ladybug_3777
06-29-2006, 10:59 AM
I've done a lot of reading online about "cloudy pool water" in hopes of fixing our own cloudy water problem at home. After almost 2 weeks, and trying just about every single suggestion available we are finally making progress. I thought adding our story here might help anyone having a similar problem... so here it goes! Its long but I hope it helps someone out there going through something similar.
The trouble all began when our ph dropped. We have a pool heater and the low ph stripped copper out of the coils and deposited it into our pool water. We got up to a level of 1.1ppm of coopper. (yikes!) Anyone that has gotten metal into their water knows that you have to drop your chlorine level down to 0ppm in order to treat the metal problem. Not only that but you can't shock the pool for 5-7 days. So your beautiful pool water will sit, with no chlorine while the metals are removed. Our pool was slightly cloudy to begin with but after sitting with zero chlorine it got really bad.
After the copper was treated we had to get all the chemicals back into balance. Now at this point the pool water looked like MILK. It was that bad. You couldn't see the bottom of the shallow end, heck you couldn't even see about a foot down.
For reference We have a 16 X 32 pool so we are talking about 21,000+ gallons of water. We started off fixing the ph and getting the stablizer bumped up into normal levels. (We got the ph to 7.4 and stabalizer to 30) all other chemicals were within their proper ranges as well (aside from the chlorine which was at 0). then we shocked it with our normal amount of liquid shock, 2.5 gallons.
The shock didn't even touch the clouds. The chlorine level plunged back down to 0ppm within a day. We went back to the pool store and they said, shock it again, then add clarifier. (So far the ph and stablizer levels were still holding up) Ok, this time we hit it with 5 gallons (a double dose) of shock. The next morning it still didn't appear to clear so as advised we added the clarifier and waited 24 hours. After 24 hours... NOTHING had changed. The chlorine level once again plunged to 0ppm within a day and a half and the clouds were still winning.
We started to feel frustrated. We called a few pool stores and the general idea was continue on with the shock. The fact that we were adding a ton of shock (at night of course) and that the stablizer level was still at 30 showed that the clouds were burning away the shock before the shock could burn away all the clouds.
That night we went to pick up a triple dose of shock, 7.5 gallons. While we were getting our water tested (to ensure the other chemicals stayed in balance the entire time) one employee suggested flocing the pool first. He swore up and down that he had never seen a floc fail. "but what if it does fail?" I asked. "It won't" he replied confidently. "But what if it does?" My husband chimed in with "Seriously, this pool is possessed. Nothing has worked" "It will work" the employee insisted
That night we added 15 oz of flocing agent, ran the pool on recirculate for 12 hours, then shut it off for 8 hours. They claimed by then the tiny particles would combine together then settle to the bottom. I came home from work, walked out back... and..... no change!!! ACK!! IT DIDN'T WORK! Ha! I thought, I KNEW it wasn't going to work! I'm going to call the pool guy who suggested this crap and tell him to floc off!
Frustrated once again we decided to go ahead with the shocking as orginally planned. We dumped a triple dose, the 7.5 gallons of shock into the pool last night. This morning I woke up and surprise!!! I could FINALLY see the bottom of the shallow end!!! Finally this morning I saw progress! I'm letting the pump run all day today and then this evening I plan on bringing the water in the be tested again (I swear the free water testing at the pool store isn't going to stay free anymore the rate we are going).
If the water is still cloudy and the chlorine level has dropped I think we will hit it with another 5 or even 7.5 gallons of liquid shock tonight. If the pool looks pretty clear and the chlorine level is above 1ppm I think we'll hit it with 2.5 gallons.
All in all I learned a valuable lesson. If all your chemicals are in balance (aside from chlorine), your filter is running well, and your pool water is cloudy just keep shocking it. Don't waste your time and money with the clarifier and floc. If your pool is real cloudy it won't help much. Let the shock burn out the clouds. The pool stores I spoke to said you can't over shock a pool so don't worry. Don't lose faith. I know how frustrating it is to look out at your pool and see horrible water. I know how much it sucks to have to add chemicals, wait, re-test, then add more. I feel your pain!
