New to Pools, Cloudy deep end, please help!

[Charizard33]

Hi All,
I am brand new to pool ownership and hoping for some insight on why my pool is cloudy. It’s blue but cloudy I have an 18,000 gallon inground pool and have been home testing ph, chlorine, and alkalinity daily as well as vacuuming daily. I replaced my cartridge filter about 3 days ago which has been running 12 hours/day. I added 4oz of Pool Blue Clarifier (per bottle directions) a few days ago to no avail. I also received the below numbers from my local pool store prior to adding clarifier:
Free Chlorine-3.68
Total Chlorine-3.71
PH-7.6
Total Alkalinity-87
Calcium Hardness-253
CYA-45
Iron-0
Copper-0.3
Phosphates-567
TDS-200

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! I use liquid chlorine as well as 2 pucks in the floating device if that helps.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
It is likely you need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100/Pro or Taylor K2006C. A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.
Once you get your kit, run a full set of tests. Also do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. Let us know your results.
I suggest you read through Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool

 

[Charizard33]

Hello thank you for the suggestions! My understanding was that those test kits test the same as the pool store which is why I haven’t purchased one. Are they testing something different or is testing at the store not accurate? Just trying to get a better idea. Thanks again!

 

[mknauss]

We find that many times pool store employee's primary goal is to sell stuff, not necessarily get your pool in perfect condition. As to whether that is because of improper training, lack of knowledge or just to sell stuff I will leave up to you. While you would think that a "professional” would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite.

 

[kellyfair]

Not to mention you have no idea if their testing equipment is old, new, cleaned regularly, etc. Plus, it is just easier to test your own pool. I can test and be lounging on a float with a tasty beverage in the time it takes you to drive to the pool store.

Don‘t use any of the stuff they sold you. Just liquid chlorine until you get your test kit. Check out Pool Math to see how much to add to get to 5 FC daily until you get that kit.

 

[kellyfair]

Forgot to mention that you should take the pucks out. They also add CYA, and until you know your CYA, you don’t want to risk adding too much.