I don't have my numbers with me, but

I'm shocking my pool because it's cloudy, and I am keeping it between 20 - 30 (don't have my numbers on me)..... My TA and PH are slightly low so I am going to add some baking soda and borax. Two days ago I put stabilizer in my pool for chlorine. It seems to be clearing, as my water is cloudy, but how long should it take? I backwashed for the first time today since putting stabilizer in. Am I moving in the right direction? Should this be a slow process? How many days should I shock it? Could shocking it too high create my cloudiness... I don't think I am shocking it high (don't think my number went over 30) but wanted to make sure. Thank you. Also can I swim in it when it's cloudy?

Yikes!!!

In order to properly answer your questions, we really need a current set of test results. There are lots of reasons why your pool could be cloudy. What type of chlorine are you using to shock? If it's cal-hypo, and your calcium is already high, that could be one reason. If so, then shocking it is actually going to make the problem worse. If it's got CC over 1.0 and/or you're losing chlorine at night between sundown and sunup, then it probably does need to be shocked--but how high depends on your CYA level. If you added the CYA through the skimmer, and then backwashed 2 days later, chances are good that you rinsed most of your CYA out and may need to start again. Measure your CYA level, and see what you get.

Shocking the pool for too long won't cause the cloudiness in and of itself, but again it depends on what you're shocking it with and what your other test numbers are. It can be a very slow process--the more consistently you keep your chlorine at shock level, the faster it will go--but if you let it yo0yo up and down it can take a very long time to clear. Also keep in mind that the chlorine will kill any algae that's trying to grow, but the filter is what removes the dead algae from the water, so make sure that you're running the filter 24/7 and keeping an eye on the pressure. Backwash it when the pressure rises 8-10 psi over your "clean" pressure.

Sorry, I know that's a lot of general info, but we really need test results from a drop-based kit in order to help your specific problems. If you'll get the water tested and post your results, we'll be glad to take a look!

Janet

Edit: As far as swimming when it's cloudy, again that depends on why it's cloudy. If you're keeping your Cl at 30, I wouldn't swim in that no matter how high your CYA level is Also, if you're fighting an algae bloom and that's what's causing the cloudiness, I wouldn't swim in it because your available chlorine is fighting the algae, and not bacteria or viruses that could be in the water.