I'll try to remember to come back tomorrow and post on the progress after tonights dose of shock. I'll let you know what it takes to get it crystal clear again.
The trouble all began when our ph dropped. We have a pool heater and the low ph stripped copper out of the coils and deposited it into our pool water. We got up to a level of 1.1ppm of coopper. (yikes!) Anyone that has gotten metal into their water knows that you have to drop your chlorine level down to 0ppm in order to treat the metal problem. Not only that but you can't shock the pool for 5-7 days. So your beautiful pool water will sit, with no chlorine while the metals are removed. Our pool was slightly cloudy to begin with but after sitting with zero chlorine it got really bad.
After the copper was treated we had to get all the chemicals back into balance. Now at this point the pool water looked like MILK. It was that bad. You couldn't see the bottom of the shallow end, heck you couldn't even see about a foot down.
For reference We have a 16 X 32 pool so we are talking about 21,000+ gallons of water. We started off fixing the ph and getting the stablizer bumped up into normal levels. (We got the ph to 7.4 and stabalizer to 30) all other chemicals were within their proper ranges as well (aside from the chlorine which was at 0). then we shocked it with our normal amount of liquid shock, 2.5 gallons.
The shock didn't even touch the clouds. The chlorine level plunged back down to 0ppm within a day. We went back to the pool store and they said, shock it again, then add clarifier. (So far the ph and stablizer levels were still holding up) Ok, this time we hit it with 5 gallons (a double dose) of shock. The next morning it still didn't appear to clear so as advised we added the clarifier and waited 24 hours. After 24 hours... NOTHING had changed. The chlorine level once again plunged to 0ppm within a day and a half and the clouds were still winning.
We started to feel frustrated. We called a few pool stores and the general idea was continue on with the shock. The fact that we were adding a ton of shock (at night of course) and that the stablizer level was still at 30 showed that the clouds were burning away the shock before the shock could burn away all the clouds.
That night we went to pick up a triple dose of shock, 7.5 gallons. While we were getting our water tested (to ensure the other chemicals stayed in balance the entire time) one employee suggested flocing the pool first. He swore up and down that he had never seen a floc fail. "but what if it does fail?" I asked. "It won't" he replied confidently. "But what if it does?" My husband chimed in with "Seriously, this pool is possessed. Nothing has worked" "It will work" the employee insisted
That night we added 15 oz of flocing agent, ran the pool on recirculate for 12 hours, then shut it off for 8 hours. They claimed by then the tiny particles would combine together then settle to the bottom. I came home from work, walked out back... and..... no change!!! ACK!! IT DIDN'T WORK! Ha! I thought, I KNEW it wasn't going to work! I'm going to call the pool guy who suggested this crap and tell him to floc off!
Frustrated once again we decided to go ahead with the shocking as orginally planned. We dumped a triple dose, the 7.5 gallons of shock into the pool last night. This morning I woke up and surprise!!! I could FINALLY see the bottom of the shallow end!!! Finally this morning I saw progress! I'm letting the pump run all day today and then this evening I plan on bringing the water in the be tested again (I swear the free water testing at the pool store isn't going to stay free anymore the rate we are going).
If the water is still cloudy and the chlorine level has dropped I think we will hit it with another 5 or even 7.5 gallons of liquid shock tonight. If the pool looks pretty clear and the chlorine level is above 1ppm I think we'll hit it with 2.5 gallons.
All in all I learned a valuable lesson. If all your chemicals are in balance (aside from chlorine), your filter is running well, and your pool water is cloudy just keep shocking it. Don't waste your time and money with the clarifier and floc. If your pool is real cloudy it won't help much. Let the shock burn out the clouds. The pool stores I spoke to said you can't over shock a pool so don't worry. Don't lose faith. I know how frustrating it is to look out at your pool and see horrible water. I know how much it sucks to have to add chemicals, wait, re-test, then add more. I feel your pain!
I'll try to remember to come back tomorrow and post on the progress after tonights dose of shock. I'll let you know what it takes to get it crystal clear again.