Cannot Get Rid of Cloudy Water

I am at my wits end on this pool. I think I could weep. We have a 15,000g above ground. We opened at the end of April to a very, very green pool. Over the last month we've done so many things I could not begin to tell you. We've shocked a lot, floc'd twice and put in clarifier as well as this stuff called Eckoclean. Finally found this board and ordered the kit.

As of this morning, the pool is blue but only visible about a foot down. I haven't seen the bottom of the pool all year. It's been pretty blue for a few weeks but will not clear up.

I just went to the pool store for them to test (not to buy anything) so I would have something to give you until my kit came in

CYA : 70
Cholorine: 6
pH: 7.2
Alkalinity: 80
Total Hardness: 200
Copper: .2

They recommended using an Alkalinity increaser. I'm waiting to use it until I hear from you guys. It is the BioGuard Maintain Balancepak 100. It is a 12lb bag but I only have about half. They said I needed 18lb. I thought I had a 50lb and had enough. Glad now I didn't buy any more.
They also recommended a natural clarifier. I have a clarifier that a different pool store sold us but I don't think it's the natural kind. It's called Ultra Bright Step 5 Enhancer; concentrated blend of polymer to clear cloudy water.

We have a Hayward Power-Flo LX Pump S48C51203 1.5 SPL
Hayward Pro Series sand filter Model S-166T

Would appreciate any help as I really want the pool ready for Memorial day weekend! Thank you!!

Your alkalinity is perfect leave that alone...they are just trying to sell you stuff. Trust me I know from experience ;) Even if you did need to raise it, all you do is add baking soda...

I don't know what "Eckoclean" is but you probably would have been better off not adding all that stuff in the water that could have made it worse. But hey I did the same thing at opening, we learn from our mistakes though.

And as for your pump/filter...I'm not an expert but that seems like a pretty small filter for that size of a pool.

I guess what they would need to know (they, being the folks here) is are you wanting to use the BBB method, or do you want to continue with the pool store game?

BBB method: http://poolsolutions.com/gd/the-BBB-...pool-care.html

Your alkalinity is fine for a vinyl pool. I wouldn't add anything to raise it.
Blue is good! Keep running your filter 24/7. When is the last time you backwashed/rinsed the filter? I would put it through a backwash and rinse cycle, start with a clean filter, and then keep it on.
With CYA at 70 your optimal FC (free chlorine) is 5-10 ppm. I would add enough regular unscented household bleach to raise it to 10 ppm. Please test for combined chlorine (CC) or total chlorine. You may still have algae and might have to shock but we can't know that until we know those values. Could you call the pool store that did the testing and ask what "chlorine" means: total chlorine? combined chlorine? free chlorine?
Your pH is within range but at the low end. You might consider raising it to 7.5 using 20 Mule Team Borax.
With a vinyl pool you don't need to worry about total hardness.

We can probably get your pool cleared up by Memorial Day but we use the BBB method. That means we rarely use floc, algaecides, clarifiers and such. Our primary approach is regular bleach to provide sanitizing chlorine, borax for pH up, baking soda to adjust alkalinity, muriatic acid to drop the pH, and stabilizer (also known as conditioner and CYA).

Something that's helpful in a cloudy pool being cleaned is to brush it at least once a day just to get the stuff that's settled on the bottom back into solution so it can be filtered.

Thank you for the responses. Let's see here. First, I am totally fine with BBB. Clearly, the other chemicals are not working. HOWEVER, I did just buy a huge tub of chlorine and pucks and would like to use them up if at all possible. It was a lot of money and I'd like to not waste anymore if possible. If I could use them up first and then switch to pure BBB, that would be pretty awesome.

What I have is:
A bucket of Tricholoro
A bucket of pucks - Sodium dichloro
What I mentioned above for the Alkalinity


The paper says the 6 is Total Chlorine and under it it says Free Chlorine is also 6.

Oh and we just emptied the sand on Saturday and put new sand in and I backwashed and rinsed this morning.

The good news is, you have no live algae. The chlorine formula is FC + CC = TC. CC is combined chlorine, an indirect measure of algae. Since your total chlorine = your free chlorine, you have no CC and no algae. The reason your water is cloudy is dead algae which need to get filtered out.

A slightly dirty sand filter works better than brand new clean sand. Make a note of the pump pressure at the gauge. When that rises between 5 and 8 psi is the time to backwash. Don't forget the rinse cycle after backwashing to pack the sand back down and prevent it from shooting out the returns.

The trichlor will add CYA to the water and will decrease the pH. Since your CYA is already a little high you should reserve use of those pucks only for when you're on vacation and can't add bleach. Dichlor is also stabilized chlorine (contains CYA) and not appropriate for your situation at this time. If you haven't opened the containers yet you might want to return them to the store.

Have you read here or elsewhere about filter socks? Available from Amazon and at the pool store. You slip a filter sock inside the skimmer basket and loop it over the outside edge, sort of like a coffee filter sits inside its basket. Filter socks catch a whole lot of very small bits and are hugely helpful when trying to clear dead algae. With the pump running 24/7 you'll want to change the sock twice a day. Rinse under a hose, reuse.

A CYA of 70 is okay, you just don't want it to get higher. It will drop if you have a lot of splashout and have to refill, or when you top off the pool after backwashing/rinsing. This level does mean you need to run a slightly higher FC level, as I mentioned earlier. A very approximate calculation is that 21 oz of 6% regular bleach add 1 ppm of free chlorine to 10,000 gallons of water. If you're able to buy liquid chlorine at the pool store (comes in 5 gallon carboys) that has approximately 12% chlorine. For every 10,000 gallons the math is: 1.280 / 0.12 = # of ounces of 12% chlorine to raise 10,000 by 1 ppm. Or 1.280 / 0.06 = # of ounces of 6% chlorine to raise 10,000 gallons by 1 ppm.

BBB takes a little patience and commitment when you have a murky pool. Once it's clear and sparkling it'll take a maximum of 5 minutes a day: test pH, test FC and CC, adjust FC as needed. Once a week test TA (total alkalinity). Swim :)

At this point your only real issue is to get the water clear. That means filtration, brushing, and maintaining 10 ppm of free chlorine with bleach. I would take the unopened pool store products back to the store and buy bleach with the refund, and a package of skimmer socks.

OK so I'm hearing I need to put in 84 oz of bleach from Walmart? The kit I have now only goes up to 5 so I won't be able to keep an eye on it until it comes in a few days. Also, do I put it in the skimmer or broadcast?

At what point should I raise the pH with Borax? Before/after/during? How much does it take and how do I "apply"?

Wait. That math was only good for 10,000g. Since we have 15,000g, it would be 126oz?

Yes. 126 oz of Walmart 6% bleach will raise your current FC to around 10 ppm. My preferred method of adding bleach is to pour it slowly in front of a return with the pump running. You can also pour it around the sides while you're walking around the pool but it can get splashy and wreck your clothes. Another way is to put it in a pitcher and broadcast across the water but this also has messiness potential. Or you can pour it in the skimmer with the pump running but ONLY if you DO NOT have an inline chlorinator filled with trichlor pucks. You DO NOT want trichlor pucks to come in contact with bleach. It'll go BOOM. Really. The safest way is to pour it in front of a return.

Since your pH is within acceptable range let's just leave it there until you get the Taylor kit. The alk at 80 is a good buffer and you're not adding trichlor or dichlor, aren't making the water more acidic, so we'll just get the FC up and the get water filtered.

Yikes, that sounds scary. I have them floating in there now. How long do I need to have them out before putting in the bleach? I definitely don't want anything booming.