Water won't clear up

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T

Tkkaring

Active member
Jul 12, 2021
28
Taylor ridge, il
Pool Size
28000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I want to start by saying 2-3 years ago I started following the TFP process and have saved a ton of money and had great results, so thanks to those on here that are so helpful. Having said that, I have an issue now that I can't seem to figure out. I opened my pool two weeks ago (auto cover) and it was cloudy to where I couldn't see bottom in shallow end. One mistake I did make was not testing all levels prior to just dumping in some liquid chlorine. Come to find out, my CYA was 0 and I have now brought it up to correct level. I have the TF100 test kit. I have been in SLAM mode for about a week and the result is unchanged on my water. It is blue and cloudy. I am out of ideas, please help!
Last night when I got home from being out of town for a few days, these were my readings...

FC-18
CC-.5
CH - 300
ALK - 180 (I usually run high but not this high)
CYA - 50
PH - 7.2

I added half gal chlorine last night. I just tested again this morning and here are the results....and no change in clarity from day one until now other than cloudy changed to a blue cloudy. Sand in filter is only 3 years old at most.

FC- 20
CC - .5
CH - 375
ALK - 170
CYA - 50
PH - 7.2
 
It is going to take some time with a sand filter. How often are you testing and adding chlorine? Being out of town for a few days makes the process longer.

From SLAM:

Test and adjust chlorine levels as frequently as practical, but not more than once per hour, and not less than twice a day. Chlorine additions should be frequent, especially at the beginning. Algae and other organic debris will consume chlorine very rapidly at first. As things progress, you will lose less chlorine each cycle and can add chlorine less frequently.

How often/when are you backwashing? You should backwash when your filter rises 25% above clean pressure.

Adding DE may help.
www.troublefreepool.com

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Tkkaring said:
I want to start by saying 2-3 years ago I started following the TFP process and have saved a ton of money and had great results, so thanks to those on here that are so helpful. Having said that, I have an issue now that I can't seem to figure out. I opened my pool two weeks ago (auto cover) and it was cloudy to where I couldn't see bottom in shallow end. One mistake I did make was not testing all levels prior to just dumping in some liquid chlorine. Come to find out, my CYA was 0 and I have now brought it up to correct level. I have the TF100 test kit. I have been in SLAM mode for about a week and the result is unchanged on my water. It is blue and cloudy. I am out of ideas, please help!
Last night when I got home from being out of town for a few days, these were my readings...

FC-18
CC-.5
CH - 300
ALK - 180 (I usually run high but not this high)
CYA - 50
PH - 7.2

I added half gal chlorine last night. I just tested again this morning and here are the results....and no change in clarity from day one until now other than cloudy changed to a blue cloudy. Sand in filter is only 3 years old at most.

FC- 20
CC - .5
CH - 375
ALK - 170
CYA - 50
PH - 7.2
Click to expand...
In addition to above advice, you shouldn’t test anything other than the chlorine during a SLAM. With a cloudy pool, the SLAM process is going to take a while.
 
Take a photo each day with the pole/brush in the water from the same spot to see if there’s any improvement in clarity.

If it doesn’t improve then either you have hidden algae somewhere adding dead algae to the pool as fast as it’s being removed, or there’s an issue with the filtration.

To rule out the former, scrub areas algae could be hiding that may not get the same scrubbing attention as elsewhere in the pool - behind weir doors, skimmer throats, light niches, ladders/steps, etc.

The latter could be either backwashing not enough or too little. As mentioned be sure to get a baseline. What sort of filter do you have? I don’t see your signature filled out.
 
If it is a sand filter, and you have had it for more than a year or so, it might also be worth trying a deep clean of the filter. Sometimes that helps things along, too, especially if the sand is dirty enough to be channeled.

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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ok, so it's been a couple days since I posted on here. When I tried to remove valve head stand pipe pulled out too so I had to remove all sand and I just went ahead and put new in. My levels are all still good....I am only using about half gal of chlorine a day. Still seems to be no improvement. I still cannot see bottom of shallow end even with good test numbers and passing the OCLT. My wife is getting impatient and is wanting to floc the pool, which we have done prior to me learning the ways of TFP, but doing that is miserable. However, having said that - is that something I should try? I have never had it where my pool wasn't clear after a few days.
 
It’s pretty rare for a pool to clear up in just a few days if it starts out bad. Give it time and don’t go over the SLAM level for chlorine.
 
