cloudy darkish water

[fhorta]

Hope I'm posting in right place.
Chlorine-6
TA-80
CH-300
Ph-7.6

Those are my chemical readings and I use the taylor kit to test , but my water is still cloudy not green, but darkish green . Combined chlorine came out as 0. The pool is inground and gunite. Filtering 2 to 3 hours and vacuuming 2 hours. Filter works fine and backwashing regularly. Any ideas please to clear up the water. Are ta and ch ok? Thinking about throwing I som flock but not sure it would help. Thanks in advance.

[BigDave]

... my water is still cloudy not green, but darkish green ... Would you please clarify the look of the water?

TA and CH are fine. I would avoid the temptation to floc.

We'll need the CYA level to know if FC is OK. Which Taylor kit are you using? We recommend the K-2006 or K-2006C - you can't get it in a store but you can find it through this page: http://pool9.net/tk/ (http://pool9.net/tk/).

Tell us more about the pool: Number and type of drains and returns, size and type of filter and pump. How you chlorinate. List everything you've put in the pool for the last month or two: chemical names not "shock".

[fhorta]

Pool size about 24k galons. Filter is sand sta rite. Pump is a sta rite. I been chlorinating with super chlo (67% calcium hypochlorite) . I threw in 5 pounds of ...sodium bicarbonate last week but it was to raise TA from 60 to what is now at 80. The cya reading is between 45 and 50. Temperature in this area is around mid 90's. The tYlor kit is the k2006. The look of the water is ..I guess plain green though no signs of algae. Thanks. Oh, I been running filter and vacuum 24/7 since last night but can only run one or the other since only have one skimmer. I do have a drain but I mainly use skimmer. I will set pump to draw from drain and skimmer see if it helps.

[Pappy]

PoolDoc recommends running the filter 24/7 when trying to clear a pool. Green tinted water with 0 combined chlorine is usually an indication of metals in the water. Do you fill with a well or city water? Have you added any algaecide lately? Is there copper in your "Super Chlo"?

You might want to do a DE test on your filter
http://pool9.net/de-test/

Some of the Walmarts around here carry 10 lbs. HTH D.E. Filter Aid
http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-D.E-Filter-Aid-10-lb/20434370
The picture is wrong, the description is accurate.

Pappy

[fhorta]

I fill with well water. But pool only gets like this during this time of year. Other times water is clear. What do you mean by algaecide and what does that do? If metals is my problem, what can be done. I think one of the previous times I had this problem I was told by a leslies sales rep to throw in some liquid to clear metals but it didn't work. Is there a way to test for metals? The round chart that comes with the kit indicates that saturation is 0.1, which means no solids floating in water, correct?

[fhorta]

Ok, so I've come to tbe conclusion that the color of the water is not " a tint green" since that would mean that the water is clear but green. The water in my pool is not clear. The deepest you can see is probably 2 feet. Cant see the bottom at all. Hope this helps. Thanks.

[Watermom]

Cloudy and green is algae. You need to raise your chlorine up to shock level to kill the algae. Shock level is based on your CYA reading. Please see this chart for more about the relationship between CYA and chlorine:> http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

You want to keep your chlorine at that high level until:

1) You can go from sundown one evening to within an hour of sunrise the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine
AND
2) You have no more than 0.5ppm of CC

At that point, we generally recommend that you maintain the high chlorine for one more day for added insurance and then let it drift down but always keep it between the minimum and maximum needed levels per the chart above.

HOWEVER, since you fill from a well, it would probably be a good idea if you do a bucket test to check for metals before you shock the pool. Directions to do so are here:> http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php/16946-Bucket-test-for-metals

Let us know the results of your bucket test and then we'll help you proceed. Keep your pump running 24/7 while you are trying to clear the pool and backwash your filter as needed.

[fhorta]

I just don't understand the growth of algae if chlorine always @ 6 or more and cya not over 50, with pump circulating 6 to 7 hours. Its like your getting algae no matter what. Thanks, ill do the bucket test.

