New to pool maintenance. water is cloudy

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bluefire_xl

bluefire_xl

0
May 18, 2018
35
Winnipeg, Canada
Hi,

I am new to this forum and just got a house with a pool (15x30). The pool guy who opened it put some chlorine and the previous owner told me to put some oxy-out to shock it. The water seems to get a little bit cleaner after being opened but it seems to be cloudy. I cannot see the bottom of the pool. I went to a local pool store and have my water tested. Below are the readings.

Free Chlorine: 0.4 ppm
Total Chlorine: 5.96 ppm
Combined Chlorine: 5.56ppm
Adjusted PH: 8.3
Stabilizer: 13ppm
Calcium Hardness: 108 ppm
Alkalinity: 74 ppm

The guy from the pool store told me that PH was high so i have to lower it using PH minus. Put some based on instructions and have to wait for 4 hours.
Then have it tested again to see if the PH has lowered. Shock it again with oxy-out once the PH goes to the normal level.

Is this the right approach for the reading that I have? Totally zero knowledge in maintaining a pool. Please help.
 
Welcome to the forum!

If you read a bit in the forum and Pool School, you will see we do not rely on pool store tests. We have found them to be inaccurate and not repeatable.

We request the pool owner obtain proper test kit and test their own water. In Canada, you are a bit restricted in getting a proper test kit. You do not show in your location were in Canada you are. If you are near the US border, you can order a TF100 or Taylor K2006C from a vendor in the USA and have it shipped to a mail drop at the border. Then drive over and pick it up.

I suggest you start with a few articles in Pool School and determine if you would like to follow the TFP methods.
Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

Welcome. Let us know if you have any questions after reading some of Pool School.

Take care.
 
hi and welcome to TFP
unfortunately pool store test results are worth exactly what you paid for them
at TFP all replies are based on accurate test results using taylor fas-dpd test kits
most people buy the TF100xl or taylor 2006C not sure what you can get in canada
if those results are anywhere near accurate you need some muriatic acid to lower ph, available from most hardware chains
you need to raise your chlorine using liquid chlorine or bleach which is a diluted form of liquid chlorine to at least 3 or 4ppm
how are you chlorinating and previous owner
 
Thanks for all the responses. I live in Winnipeg and it was difficult to find some good test kit. I found some taylor kits in one of the store but it was the small container type.

Good thing i have not bought expensive chemicals yet. The previous owner told me to keep on shocking it and after a week the water will clear up. I always want to make sure that I am knowledgeable as well and also want to save some money in maintaining the pool.

Should i buy those small taylor kits for now until i found your recommended kits? I saw the taylor k200 in amazon.ca. Not sure if that is a good prices. That is the closest i can get for having the kit. Is it safe to have my filter running on cloudy water? Having a lot of worries right now.
 
Welcome to TFP!

If you could take a quick moment to fill out these details in your signature, it will help the forum to give you more tailored advice for your set-up :)

And this will get you some more detailed information, Pool School - Getting Started, come back and ask any questions you have after reading!! =)

bluefire_xl said:
Thanks for all the responses. I live in Winnipeg and it was difficult to find some good test kit. I found some taylor kits in one of the store but it was the small container type
Click to expand...
As long you can find a 5-way DROP test (strips are not accurate for the TFP care method), a FAS-DPD chlorine test and CYA test, that will cover your basic needs =) I'm not sure about CAN walmarts, but they do have an HTH liquid drop test kit that could get you started: hth 6-Way Test Kit - Walmart.com (it does not have the FAS-DPD test, you WILL need this test going forward) :D

bluefire_xl said:
Good thing i have not bought expensive chemicals yet. The previous owner told me to keep on shocking it and after a week the water will clear up. I always want to make sure that I am knowledgeable as well and also want to save some money in maintaining the pool.
Click to expand...
You are IN the right place! (welcome again!) :goodjob:

bluefire_xl said:
Should i buy those small taylor kits for now until i found your recommended kits? I saw the taylor k200 in amazon.ca. Not sure if that is a good prices. That is the closest i can get for having the kit. Is it safe to have my filter running on cloudy water? Having a lot of worries right now.
Click to expand...
Can you provide a link to the items? And there are several of us that would happily chime in to help you find the best deal on what you need :)

You will need to find the following chemical products:
Liquid Chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) (at pool stores it is called Liquid Shock and is 10 or 12.5%, at home and hardware stores it will be PLAIN Liquid Bleach (no scents/additives/not splashless/etc), either 6 or 8.25%)
Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid, should be 99% or 100%), this will likely be one time addition =), BUT you won't want to put it in just yet.

Some other Possibilities:
Muriatic Acid (hardware stores are most likely source)
Baking Soda OR Borax (yes your household plain cleaning baking soda)
 
The only source in Canada for the proper Taylor kits is:
Canada: only Lowry & Associates in Newmarket, Ontario (905-836-0505) or [email protected].

They are pricey. You are not that far from the US Border. I did a quick search and there is a Mail Drop in Pembina ND. You could order a TF100 and have it shipped to the Mail Drop and then drive to pick it up.

Without the proper test kit you will get frustrated.

Good luck.
 
