OK Mine's cloudy too....

[ThaSatelliteGuy]

I have a 24' X 54" AG. 1 month old. When I first filled it, added salt, 4lb stabilizer, shocked, and was crystal clear, but with a green tint.

After one week green turned blue, all was well.

SWG said high salt, so drained 20% and refilled. Shocked, all was well.

bout a week went by, some evap, and splashout(about 3 inches) topped off, tried to shock(evening) and shock clumped in skimmer. (this is where I went askew) when I found this, I borke it up and added enough shock to still shock it, sky high i know, but should have been plenty. Water started clouding. Still nice light blue, but 7 days later, still cloudy. CYA is GONE, not sure why. According to what I drained and added and such, should be around 20.(low I know) the strips I have suck.

FC 1-3
CYA reading 0
ph somewhere in the middle (my strips SUCK)
alk 60 - 120

Why the cloudy? I was doing so well for a rookie for about 2wks. :-(

tried clarifier on suggestion from a friend, no change

Oh and I'm eating filters like every other day!! Really not getting that one.

[CarlD]

OK,

I gather you probably shouldn't use any powdered chlorine in an SWG pool. "Shock" is a mis-labeling of powdered chlorine and it seems to have clogged your system. I'll bet it was Cal-Hypo as its dissolve rate is fairly slow.

I'm not the SWG expert but if your FC is down and you are seeing green, I'm guessing it's stopped working.

But I would start by adding 3 gallons of 6% bleach immediately and plan to do it two to three times a day just to clear your water.

DO NOT ADD ANYTHING LIKE CLARIFIER, FLOCCULENT, OR ALGAECIDE! And since you have a vinyl pool, don't add calcium either.

You'll need a good set of test numbers. Take a sample to the pool store but don't buy anything yet. Make sure they do your salt level as well.

Beware: they'll try to tell you your TDS (total dissolved solids) are too high, that you need PhosFree to reduce your phosphates and that you need calcium. DO NOT BE FOOLED. These things won't help you but will only make it worse.

I'm surprised you have no CYA. Your test may be fault or you accidentally back-washed it out--that happens as CYA takes a VERY long time to dissolve.

This is just for starters. As we know more we can help more. And the SWG folks will kick in with their detailed knowledge.

[ThaSatelliteGuy]

Ok I did add clarifier and algaecide, but not for a week or so. I am going to get a better test kit, liquid chlorine, and CYA to try to stabilize my FC. I am running my pump 24/7 and my SWG at least 12hrs and its not really keeping up. So I am needing to slow my CL usage and get my numbers stable. Ill get back to yall in the morning!

Also, not seeing green... nice blue, just cloudy

How high do I need to drive my FC? All the way to super? Or just keep it on high side? or super, then high for a few days?

And any ideas on my filter usage? Possibly cuz I'm using powdered chemicals?

[aylad]

I'm estimating your pool capacity at roughly 11,500 gallons. In a pool that size, 3 cups of 6% bleach will raise your Cl by 1 ppm. I would raise the chlorine, using bleach, to 12 ppm and hold it there for a couple of days. With the SWG, I'm told that when you shock the pool it's better to use an additional source of chlorine instead of putting the extra wear on the cell. I'm sure the SWG experts around here can elaborate on that, but it certainly won't hurt you to use the bleach, especially if your SWG is having trouble keeping up.

Don't add anything else to the pool until you have a good set of test results and can post them here so we can help you clear it up.

I'm sure you're going through filters like crazy, because the filter is trying to get all that stuff creating your clouds out of the water. I'd be surprised if you told me you WEREN'T using them like crazy!
Janet

[ThaSatelliteGuy]

Ok I have a better set of numbers since I just got home with what seems to be a decent test kit.

I have a 24' round pool, 45" actual water depth. So approx 12,750gal. (Alot less than I originally thought at 14700, which I guess is how I screwed the salt up originally)

Ok I do not have a salt test kit! phooey! But, SWG likes it, and it is barely tastable, as opposed to very tastable before I did a 20% swap on the water.

I tested with the new kit, and confirmed aggreement with the strips and the numbers are:

TC 4-5 (it's noon, SWG and pump been running since last night)
FC 4-5
pH 7.8
ALK 375
CYA 30 - 40

BTW The water is somewhat clearer than it was yesterday, but not crystal like before this problem...

[Watermom]

Can you confirm that alk reading by running that test again? That alk number is EXTREMELY high.

[ThaSatelliteGuy]

yea its right, I have never been able to get the alk down to a reasonable level since I filled the pool

[aylad]

Give your filter time to finish getting out all the stuff that is making the water cloudy--sometimes it just takes awhile. Continue cleaning the filter as necessary to keep the pressure where it belongs.

To drop your alkalinity, take a look at the sticky posted in the "Dealing with Alkalinity and Calcium" forum. If you follow it step by step, and don't get in a hurry, you can get it lowered. Your pH is already somewhat high and will rise with the use of the SWG, so while you're adding the acid, you may as well be working on the alk. Take you time, though, and read through it before you start.

Janet

[ThaSatelliteGuy]

Ok I'd like to think Ive had an epiphany, but its probly more like a Homer Simpson, "DOH!!"

Can my cloudy problem be pollen?? The last couple days, the pool has had noticeable debris. Most especially today. A few minutes ago, (6pm Houston), I realized that the extra fine crud I have been cleaning out of the filter is the same color pale yellow as the little dingleberrys that are headed for the skimmer!! Hello, 2+2 still is 4!


Am I now headed in the right direction, or have I still erred with my math?

Could my overall cloudy issue be the pollen? OH BTW, I AM under TWO TREES.

[Watermom]

Could very well be. Get some skimmer socks and place them inside the skimmer basket. (Cheap -- at any pool store.) It will do two things for you. First, it will show you if it is pollen that is mostly the problem and secondly, it will help you filter it out.

That said, I still think you need to raise your chlorine level up to shock level which for your pool would be around 15 based on your cya level. Add bleach to raise the cl level. Don't try and rely solely on your SWC cell to get to shock level. Shocking certainly can't hurt and might help in the chance that it is not pollen and even if it is pollen, it will help some. Try and test your water 2 or 3 times a day for a few days and each time, add enough bleach to get back to shock level. In a pool this size, each quart of 6% bleach will add slightly over 1ppm of cl.

Also, work on lowering alk as Janet suggested above. It will be kind of a long process for you since yours is so high, but it is easy and it will work given time.

[ThaSatelliteGuy]

ya I have shocked a couple times now, and really no change at all for clarity. Pool seems to have no growth or chlorine smell, and TC and FC are indecernable on the test kit I just bought, so I believe CC very low. No Harm shocking again tonight tho...(GF is sick, so no midnight skinnydipping) I might try covering the pool for a little while and see what happens.

[Watermom]

Don't cover it if it has been shocked. The fumes need to vent so they won't damage the cover.