[Watermom]

Have you kept your chlorine at shock level for a period of time until the algae is dead? If not, then that is why you continue to have algae. With a CYA of 50ppm, your shock level will be about 15ppm to kill it.

But, do the bucket test first before shocking the pool.

[fhorta]

Sorry, been out for a while. I have not done the bucket test yet, but this is whta has happenned. I thre in some potassium peroxymonosulfate (fresh n clear) 3 lbs and water cleared within a day and a night. Stayed clear for about 3 days and now greenish again. All other values are same, chlorine at 6ppm. Anyway, I am being told that problem is sand filter cus it doesn't filter small microns and that instead of using diatomaceuous earth I need to use cellulose fiber, a de altenative because it filters smaller microns...any comments on this??

[PoolDoc]

Without getting into it, the ONLY reason for cellulose is as a replacement for DE in DE filters. You have a sand filter; we're using the DE primarily as a test. The cellulose can NOT be used for that purpose (and it's not all that good as a DE replacement, either!).

We would have told you not to use the monopersulfate . . . but the result you got is very surprising. MPS would have had NO effect on algae. I am completely puzzled by what could make your pool green, be cleared up by MPS, and then return to green. I'm going to see if Chem_Geek has any ideas.

Meanwhile, please take your kit and do a COMPLETE set of tests on your pool: FC, CC, pH, TA, CH, and CYA and report those.

Also, turn your pump on and leave it on.

Finally, when you need to backwash, please note the color of the backwash discharge.

Thanks,

[chem geek]

MPS is acidic so if the green, or at least some of it, is from metals then the green may have gone away when the pH dropped and then come back when the pH rose again.

If there is algae creating cloudiness, then just maintaining a normal FC/CYA level will not get rid of it because if the water is cloudy and if that is from algae then the algae is clumped enough that it can still grow inside the clumps faster than chlorine can kill it from the outside. That's why we shock the pool in this situation to raise and maintain a higher FC/CYA level to completely kill off the algae.

What I suggest you do is first lower the pH to at least 7.2 (but not below 7.0) and see if the green lightens at all. Then shock with chlorine to 20 ppm FC (assuming your CYA is really 50 ppm) and maintain that level which means adding chlorine multiple times during the day (or at least at morning and early evening if no one is around during the day). If it gets green again, that would be from the chlorine raising the pH. Don't worry about that. Just hold the high chlorine level and filter 24/7 (using both the skimmer and floor drain) to get rid of the cloudiness. Once you get to a clear green then you can deal with the metals.

Is your pool surface blue? If so, then you may have iron in the water (that's not uncommon in well water) since yellow+blue looks like green. Otherwise, green is usually from copper. That usually comes from use of a copper algaecide and is not usually in well water.

[PoolDoc]

MPS is acidic so if the green, or at least some of it, is from metals then the green may have gone away when the pH dropped and then come back when the pH rose again.

Ahh! I forgot that it was so acidic. It's been a LONG time since I messed with MPS.

Thanks, Chem_Geek.

[chem geek]

The equivalent amount of oxidizing power as 1 ppm FC when added as MPS (6.7 ounces weight per 10,000 gallons) has the same acid effect (after usage/consumption) as 2.5 ounces of full-strength Muriatic Acid (31.45% Hydrochloric Acid) per 10,000 gallons. It's actually somewhat more acidic for equivalent FC than Trichlor.

[fhorta]

Ok. FC is 7. CC is 0. TA IS 80, CH is 350. CYA is 55. Ph is between 7.6 and 7.8

I did throw in some algaecide last night and now water is milky white and can see the bottom of deep side, thiugh not clearly. The stuff is called skill-it from biodex. Before I threw the algaecide s the water was still green despite running filter 24/7. I never tried the cellulose fiber and will be returning it.

Been running filter and threw in some DE to where pump psi went from 7.5 at clean back wash to now 8.5 psi. I'm going to the store right now to get the stuff to do the metal test.

[fhorta]

Chemgeek, I will follow your instructions once I see what's going to be the conclusion with this algacide. I threw in the algacide last night and read your post this morning. Oh, the water color now is like a pale white blue.