Hi everyone, I'm new here and I'm having some big problems with cloudy water in my Intex pool. It's a 14x42 with the tubular supports.
This is the second season we've used this particular pool and third season we've had an Intex pool. As I said, last year was the first season with this particular pool and had no issues with the water (I'm on city water and it's not hard). I set it up in early June this year in the same spot, same trees dropping leaves, etc. New filter in the pump, new water everything was good, just had to patch a few small holes in the vinyl.
This past three weeks, things have gotten bad. My wife was adding some chlorine (granular), she didn't put in very much and the water went cloudy. I checked the chlorine and pH levels with the typical yellow and red dye test kit and the levels were good.
Tried giving it a couple of days, the cl and pH levels dropped but it was still cloudy, so we tried shocking it (granular). No luck and we've used granular shock before with no issues. Added some pH to bring it back into the 7.0 range, cl level was good, still cloudy. Washed out the filter let the pump run, no luck.
So two Satuday's ago I brought a sample to my local pool shop. They analyzed and found nothing out of the ordinary and recommended a good clarifier. So I bought a bottle from them, put in what they recommended, ran the filter, come out the next day, still cloudy. Added more clarifier, next day, cloudiness didn't even budge.
So we let the pump run all night again and my wife threw in another shock unbeknownst to me, no help. I pull out the filter again, now I notice this off white creamy looking substance on the pleats. It washes right off with the hose, put the filter back, the next day, it's back again. I did some looking on the net and decided to try an algaecide. No help, I just let the pump run and even after a couple of days, it looked like the algaecide was just sitting on the top of the the water like an oil slick.
Pull the filter, the creamy substance was back again. So this past Friday I set the pool to drain out. Saturday morning I go check on it and there is maybe a foot of water left. It was pretty much clear now and I found piles of white crystals. I stirred up one of the piles and the water went clouder than ever.
So I agitated all of the chemicals that hadn't dissolved and opted to start refilling the pool in hopes that the new water would dilute it out. I even bought one of those pool vacuums that you hook up a garden hose to to create a suction and the debris gets sucked into a filter bag in hopes that this would agitate the undissolved chemicals even more.
Put a brand new filter in and continued to let the filter run. Here we are today and the Dang water is still cloudy even after my efforts of trying to agitate the bottom every day with this vacuum setup. I check the filter today, off white creamy substance is back yet again. I washed it off, filter looked brand new, put it back in, checked it an hour later and the substance was coming back.
I checked my cl and pH levels and they were in the tank so even though everything I've read on the net leads me to believe my pool is overtreated at this point, I had to add cl and ph to at least bring it safe levels to let my son swim in it.
I'm ready to stick a screwdriver into the side walls and put this thing out of it's misery. What should I do??? I've never had to run the filter continuously before, now it's constantly going and not helping from what I can tell. Help me!!!!
This is the second season we've used this particular pool and third season we've had an Intex pool. As I said, last year was the first season with this particular pool and had no issues with the water (I'm on city water and it's not hard). I set it up in early June this year in the same spot, same trees dropping leaves, etc. New filter in the pump, new water everything was good, just had to patch a few small holes in the vinyl.
This past three weeks, things have gotten bad. My wife was adding some chlorine (granular), she didn't put in very much and the water went cloudy. I checked the chlorine and pH levels with the typical yellow and red dye test kit and the levels were good.
Tried giving it a couple of days, the cl and pH levels dropped but it was still cloudy, so we tried shocking it (granular). No luck and we've used granular shock before with no issues. Added some pH to bring it back into the 7.0 range, cl level was good, still cloudy. Washed out the filter let the pump run, no luck.
So two Satuday's ago I brought a sample to my local pool shop. They analyzed and found nothing out of the ordinary and recommended a good clarifier. So I bought a bottle from them, put in what they recommended, ran the filter, come out the next day, still cloudy. Added more clarifier, next day, cloudiness didn't even budge.
So we let the pump run all night again and my wife threw in another shock unbeknownst to me, no help. I pull out the filter again, now I notice this off white creamy looking substance on the pleats. It washes right off with the hose, put the filter back, the next day, it's back again. I did some looking on the net and decided to try an algaecide. No help, I just let the pump run and even after a couple of days, it looked like the algaecide was just sitting on the top of the the water like an oil slick.
Pull the filter, the creamy substance was back again. So this past Friday I set the pool to drain out. Saturday morning I go check on it and there is maybe a foot of water left. It was pretty much clear now and I found piles of white crystals. I stirred up one of the piles and the water went clouder than ever.
So I agitated all of the chemicals that hadn't dissolved and opted to start refilling the pool in hopes that the new water would dilute it out. I even bought one of those pool vacuums that you hook up a garden hose to to create a suction and the debris gets sucked into a filter bag in hopes that this would agitate the undissolved chemicals even more.
Put a brand new filter in and continued to let the filter run. Here we are today and the Dang water is still cloudy even after my efforts of trying to agitate the bottom every day with this vacuum setup. I check the filter today, off white creamy substance is back yet again. I washed it off, filter looked brand new, put it back in, checked it an hour later and the substance was coming back.
I checked my cl and pH levels and they were in the tank so even though everything I've read on the net leads me to believe my pool is overtreated at this point, I had to add cl and ph to at least bring it safe levels to let my son swim in it.
I'm ready to stick a screwdriver into the side walls and put this thing out of it's misery. What should I do??? I've never had to run the filter continuously before, now it's constantly going and not helping from what I can tell. Help me!!!!