My water is still cloudy and I don't know what to do about it

[Bosch232]

In my last Thread about 2 weeks ago, I took my water from horrible green swamp water to mostly clear pool water. It went well. However.. There is still cloudiness in the pool water. Maybe I'm being far too picky about it? When you stand on the deck and look in, it's fine. But when you're in the pool with a mask on and you look across the 30-foot stretch of pool, there's a white cloudiness to it, and you can't see the other side. All of my chemistry is good. Chlorine is 5.5 PPM. PH is 7.3. Stabilizer is 70. I can't remember the alkalinity, but when I tested it a week ago I know it was within range. I have been running the filter 24/7 for two or three weeks. Whatever it is, the filter is not stopping it. Is there a solution?

I'm kind of a freak about Clear water, I'm not above dumping and refilling this thing to achieve it. LOL.

[swimdaddy]

If there is a precipitate in your water, your sand filter won't filter it, as is. The precipitate could be caused by metal/s in your water, of which there may be many. I am hoping someone with more chemistry knowledge will come in and speak more to the cause of your cloudiness, but here are some things you can try now.

1. Add some DE to you sand filter. This will improve your filter's ability to capture smaller particles, though that still probably won't be enough to stop the cloudiness. There are great instructions on this forum for how to do it, follow them to the letter.

2. Add some polyquat algaecide, which is the only algaecide this forum recommends, generally. It also acts as a clarifier, clumping particles together into bigger particles, and then your DE laden sand filter might be able to grab them better. If the cloudiness is being caused by algae, the polyquat can help with that too.

All that being said, if the cloudiness is due to metal precipitate, I am not sure any of the above will help. There is a procedure for using a sand filter to filter out calcium, but I do not know it, hopefully someone else will chime in.

All that being said, again, if your numbers are good and you are swimming, and your water looks relatively good, why worry? I am a big fan of clear water, don't get me wrong. But let me ask you, why do you have a swimming pool? Is it to swim in it, or impress the neighbors? If it were me, I would try the above, and if that doesn't work, don't worry too much about it.

[Anonymous [GDPR] European in the UK]

There is only so much sand can filter (20 microns + for the best sand) so when it gets hazy it can take a long time to clear. Using a clarifier like jolly jelly can help speed up the process of catching the very fine stuff. Looking at your signature a 2 hp pump onto what size filter? Reducing that pump down would save a fortune in electricity and would improve the filtration.

[Lawrosa]

It would seem your stabilizer is too high.. @ 70 your target chlorine level should be an 8 ppm.

And your shock level should be 27.5 ppm.. You probably still have stuff in your pool and need to shock it and hold it there...

But...


The shock levels shown have equivalent disinfecting chlorine amounts (in a column) but at high CYA levels it may be impractical to use such high FC levels. A partial drain/refill to lower the CYA level is usually what is needed or one can shock at a lower level but will take longer to kill the algae.


Meaning it may cost a small fortune to shock your pool.. Best to drain some water to get the CYA stabilizer down to the preferred level of 30..

Do that and shock the pool and hold it there.

Filter 24/7

Pool should clear up...

Also whats the alkalinity levels?

And yes adding DE to a sand filter helps.. Hope you have a large sand filter with that 2 hp pump.. A good solution is a 2 speed pump.. Run on hi to vacuum and run on low to filter..

I run my pump on low 16 hours a day and it usues less electric then on hi for 3-4 hours.

[Bosch232]

Sorry to take so long to reply.
My pool is now very clear! Yay!

And I'm pleased to report that I didn't spend a dime to do it, either. :)

I tried an old trick I used a couple of years ago to get rust-red out of the high-iron water we have: Old towels in the bottom of the skimmer basket. They seem to filter out even the smallest of particles. I changed them out morning and evening, and after about 5 days, super clear water.

Boom.

[Bosch232]

Oh, and yes: The 2 hp pump is overkill. But I got it free and no amount of abuse seems to kill it. If it ever dies, I'll get a 1 hp.

[Bosch232]

This is looking long-ways the 32 ft dimension, both taken with my cell phone. I still have a little ways to go, but hey, it's free and it's working.



Before

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Bosch232/after_zpsepfgx863.jpg




After

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Bosch232/before_zpspzpa8bcr.jpg

[swimdaddy]

Lookin good! Love the idea. May have to try that one myself someday. I am in the same boat with my pump. I live in a place with very cheap electricity (lots of hydroelectric dams around), so I don't feel much of a pinch with my pump.

[FormerBromineUser]

Missed this thread. How is the pool looking now? Still good? A bag of cal-hypo in the skimmer can help too if there is still some iron.

[Bosch232]

The pool is now crystal clear. Every 48 hours that towel comes out of the skimmer box Pretty Brown. I don't exactly understand why the towel works so well, but it definitely does make a difference. And it's free. I will post a few photos later in the day.

[FormerBromineUser]

Great! I'd love to see the pics!

[Bosch232]

Not bad for an old free towel.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Bosch232/Pool_zpsljywgont.jpg

[FormerBromineUser]

Loves!!!!!!! The water looks great!!!! Nice camera.

[FormerBromineUser]

Thos is great! How did you put the towels in the skimmer without blocking your flow?

[Bosch232]

It's not a full size towel, it's a smaller bath size.
(It's actually one that my gym hands out, and it accidentally made its way home in my bag a few years ago.)
It used to be white. Everything in that towel that's NOT white is crap that was in my water.
I wash this towel about every 3 days when I do this.

Anyway, you can see there is flow around the top of the basket.
The water that goes through the towel flows at a slower velocity than the water that goes around the towel.
I know this looks hard on the pump, but this is my 3rd year doing this. (I forgot my towel trick when I first made this post).
My pump doesn't seem to care.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Bosch232/Towel_zpsz5aaneh0.jpg

[Bosch232]

It's my Galaxy S5 cell phone.
You can dunk them.

[FormerBromineUser]

Is there water in your skimmer?

[Bosch232]

You mean in that photo? Yes.
Pump happened to be off when I took the photo, so the water was still.

[Anonymous [GDPR] European in the UK]

Sorry to take so long to reply.
My pool is now very clear! Yay!

I tried an old trick I used a couple of years ago to get rust-red out of the high-iron water we have: Old towels in the bottom of the skimmer basket. They seem to filter out even the smallest of particles.



It goes to prove how pleasing fine filtration is over bog standard sand filtration. Partly due to the huge surface area for filtration that your towel has created compared to the small sand filter surface area and the better fine filtration at a slower rate. Cotton is a wonderful stuff as it also has a slightly negative charge so attracting the positive charged iron particles.
Thank you for posting that, interesting.