White Cloudy Water

[ScosheOwn]

Hello: I have very cloudy/milky white water, I think because I mistakenly added PH minus and calcium increaser at roughly the same time, and I think I read somewhere that the combination of the two can cause very cloudy water. Now that has happened, and I am wondering what (if anything) I can do to clear up the water. Thanks!

[Watermom]

Can you give some additional information, please. What kind of pool, volume, type and size of pump and filter. Exactly what all you have added to the pool, meaning ingredients and not just product names. Also, do you have some current water testing results taken with a drops-based kit and what kind of kit?

Then, somebody here can better advise you.

[ScosheOwn]

I have an above ground vinyl (doughboy) pool, 16X32 oval. I have Taylor test kit, and latest readings showed a PH of 7.6, alkalinity of 80 PPM, chlorine of 6 PPM. I have a sand filter about 2 feet in diameter (I am not at home so can not look to see the exact size.) Do you know if adding calcium increaser at roughly the same time as adding PH minus will cause cloudy water, and if so how to clear that up (run the filter non-stop?, add a certain chemical?, or if I need to drain and re-fill with new water?) Thanks!

[Watermom]

Run your pump 24/7 and let the filter do its job trying to clear it. Why were you adding calcium increaser? Vinyl pools do NOT need calcium. Do you have a CYA reading?

[ScosheOwn]

Yeah, adding the calcium increaser was a mistake due to a mis-labelled tub (my mis-labelling.) Though even with a vinyl pool don't I want to have a hardness over 100? (Right now mine is about 40 ppm.)
My CYA reading is very low (below 10) - I actually thought I was adding CYA booster when the calcium boost was added by mistake. Now I figure I'll wait to see if I can get the water to clear up before adding more CYA - I have those granules that take about a week in the filter to fully dissolve, and with the pump running and frequent backwash I figure I will wait. But I keep my pool covered even during the with a solar cover, so chlorine loss is not much of a problem right now (not using hte pool yet, so not uncovered during the day.) Though I have run the pump a ton for the past week and it does not seem to be clearing up the problem at all. I added some liquid clarifier a week ago and that seemed to do nothing, and I have tried adding a cut of DE to the filter a couple of times now with also very little results. Which is why I am wondering if I am going to have to go the drastic step of draining and re-filling hte pool, at which time I'll probably get a ton of wrinkles in my liner

[Watermom]

Maybe try a dose of 60% Polyquat to see if that will help. At times, it can be a fairly effective clarifier. Look in the Amazon store link in my signature so you can see what you need to buy. May be able to buy it locally but don't buy any other type of algaecide.

[ScosheOwn]

Hi: Thanks again. I did order a quart of 60% poly today so hopefully that will help. Also, my original post talked about mixing calcium additive with PH minus, but upon further reading I think it was the combination of alkalinity boost (baking soda) and the calcium boost that caused the cloudiness. I have read on pool solutions that that should "never be done!", but have not found any answer as to have to solve that problem. Other than poly 60% can you think of anything to clear up that specific problem (cloudy water due to calcium hardness additive added at the same time as alkalinity increaser?) thanks!

[ScosheOwn]

Hey Watermom, your suggestion of using 60% Polyquat worked great. I added it, ran the pump on recirc for 4 hours (per Ben from Pool Doc), and then let the pool sit for 24 hours. Voila, the water cleared up with large clumps of particles on the bottom that I vacuumed to waste. Thanks very much for your suggestion.

[Watermom]

You're welcome. Glad it helped your pool. :)