Water is cloudy. Want to clear up before closing

Haven't had cloudy water in a while. The last time it was an algae problem...this time not so sure. My levels seem normal, no combined chlorine at all.

What I will say is that my pool was dirty. It's been too cold to go in lately so I haven't vacuumed for a while but I have been maintaining my chlorine levels, etc. I just purchased an automatic vacuum (end of season sale) and I threw it in the pool today. It's been vacuuming all day and is doing a pretty good job considering the amount of dirt and leaves that were sitting at the bottom of the pool. I'll probably vacuum a few more times this week, and tomorrow it's suppose to be high 70's so I was gonna actually go in and brush my walls, etc.

Trying to get everything ready to close, but I don't want to close a cloudy pool. Been strictly BBB this year. Should I shock it even though my tests don't seem to give any indication of any algae bloom?

FC: 4.7
CC: 0
pH: 7.4
TA: 100
CYA: 40

Test your chlorine tonight after the sun is off the pool, and again in the morning before sunup and compare the two numbers. If you don't lose any chlorine overnight, then odds are you're not fighting algae and just need to do some more filtering. (What's your CH level, and what do you use to chlorinate?) If you do lost chlorine overnight, then it's likely algae trying to happen and you need to shock the pool and keep it there until you don't lose chlorine overnight.

I don't think I've ever tested CH. Didn't think I needed to for an above ground vinyl liner pool. I'm pretty sure I won't be losing any chlorine based on my daily testing that I've been doing, but maybe vacumming swirled some stuff up in there and my numbers will be different. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks for the response aylad!

I updated this yesterday but apparently I didn't submit the reply. Anyway, I checked the chlorine level yesterday morning and had no chlorine loss, so it doesn't seem to be fighting off any algae but is still cloudy. I actually got in there today to remove my steps. Was a little chilly at 70 degrees. I manually vacuumed under the steps, and gave the walls a good brushing again. Floor and walls are clean enough for closing now but I would really like to make the cloudiness go away before covering it. I plan to close next Saturday. Any further help would be appreciated. I'm thinking I'm going to bring it to shock level tonight anyway unless someone tells me otherwise before then. Thanks!

Maybe you vacuumed up very tiny particles of dust and silt that your filter was unable to catch? I have had that happen after vacuuming but it usually settles back down to the bottom after a day or 2.

The reason I asked about your CH level is because if the calcium levels are too high, then they can cause cloudy water, especially if you're using cal-hypo to chlorinate. You're correct in that you don't really need a minimum calcium level with a vinyl pool, but calcium levels that are too high can still be a problem for you.

Does the pressure gauge on your filter work? Is it rising as you're stirring up the stuff on the bottom? When is the last time you backwashed the pool?

My 3 co-mods also have sand filters, and have used a small amount of DE added through the skimmer (just enough to cause your pressure filter to rise by 1 psi) to help coat the sand and make it filter smaller particles. You could try that, in case the particles causing your cloudy water are just too small for the sand filter to get. If your pool is that cloudy, and your filter pressure isn't rising, then it means that your filter isn't able to catch the particles, for whatever reason. The DE m ight help.

Another question --- how much run time is your pump getting daily? You should be doing 24/7 right now while you are trying to clear up the cloudiness. After several days of doing so and still not having much chlorine consumption but continuing to have cloudy water, I think I would turn the pump off and see if a bunch of little stuff settles out of the water and on to the floor.