cloudy blue water

[berlin]

I opened the pool in the beginning of june..only problems up to now
due to the storms and damage to property my pool was dark.
I tried on my own, then went and had the water tested, the store sold me over 200 dollars of products..it made no difference
then I spent another 150, the pool stayed cloudy green, with no visibility.
I found a pool specialist on craigslist
He came tsted and added stuff, another 250.
I made some progress pool turned cloudy baby blue..but it stayed this way
sinse friday..close to 5 days
A follow up visit by the specialist is 150 dollar
I can not afford to spent all this money..I am retired with limited funds
Anything I can do..I am desperate

[PoolDoc]

Hi Berlin;

First things first:

1. Make sure you're maintaining 2+ ppm of chlorine in your pool (unless it's a Baquacil pool).
2. Tell us what size & what kind of pool you have, and what all you've put in it.
3. Tell us what sort of pump and filter you have, and how well they are working.
4. Tell us the last set of test results you have.
5. Tell us what sort of test kit YOU have.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

[Watermom]

Ben forgot to list one thing. Stay away from pool stores and pool specialists or else you're gonna have to sell a kidney or something! :eek::eek: Answer the questions Ben asked you and we can help you get this cleared up without having to sell off body parts to pay for it!

BTW -- Welcome to the forum! I only wish you had found us sooner before you spent a small fortune.

[kluczenk]

Not that I can help solve your problems as I'm new also but wanted to let you know that I've had a very similar experience with my first pool this year. I've got a milky blue pool right now and trying to clean it up after a nice neon green yesterday. From what I've seen by browsing around here, people are very helpful and will save us the time and cost of dealing with the pool companies! Good luck with your pool issues.

[berlin]

My pool is an inground 16x32 vinyl liner
Sandfilter with hayward pump
I use teststrips
Tonight testchlorine 10\
ph 6.5/7.2
stabelizer 30/50
alkalinity 120
I had the specialist here twice
First time he added alot off calcium and shock and??
cleared from green to baby blue
but stayed cloudy..Pool guy was convinced he can fix it
had him over again special rate of 100 $ on tursday
He again added stuff
Today 3 days later still cloudy.
I can not afford his visits..anything I can do??

[Watermom]

Test strips just aren't gonna work. You've got to get a drops-based test kit. We recommend the Taylor K-2006. Read more at this link:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=10006

In the meantime, (or at the very least), get a 5-Way kit at Walmart and test and post numbers.

Can't really help much without better numbers but you do need to raise your pH some. While you are at Walmart, pick up a couple of boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax (in the laundry detergent aisle) and several jugs of plain, unscented bleach. The Walmart generic is better and cheaper than Clorox.

I'm guessing your volume to be somewhere around 22,000 gallons. Go ahead and add a box of Borax slowly to your skimmer while the pump is running, breaking up any clumps. Also, run your pump 24/7 while you are trying to clear the pool.

Repost with some more accurate numbers when you get a kit and do consider buying the good kit. It is kind of expensive but it will make taking care of your pool SO much easier. You'll save yourself a lot of money in the long run!

[aylad]

I absolutely would not have the "pool specialist" out anymore. It's a waste of money, especially if one of the things they're adding is calcium!!! That's one thing the vinyl pools don't need, and is notorious for clouding water. I know that we can help you get this cleared up, but like Watermom said, it's going to require accurate testing, and needs to be done with a drop-based kit, not test strips. If you can get to WalMart and get the 6-way, it sells for $15-$20, and will be a LOT more reliable.

Watermom also mentioned that you need to keep your pump running 24/7 while this is ongoing, and watch your filter pressure--backwash the filter when the pressure reads 8 or so psi over the pressure when it's freshly backwashed.

Fire the pool specialist, get a test kit, get us a good set of numbers, and I'm confident that we can get you swimming, for MUCH less than what you've already put into the pool.

Janet

[PoolDoc]

Berlin;

I checked the responses, and you've pretty much got the info you need for your next steps, so I'm not gonna add anything.

Just keep pluggin away, and you'll get there. (And, it does get easy, probably sooner than you think!).

Ben