cloudy water!

[steveh]

Why is my pool water cloudy? I have a 1 yr old IG 20,000 gl white plaster pool. I live in the NW, where the water is pretty soft. I use chlorine and an ozonator, a sand filter and the water has always been crystal clear.

Current water analysis:

pH - 7.5
TA - 120
FCl - 3.0
Ca - 275
Cya - adequate
Temp - 84 F

It started last week when I got home from vacation, shocked the pool w/chlorine and added Sodium Carbonate to bump the pH up from 7.0 the water instantly turned cloudy (albeit blue) and has stayed that way ever since. What do I do now?

Thanks,

Steve

[Simmons99]

Well you need to post a complete set of numbers. FC (free chlorine) as well as TC (total chlorine) - and we need to know you CYA number. "Adequate" varies greatly and without an accurate number you will not know what level your chlorine should be to properly "shock" your pool.

Have you checked your filter medium?

[duraleigh]

Hi, Steve,

Still got cloudy water or was it temporary? If you still have it, How much soda ash did you use? How much Cl did you use to shock? Why did you shock?

Those answers and your current test results (include CYA) may give us a clue.

[steveh]

Sorry for the long delay, but here's what's been happening. the water cleared in about 4 days and all was good, except the pH kept falling slowly, and everytime I would dump in the sodium carbonate, the water would get cloudy again. And again in about 4 days would clear. This happened several times until I got sick of it and have just lived with a slightly acidic pool that looks and feels great. Is this OK and if not what would be the fix (More alkalinity?)

Current values:
pH 6.8 - 7.0
FC 3.0
TC 3.4
CYA 135
TA 130
Ca 275
Temp 80

Thanks, Steve

[doggie]

I don't know about the PH, but the best guess chart will tell you that if you have a CYA reading of 135, you should maintain a FC reading between 8-15 PPM. Yours is only 3.0.

[CarlD]

You've gotten good advice.

First: Shock your pool to 25ppm. Yeah, 25ppm. Use bleach or liquid chlorine. I'd keep it there for a couple of days, then let it drop to the 8-15 range--AND DON'T LET FC DROP BELOW 8! I suspect a new algae bloom.

Second: Stop using sodium carbonate to raise your pH and switch to Borax--20 Mule Team Borax at the grocery store.

Third: Make your adjustments slowly. Don't try to do it all at once.

Fourth: Are you chlorinating with cal-hypo? If so, that can cause cloudiness. Stop and switch to bleach or liquid chlorine.

[steveh]

Thanks for the responses, but I 'm wondering how I could be having an algae bloom when my water is crystal clear and blue? The reason I keep my FC level @ 3.0 is because I also use an ozonator. Is this a mistake? Do I really need to keep it at 8.0 or higher?

All the "pH up" options in my pool store are sodium carbonate, what is Borax and why do you reccommend it instead?

Thanks,

Steve