from Leslie's:
When PB opened: added 6 pounds of shock, 2 gallons of pH decreaser, and 12 pounds of alkalinity increaser, also added 6 pounds of D.E.
*(no salt, even though they norm.do ) so this threw me off once someone brought it to my attention on FB
after initially running for 48 hrs, I backwashed and added DE, then did that again this past week. (they opened LAST Monday). Plus I added 2 gallons of m.acid (hasn't made a dent), and 1 of those bags that is supposed to suck up CYA to skimmer basket from Leslies.

I contacted the neighborhood pool lady, she's great, just swamped, and cant get here till mid week.. Told me to keep backwashing. Since I am the pool lady at my house and traveling this week, I am picking up a boatload of salt for her, DE, and anything else you may recommend.
Really trying to avoid dumping out 1/2 my pool.

If you got this far, you're awesome, and thank you!

Welcome! The water is green because you have no chlorine. That’s really all that is wrong.
Here’s an article explaining the chlorine requirement to not have green water.

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

The other item is that we don’t recommend using pool store testing because they have been known to provide inaccurate results which leads you to buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need. Here’s a link to the test kit info and the “why” of it.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

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

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[brcyk5]

Welcome! The water is green because you have no chlorine. That’s really all that is wrong.
Here’s an article explaining the chlorine requirement to not have green water.

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

The other item is that we don’t recommend using pool store testing because they have been known to provide inaccurate results which leads you to buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need. Here’s a link to the test kit info and the “why” of it.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

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

www.troublefreepool.com

Hi and thank you. I was able to get rid of the green and there is definitely next to no chlorine. I read the above article but can't seem to interpret the best way to fix this with my SWG. Do I add more liquid chlorine, add salt too. I don't want to just keep dumping.

 

[Mdragger88]

The only way to lower cya is to replace water.
It is impractical to do the
SLAM Process with cya above 80/90ppm.
The SLAM Process done with liquid chlorine will clear your pool if followed as written but you must have the proper test kit to do so. (Tf100 salt or Taylor k2006c + salt)
Store testing and strips won’t do.
Your salt water chlorine generator cannot overcome algae. It is not designed to do so - it is designed to maintain normal daily fc losses in an algae free pool.
Until you get the proper kit in your hands simply add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool each day infront of a running return away from the pool wall (brush the area) Add nothing else.
Once your kit comes, do all the tests, post them here and we can guide you from there.
This will likely include a water exchange but you need to know where you truly stand first so the correct amount of water is exchanged.

 

[Bperry]

Hi and thank you. I was able to get rid of the green and there is definitely next to no chlorine. I read the above article but can't seem to interpret the best way to fix this with my SWG. Do I add more liquid chlorine, add salt too. I don't want to just keep dumping.

Like said above, you can safely add 5ppm of liquid chlorine only while you wait on a better testing kit. The SWG is good at maintaining chlorine levels but not raising them quickly and you need chlorine quickly to keep it from getting worse.

 

[Mdragger88]

To elaborate a little more & explain the why,
If your ph is really 7.9 you absolutely do not need 2 GALLONS of acid.
The chlor brite will only lower ph more and increase cya more further increasing your problems.
The cal hypo will add calcium you really don’t need and may cause further cloudiness.
The contraption in your skimmer will likely not reduce your cya by any appreciable amount just lighten your wallet.
We can help you but please follow the instructions in my post above.

 

[brcyk5]

The only way to lower cya is to replace water.
It is impractical to do the
SLAM Process with cya above 80/90ppm.
The SLAM Process done with liquid chlorine will clear your pool if followed as written but you must have the proper test kit to do so. (Tf100 salt or Taylor k2006c + salt)
Store testing and strips won’t do.
Your salt water chlorine generator cannot overcome algae. It is not designed to do so - it is designed to maintain normal daily fc losses in an algae free pool.
Until you get the proper kit in your hands simply add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool each day infront of a running return away from the pool wall (brush the area) Add nothing else.
Once your kit comes, do all the tests, post them here and we can guide you from there.
This will likely include a water exchange but you need to know where you truly stand first so the correct amount of water is exchanged.

Thank you so much. This is the plan. The frustration is overwhelming bc I’ve never had this happen. Can anyone get in the pool in the meantime?

 

[Mdragger88]

Thank you so much. This is the plan. The frustration is overwhelming bc I’ve never had this happen. Can anyone get in the pool in the meantime?

It is safe to swim as long as all 3 of these things are true:
*The FC is between minimum and slam level for your cya - see —>FC/CYA Levels
* Ph is in the 7’s
AND
* You can see the bottom of the deep end for swimmer safety