Frustrated -- cloudy and near zero FC

[jmbox]

We've had our pool several years and have experienced only minor issues with maintaining it....until this year. Perhaps I've been lucky. But, this year is different. The water remains cloudy (white appearance, no green / brown) and the FC remains near zero and I cannot budge it.

Pool: 24' round, 48" deep, approx 12100 gallons
Above ground, vinyl lining, cartridge filter. pump and filter all seem to be working fine.
Use frogger for clorination, but has not been turned on yet this year (plan to turn on as soon as I get stable numbers ... and the new mineral resevoir arrives)

Pool is cloudy (white appearance). I can see (barely) half way down.

Hardess 300
TC 8
FC .1
pH 7.4
T Ak 200
CA 20

I took a water sample to the local pool store and the numbers they got were very similar to what I get.

How do I
(1) clear the cloudy water and
(2) get the FC to move up?

I've shocked it numerous times (8 times using 1lb bags of 68% calcium hypochlorite)

Any suggestions?

[aylad]

Odds are that part of the cloudiness is so much calcium. With high calcium levels, combined with high TA and pH levels, calcium will precipitate out and cause milkiness in the water. To solve that, sometimes lowering the TA will clear up the water when calcium is the problem. The steps to do so are here http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/lowering-swimming-pool-alkalinity-step-by-step.html. Also, don't add any more cal-hypo--switch chlorine sources to either dichlor or bleach.

About the chlorine--are you testing with with a drop-based kit, or strips? If strips, then it's possible the chlorine is high enough to bleach them out. If you're testing with drop-based kit and still getting zero, then you have something using up the chlorine. What was your source of chlorine last year, and what was your CYA level at closing? If it was high before, and low at beginning of this season, then it could have been broken down into ammonia, which can create a HUGE chlorine demand at first. Have you added anything else (algaecides, clarifiers, etc) that may be creating a chlorine demand?

Janet

[jmbox]

Janet,
Thanks for the reply.

I have been testing with strips, but based on your comment I'll pick up a drop-based kit today and run that. Last year I used the Frog chlorine bac pac plus occasional use of shock (1lb bags of 68% calcium hypochlorite). I don't have the CYA number from end of last season, but it was significantly higher. I did drain about 1/2 the water down and re-filled it (well water). And I used an algaecide and clarifier as part of the pool opening.

[Watermom]

Don't use anything else but bleach in your pool right now. Consistently keep the chlorine high without letting it yo-yo up and down and run the pump 24/7. What is your current CYA level? You need to shock up to the appropriate level based on that CYA reading. See the "Best Guess" table in my signature below.

EDIT --- Maybe your CA reading listed above is your CYA reading?

[jmbox]

Yes, the CYA number is what I called "CA".

[madwil]

the algaecide you used possibly had ammonia, and CYA decomposed to ammonia. Result is high startup demand of chlorine.
Keep adding bleach as Watermom said- your CYA of 20 means 12 chlorine, so add what will give 12 in your pool, and test again in an hour. Keep testing/adding chlorine as often as you can (hourly if possible) until your FC holds overnight (<1 ppm drop from sunset to sunrise without adding anything), running filter 24/7
The cloud should clear as you get rid of ammonia- what the bleach doesn't take care of, the filter will over time.
The higher alk will also go away with time, if you aerate your pool. aeration will cause your pH to rise, add acid to lower it (to 7.2 or 7.0) when it rises above 7.6. The acid will neutralize the TA, and continued aeration will raise your pH again. At your current levels, I don't think this is your main problem, but will become a problem if they continue up!