"BEst guess" question

[Sue225]

Have cloudy water. Do I shock at the plus sign dosage or not? What is the difference?

[Watermom]

No. That is for very severe cases of algae that don't respond to the 'normal' shock level. You might want to post a current set of water testing results taken with a drops-based kit for us to look at. Also tell us what all you have used in your pool -- meaning ingredients, not product names.

Do us a favor, please. To make it easier for us to help, if people will create a signature line with their pool specs, it keeps us from having to reread through posts to find out basic information. You can create a signature by clicking on 'settings' in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage. In your sig, please put type of pool, volume, type of filter, size of pump, whether or not you have a SWCG or any water features and the fact that you do or do not have a K-2006. Thanks!

[Sue225]

Ph 7.4, Al 90. CYA 45 CL was 11.5 until I added 200 oz of liquid chlorine 12%) becase I did not wat for your response (I am impatient, to say the least) So, I took shock to 30. Chlorine only lost 1 ppm this AM from when I shocked it to 15 last night. I let it drop all day and the pool is still super cloudy. I must admit that yesterday I also added clarifier to the pool since it was in the garage. I also tripled the dose since pool was cloudy.dosage should have been 2 1/2 oz and i added about 10. There are no ingredients on the bottle. Pool has been a mess since we returned from vacation. Our neighbor was putting in 1 cup of granular chlorine every day. The solar cover was on with high 90's temp. That did not help either. I am rambling...will wait for response this time. I was having such good luck this summer :(

[Sue225]

can you see my signature?

[aylad]

I can see your sig.

There are a number of reasons for cloudy water. One is impending algae bloom, which would be killed by the shock, but the dead algae still has to be removed by the filter. Is your filter pressure rising? How often are you backwashing? Do you see anything blowing back through the returns?

High calcium levels can also cause cloudiness. What is your calcium level?

Clarifiers can also make the situation worse-- especially if you overdose. In this case, I thnk a good dose of POPP is in order--pool owner patience and persistence. Leave your filter running, maintain your shock level another day or two, and see if it makes a difference. To make sure the filter is functioning properly, you can add a handfull of DE to the skimmer and then watch the returns to see if it blows back into the pool. If it does, then your filter is part of the problem.

[Sue225]

I will add a handful of DE in the AM. The pressure is not rising at all and when I backwash, the water is only a little dirty not like I have seen it earlier this summer. The pump basket also has bubbles in it and I can hear water sloshing in the filter which I do not remember hearing before. I was just thinking "maybe the filter is not working properly" when I read your post. The filter is not even a year old. Wonder if there is a problem in the pump? It is loud and old. The water is so cloudy with dead algae that the backwash should be filthy and it was not this evening.

[aylad]

I'll let the equiment guys chime in here, but I'm thinking your pump may be overdriving your filter, pushing stuff back through to your pool. The DE should help diagnose the problem, but I'm thnking it's just not filtering properly.

[Watermom]

I agree with Jan on all points. Your pump is awfully big with a small filter for this size pool. Adding a pool store goop --- clarifier --often makes problems worse. All the granular chlorine, if it was cal-hypo, could have driven your CH too high and you need POPP!