Cloudy water help

[haeffnkr]

Hello,

I started with very cloudy water in my fiberglass 14,500 gallons pool.
My numbers -
FC = 15 - trying to keep it there, but it keeps fluctuating....
TC = 0
pH = 7.2 - 7.6 over the last 3 days.
TA = 100
Cal = 130
CYA = 50/60

My pool water turned cloudy after my SWG failed or was not run enough over the last several days...and I did not check the water for several days....My water was gin clear for 3 weeks before that with bleach added every 2 days or so. Had a solar cover on so I could not see the water getting clouldy until it was too late. When I tested the water there was no chlorine.

Saturday the water was very cloudy...it is starting to come around now after keeping the chlorine up and up and up....

Questions -
Should I backwash 2 times a day, or once or what?
Any other tips to help this along?
Will a FC level of say 20/25 help clear things faster than 15?
What is really making the water cloudy? (not green at all)
I have chlorine pucks in the feeder for the time being, is that an issue? (I dont mind a little more CYA)

thanks Kevin

[duraleigh]

Hello,

I started with very cloudy water in my fiberglass 14,500 gallons pool.
My numbers -
FC = 15 - trying to keep it there, but it keeps fluctuating....
TC = 0
pH = 7.2 - 7.6 over the last 3 days.
TA = 100
Cal = 130
CYA = 50/60

My pool water turned cloudy after my SWG failed or was not run enough over the last several days...and I did not check the water for several days....My water was gin clear for 3 weeks before that with bleach added every 2 days or so. Had a solar cover on so I could not see the water getting clouldy until it was too late. When I tested the water there was no chlorine.

Saturday the water was very cloudy...it is starting to come around now after keeping the chlorine up and up and up....

Questions -
Should I backwash 2 times a day, or once or what?
Not necessarily. A decent rule of thumb is backwash when you see a 20-25% rise in filter pressure

Any other tips to help this along?
Chlorine, chlorine, chlorine!:)

Will a FC level of say 20/25 help clear things faster than 15?
Absolutely

What is really making the water cloudy? (not green at all)
Probably dead algae, but chlorine is still the answer to clear your pool

I have chlorine pucks in the feeder for the time being, is that an issue? (I dont mind a little more CYA)
If you plan on going back to the SWG.....they're probably okay.....for a little while. If you're gonna sanitize with another method, I'd stop the CYA right where it is.....it's quite difficult to get it back out if you get too much.

thanks Kevin

Thanks for posting your test results, Kevin.

[haeffnkr]

Hello,
Thanks for the answers so quickly.

My FC was 19 this morning I added more bleach last night.... but I dont see much/any improvment in the water clarity.
I added 2 more gallons of bleach just now and will keep my fingers crossed.

Not sure what else to try except time I guess?

thanks Kevin

[river-wear]

Yes, takes time. I'm going into my first algae battle of the season myself. (D'oh :o - I forgot to increase the filter run time once my water got up to a toasty 80 degrees!) It usually takes me about 4 days or so to get it "swimmable" again.

Did you have your solar cover on for all of those clear weeks? I apologize if this is old news for you (I learned the hard way last year) but you need to take to the cover off at least one day per week to keep the algae at bay. I don't know exactly why - whether the pool needs to breathe or the skimmer needs to operate properly or what - but it does need the break, and it's a good time to brush the walls and bottom too. :)