Besides needing a tester of your own, adding Oxy-anything generally will skew the test results for combined chloramines (CC) so you can't really tell if you have contaminates in the water or not?

Please start reading our Pool School articles and obtain a quality test kit. Then we'll know we're all speaking the same chemistry language and the results will be accurate. Pool stores are notoriously inaccurate.. how else will they make a sale if not to find a problem? Then they sell you one "cure" after another and they often aren't the best answer anyway!

Maddie :flower:
 
The best test kit to buy is the TF100 from TFTestkits.net. But you must use a mail drop as it can not be sent to Canada.

The kit you showed above is OK, but very short in reagents. You will need refills of the FAS-DPD and CYA reagents immediately.

The K2006C has more reagents.
 

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bluefire_xl said:
I am loving this forum :) I will research now on how to get the proper test kit. Hope I can make this pool better for my family to enjoy. I will update my signature as well for the added information. Thanks again for all the responses.
- - - Updated - - -
This is the taylor kit I saw in amazon.ca
https://www.amazon.ca/TAYLOR-TECHNO...pID=51j4FTrs3XL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Click to expand...

Here are some budget options (you still need the FAS-DPD test & CYA test)
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01G2O7HTO (I personally own one of this kit, this has hardness)

(This has CYA test, you will still need the FAS-DPD test & hardness) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00G6S5294

Hopefully some ideas for you!


And Marty's suggestion has everything together (good size reagents), to save on "import" fees as well!
 
Putting this on my list. The reagents are those on the bottles right? Do I typically use them all in one summer?

mknauss said:
The best test kit to buy is the TF100 from TFTestkits.net. But you must use a mail drop as it can not be sent to Canada.

The kit you showed above is OK, but very short in reagents. You will need refills of the FAS-DPD and CYA reagents immediately.

The K2006C has more reagents.
Click to expand...
 
bluefire_xl said:
Putting this on my list. The reagents are those on the bottles right? Do I typically use them all in one summer?
Click to expand...

No, they often last longer as long as you're not fixing a problem requiring more frequent testing. They hold yearly specials on refill kits too.

You'll do all tests at first, then the most often ones being pH and FC/CC... the others less often.

Maddie :flower:
 
The reagents are liquid with one powder for the FAS-DPD. You might order the XL add-on as that gives you more FAS-DPD reagents.

You can order full refill sets each spring. Do the same drill to get it delivered.

Take care.
 
No. Cloudy water is typically caused by dead algae. Depending on the type of filter you have it will take some time to filter it out.
 
Hi Everyone,

Right now I have managed to get a Taylor K-1004 on a local pool store near me. I am still in the process of at least getting a more bigger one with more test. Not sure if this would be sufficient for now. Here are the readings that I got.

Free Chlorine = .5
Bromine = 1
Total Chlorine = 2
Combined Chlorine = 1.5
PH = 6.8 my test output seems a much lighter color than the 6.8 color chart
Total Alkalinity = 70 ppm

I cannot make sense of the acid demand test. it said used treated sample from ph test and add r-0015. after each drop, count and mix and compare unit desired ph is matched. i keep on adding r-0015 but it does not seem to change in color. the most I have done is 20 drops. What should I do now after this?

I am also in the process of updating my signature regarding my pool details.
 
bluefire_xl said:
Hi Everyone,

Right now I have managed to get a Taylor K-1004 on a local pool store near me. I am still in the process of at least getting a more bigger one with more test. Not sure if this would be sufficient for now. Here are the readings that I got.

Free Chlorine = .5
Bromine = 1
Total Chlorine = 2
Combined Chlorine = 1.5
PH = 6.8 my test output seems a much lighter color than the 6.8 color chart
Total Alkalinity = 70 ppm

I cannot make sense of the acid demand test. it said used treated sample from ph test and add r-0015. after each drop, count and mix and compare unit desired ph is matched. i keep on adding r-0015 but it does not seem to change in color. the most I have done is 20 drops. What should I do now after this?

I am also in the process of updating my signature regarding my pool details.
Click to expand...

There is no acid needed as your PH is on the lowest side, can you create aeration to bring it up to 7.2?
No need to test Bromine in a pool (hopefully)

You definitely need to purchase large quantities of liquid chlorine (or pure household bleach) to prepare for SLAM Process
Does that have a CYA (stabilizer) test?
 
can you create aeration to bring it up to 7.2? How will I do this one? Sorry, still new to pool terms :)

This is the only liquid chlorine I can find in my area. Cost around 5 dollars. Would this work?

liquid chlorine.jpg
I believe my tester right now don't have a CYA test

splashpad said:
There is no acid needed as your PH is on the lowest side, can you create aeration to bring it up to 7.2?
No need to test Bromine in a pool (hopefully)

You definitely need to purchase large quantities of liquid chlorine (or pure household bleach) to prepare for SLAM Process
Does that have a CYA (stabilizer) test?
Click to expand...
 

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Aeration can be as simple as getting in and splashing around, or better yet, getting kids to do. Aeration raises PH sloooowly.

I can’t tell, but as long as it is 100% sodium hypochlorite, no additives, it is fine.
 

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