Slight Haze?

[Oakstone]

Heya,

I have this perception that my small 10ft 1100Gal pool has a white-ish haze to. It doesn't feel "crystal clear" to my eye, but I don't really know how clear to expect the water to be.

I opened (setup and fill, no over-winter) it a couple weeks ago, brought the FC to about 10 and let it naturally settle. All other readings seem fine and I've been adjusting daily with dichlor, muriatic acid, baking soda, borax and cya as needed. It's mostly dichlor and muriatic since my Intex pump seems to aerate a bit and the pH rises. I only use test strips and a small separate kit mostly for more accurate pH, so I could have a chemistry problem, but it all looks good.

Looking at the picture, is it just my imagination or should the base of the ladder be perfectly clear? The water is only 3ft deep.

If it is a bit hazy, what can I do about it? I upgraded the pump/filter to the Intex 2500GPH and it can really move the water through the filter in short order.

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

Are you tracking the CYA you have been adding and ensuring that your fc is always above the minimum for the CYA level according to the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]?

 

[Richard320]

I agree with you. The water looks a bit hazy. At only three feet deep, you shouldn't hardly be able to tell there's water in that pool.

I'm with Marty... I wonder about the CYA level. One pound of dichlor in your little pool will jack CYA all the way to 55. If you've been adding plain CYA also, your water is probably loaded with stabilizer and the FC level should be maintained higher than a little colormatching 2-way test kit can read. That leads to algae.

Bad news is: the way to lower CYA is to replace water. Good news is: your pool is small enough you can do it in a couple hours without breaking the bank.

 

[domct203]

That pool needs attention. The water is indeed clouded, which is usually from too low level of active sanitizer.

How do you test the pool?

As mentioned, it’s a small pool, and would most likely be cost effective to drain and start over.

Are you following our guide for seasonal pools?

Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools

 

[Oakstone]

Thanks for the responses!

The test strips show CYA at the "30-50" color and they labeled that "ideal" so I haven't added any since I did an initial dose based on the pool calculator suggestions when I first filled the pool. I've been keeping the FC at about 3, which is at the higher end of "pool ok" for the test strips. The little pH and chlorine test I have seems to work great for pH, but only goes to 3.0 for FC, which seems a bit useless.

According to the FC chart, if my CYA is (call it in the middle) 40, my FC target should be 6-8, which is way higher than I've been keeping it.

I know I should get a real test kit. I'm in Canada and have been having a really hard time getting any reasonable pricing on a Taylor.

Is there any point in shocking it at this point? I have 3 days of my family being away this coming week, so whatever remedies I try, it'd be nice to be able to complete the work before the little squirt gets home and wants to swim again.

I don't feel any sliminess on the walls/floor of the pool currently.

@domct203 - It seems like I've followed the guide pretty much spot on. This exact same thing happened to me last year, but that was with me not following the guide and doing what the box on the chems that came with my pool said. Feeling a bit disheartened as I have been diligently checking and adjusting daily. It's only been 3 weeks

 

[mknauss]

Test Strips simply do not provide the accuracy and consistency you need. Because of this we do not make chemical recommendations based on them.

For your size pool consider managing it as Dom posted. You would now be draining, cleaning, and refilling.

Use a two way drop test for pH and TC.

 

[domct203]

Our Seasonal Guide does not say to use Dichlor for daily chlorine additions. It says to use bleach.

With every 10ppm of FC added by Dichlor, you also add 9ppm of CYA (stabilizer).

Your CYA could be well into triple digits by now.

 

[Oakstone]

Ah ok that must be where I'm throwing it all off. I guess the test strips are giving me inaccurate readings for stabilizer.

I've been using this: Aquarius Stabilized Chlorine Granules | Canadian Tire

Since I was using the pool calculator and chose Dichlor as my chlorination method, I thought that was the right thing to do.

 

[domct203]

You should take a few minutes and review ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry.

All forms of pool chlorine come bound to something. For dry (powder/tablet) it’s Trichlor/Dichlor which adds CYA, or Cal-Hypo, which adds calcium.

Liquid Chlorine, aka bleach, adds just a bit of salt.

 

[Oakstone]

So you figure that the test strips are inaccurate and my cya is probably super high?

 

[domct203]

It has been proven many times here just how inaccurate they are.

 

[Oakstone]

Okee doke. Live and learn. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Oakstone]

I am going to get a better test kit, but honestly can't afford a TF100 or 2006. I have a couple of more affordable options. Thoughts on if either of these is good enough?

https://www.poolstorecanada.ca/collections/pool-water-testing/products/5-way-dpd-chlorine-bromine-ph-alkalinity-and-acid-pool-test-kit

https://www.amazon.ca/Taylor-Technologies-K-1004-Trouble-Shooter-Pool/dp/B00305A80O/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_86_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GTX2XRQJC5E6SHGACM9T

Cheers,
Craig

 

[jblizzle]

Both of those are very lacking.
But, you have to use what you can get.

If you are going to follow the Temp Pool Guide, then I would suggest a simple OTO / pH test from Taylor: K-1000

 

[mattsmith321]

I am going to get a better test kit, but honestly can't afford a TF100 or 2006. I have a couple of more affordable options.

I can definitely appreciate the budget constraints but would suggest you to try to make the stretch to get a good test kit. It will save you money on additional unnecessary chemicals and save you a lot of time (and frustration) in stabilizing your pool and get you back to where you can enjoy it with the family. Another option might be to try to find a friend or neighbor who has a test kit that could help you out in the short term.

Getting it up and stable is definitely frustrating but it is so relieving when you finally achieve it. Keep at it!

 

[jblizzle]

I disagree with Matt a bit in this circumstance. If the test kit cost was reasonable up there, I would 100% agree.
But, with a pool that is only 1100 gallons. Cheaper to just drain the pool and start over if things go out of whack than to spend $200 on a test kit.

 

[Oakstone]

Thanks guys!

It's so frustrating to see the K2006 for $56 US on Amazon and it's $250 in Canada. No amount of exchange rate justifies that. My whole pool only cost $150. It's like the printer industry haha.

I did find a very inexpensive ebay listing this morning. I took the risk that it's fake and bought 2. We'll see if anything actually shows up, but if it does, I've got tests for years. Sometimes you luck out and get the "fell off a truck" listings

 

[MrBfromNC]

I did find a very inexpensive ebay listing this morning. I took the risk that it's fake and bought 2.

Good luck. Sometimes you get lucky with eBay stuff!!

 

[mattsmith321]

It's so frustrating to see the K2006 for $56 US on Amazon and it's $250 in Canada. No amount of exchange rate justifies that. My whole pool only cost $150. It's like the printer industry haha.

Oooh. I missed the Canadian part and didn't realize it was that much. I was thinking in terms of US dollars. So I change my recommendation as well.

 

[Oakstone]

For sure Matt. I'd be happy to spend up to $100 in consideration of exchange rate and some shipping charges, but 5x the US price is just insane. I have my fingers crossed for eBay to pan out. In the meantime, I'm going to drain and refill following the link given above.

I do have a few questions about the guide though:

I have a 2-way test kit but I find it nigh impossible to determine between the various levels of "yellow" for the chlorine. Plus, the test is labeled BR/CL. Isn't that total chlorine? When I look up "2 way test pool" my kit does seem consistent with others, but inconsistent with the guide saying "bring your chlorine up to 4ppm".

I must just be misunderstanding how to use the test?

Here's a good look at my test vials. Different branded test, same stuff. Must just be an OEM type kit.