My suggestion to take a photo with the brush in the pool when you're brushing daily during the SLAM from the same spot at the same time each day stands - that will help you see if there's progress being made or not. :)
 
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Now that you are sure the sand is good you can try a little de as mentioned in post #2.
Sand filters really require POP Pool Owner Patience.
Don’t give up!
 
Tkkaring said:
Last night I only had to add 1 qt of chlorine to bring up to 20ppm for SLAM.....this am, I just checked and it is still at 20 this am. No change in clarity. I will try adding DE to see if that helps.
Click to expand...
Did you measure the chlorine last night to check if it reached 20? If not it may have reached 22 or 20.
 
Ok, coming back here still with a cloudy pool. To the last reply, no, I didnt measure if it went above 20. I have done a lot more reading on these forums the last couple days. I learned I should be rounding up my CYA number which meant I have been trying to maintain 22ppm when I should have been trying to maintain 24. I started that yesterday religiously. I failed the OCLT but, I also just read this am that I should not even be testing for OCL if my water is still cloudy. Last Monday, Memorial Day, I got in the pool and scrubbed the walls, jets, skimmers, in wall ladder, light, and swam down blindly to scrub around main drains. I lost 3.5ppm last night but, I dont know where something could be living. In all my years of being a pool owner, I have never had an issue like this. I added some DE the other day. I assume the answer is to keep slamming but, much like another post I read the other day, my wife doesn't have much POP. She has even bought floc but, so far I have fought her off because I believe in the TFP process. Any suggestions are welcome.
 
Tkkaring said:
Ok, coming back here still with a cloudy pool. To the last reply, no, I didnt measure if it went above 20. I have done a lot more reading on these forums the last couple days. I learned I should be rounding up my CYA number which meant I have been trying to maintain 22ppm when I should have been trying to maintain 24. I started that yesterday religiously. I failed the OCLT but, I also just read this am that I should not even be testing for OCL if my water is still cloudy. Last Monday, Memorial Day, I got in the pool and scrubbed the walls, jets, skimmers, in wall ladder, light, and swam down blindly to scrub around main drains. I lost 3.5ppm last night but, I dont know where something could be living. In all my years of being a pool owner, I have never had an issue like this. I added some DE the other day. I assume the answer is to keep slamming but, much like another post I read the other day, my wife doesn't have much POP. She has even bought floc but, so far I have fought her off because I believe in the TFP process. Any suggestions are welcome.
Click to expand...
You have to test the FC -after- you add chlorine for the OCLT. The test criteria of losing 1ppm or less is designed with that accuracy to be precise. The dosing estimates for how much chlorine to add are just estimates and not precise.

If you can see the bottom of the pool floor tell your wife she can go swimming. No harm as long as the FC is SLAM level or below. Floc won’t help with an active algae bloom which is why the OCLT is failing.
 
Last edited:
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What they all said!
& Be sure you are doing a proper
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

*Check & scrub every nook & cranny where algae may hide (light niches - you must remove the light to get to this!, steps, drain covers- remove them to scrub! , inside ladder handrails, skimmer throats/weirs & the foam, abandoned lines, autofill, overflow drains, etc.)
*If water can go there, algae can thrive there.
*Run slam level water through all water features & lines for at least a couple hours a day during the SLAM Process.
*Brush & or vac daily (this breaks up biofilms that algae uses to protect itself from chlorine)
*Backwash/clean filter when pressure rises 25%over clean pressure.
 
Thanks all! I will get in tonight and remove the light to clean behind it. I do have an inlet jet I haven't used in a few years due to its location - I have two jets in my corner steps and the one sort of defeats the purpose of circulating the water to the closest skimmer so I will unplug that now and let water run through there for a couple hours. I am able to barely see the shallow end floor....so taking main drain covers off is not an option since I can't even see them. I will keep at it.....thanks again.
 
Tkkaring said:
Thanks all! I will get in tonight and remove the light to clean behind it. I do have an inlet jet I haven't used in a few years due to its location - I have two jets in my corner steps and the one sort of defeats the purpose of circulating the water to the closest skimmer so I will unplug that now and let water run through there for a couple hours. I am able to barely see the shallow end floor....so taking main drain covers off is not an option since I can't even see them. I will keep at it.....thanks again.
Click to expand...
Some people have trouble or are just unable to remove their drain covers.
In those instances you can use a piece of pvc to get concentrated chlorine directly in them. Be sure they are on at least some & brush the area well so no bleach rests/pools on your liner.
My bet is that that unused line is really contributing. I would leave it going all day @ slam level to really flush it out.
 

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