Pool Chemicals adjustment

[tfk614]

I have an in-ground pool (approx. 15,000 gallons). The water has been crystal clear since the beginning of June. One morning, I awoke to find it so cloudy that I could not see the bottom. The PH was low, so added PH and then clarifier.
The readings on PH seem to bounce all over. Today here are the readings:

Hardness 200
PH Between 7.5 and 7.8
Alkalinity 240
Cyanuric Acid 0

Where should I start?

[Watermom]

What kind of test kit do you have? What is your chlorine reading? What are you using to chlorinate with meaning ingredients not product names or just "shock." What did you use to raise pH? Reply to these questions and also tell us if it is a vinyl liner, gunnite, fiberglass and what kind of filter and size of pump you have. Then somebody here can try and help you with this.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[PoolDoc]

At a minimum, you have TA + Calcium + pH levels that are together high enough to make the pool really 'twitchy' -- I could cloud up a pool like that with a few handfuls of soda ash or calcium chloride or even cal hypo shock.

And . . . you've got no chlorine, so even if your cloudiness was originally something else, it's about to be cloudy from algae!!

[tfk614]

Thanks for your welcome. I use the hth 6 way strips. Chlorine level is 1/2. I use an inline chlorinator with 3" tabs HTH Trichoro/Triazinetrione 93%, and HTH shock. I used HTH PH Plus to raise PH. It has a vinyl liner, Hayward Sand Filter and 1.5HP pump

[aylad]

If you've been using trichlor in a feeder for over a month, your CYA is higher than zero. It would be helpful if you could get some drop-based test results, either by going to the pool store (slightly better than the strips, just resist all the stuff they're going to try to sell you) or get a drop-based kit and test it yourself (definitely the most reliable way!). We recommend the Taylor K-2006 kit available from Amato Industries, but at the very least, WalMart sells a 6-way kit for about $20 that will give you much better readings than the strips.

You probably need to shock the pool, but we need a reliable CYA number to know how high the chlorine needs to go. IF you can get that, we can help you figure it out from there.