Hello all,
We filled our new in-ground spa/spool last Thursday, and the water has since become very cloudy. From what I've read so far, it seems like the high alkalinity could be the culprit, but I wanted to get some advice from some of the more experienced folks here to be sure that this isn't something else. In particular, I'm wondering if there's a filtering issue in addition here.
Short summary of the "spool":
The picture should give some idea of how cloudy it is. The brush is on the bottom step, and the depth is 4 feet.
Water test results:
Question 1: Would it be safe to swim in this? Obviously not right after I'm adding chemicals, but say given sufficient time after an adjustment, making sure FC is in between 2-5 ppm, pH is OK, etc.?
Question 2: What steps would you recommend to get this pool water balanced and clear?
The person at Leslie's advised us to:
I also wonder if my filter is doing its job or not. Could it need cleaning already? There is quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of the pool that you can stir up when brushing.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
We filled our new in-ground spa/spool last Thursday, and the water has since become very cloudy. From what I've read so far, it seems like the high alkalinity could be the culprit, but I wanted to get some advice from some of the more experienced folks here to be sure that this isn't something else. In particular, I'm wondering if there's a filtering issue in addition here.
Short summary of the "spool":
- In-ground
- Plaster
- ~3,000 gallons
- Houston, TX area
- Cartridge filter, Jandy CV340
The picture should give some idea of how cloudy it is. The brush is on the bottom step, and the depth is 4 feet.
Water test results:
- Leslie's:
- FC (ppm) - 4.84
- TC (ppm) - 5.19
- pH - 8.0
- TA (ppm) - 238
- CH (ppm) - 161
- CYA (ppm) - 8
- Iron (ppm) - 0.1
- Copper (ppm) - 0.2
- Phosph. (ppb) - 1758
- ColorQ
- FC (ppm) - 2.81
- TC (ppm) - 3.40
- pH - 7.9
- TA (ppm) - 168
- CH (ppm) - 7
- CYA (ppm) - 31
Question 1: Would it be safe to swim in this? Obviously not right after I'm adding chemicals, but say given sufficient time after an adjustment, making sure FC is in between 2-5 ppm, pH is OK, etc.?
Question 2: What steps would you recommend to get this pool water balanced and clear?
The person at Leslie's advised us to:
- lower the pH and reduce alkalinity with acid addition (liquid muriatic acid, 33%)
- increase the Calcium with CaCl2
- add Fresh and Clear (potassium peroxymonosulfate) to help with cloudiness
I also wonder if my filter is doing its job or not. Could it need cleaning already? There is quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of the pool that you can stir up when brushing.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Last edited: