Cloudy, but clear. Levels seems good.

We’ve been trying to clear this pool up for 4 weeks now and just about to give up. The pool was not opened last year nor was it covered. When we started, the water was very very green, there were turtles, a bloodsucker and lots of frogs. We also found plastic glasses, cd’s, big rocks etc.. at the bottom of the deep end that we removed. We shocked and shocked the pool, put algecide in, brushed and vaccummed and continued to shock it - we’ve had clear but cloudy water for about 2 weeks now – you can see the bottom of the shallow end, but still not clear enough to see the bottom of the deep end.
One thing we didn’t do was put any stabilizer in and we realized that this is probably are problem with chlorine loss ( we were going putting tons of shock in every night). I put stabilizer in on Wednesday night , this morning I did a test and these are my readings:

PH 6.8
FC 1
Alk 120
CYA 30

What is wrong? The water is clear, but cloudy. We have a 17 x 31 inground oval pool with a sand filter. We were really hoping to have the pool ready last week end now I am praying this week end. Anybody have any ideas? We are complete new to this and tried everything, even took water sample to pool shop and tried what they suggested.
Thanks so much.

May I ask what test method are you have?
Your method my not be for free chlorine. OTO the yellow test does total chlorine. You need a method that does free and total chlorine.

Chlorene source for shocking?
Rember shock is a verb. It is an action we do to a pool. Pool stores have turned it in to a noun.

How much stabilizer did you put in?
Stabilizer or CYA takes days to desolve in to the water so you may getting a higher result in a few days and may over shoot your needed level.

ph
If your ph is at the bottom of the scale for your tester your ph could be lower than 6.8. I would get some muratic acid in there soon.

Steve

Check that Steve, NOT muriatic acid, that will bring the ph even lower.....with a FC level that low, there is not enough chlorine in there. Maybe the filter needs a good backwash too.......

I am using test strips, 2 different ones. One that test FC and the other Total Chlorine. Total Chlorine is lowest one it can be to be considered "ok" per test strip (I forgot to bring tose readings with me, I am trying to rember the color chart).

We have dosed it and dosed it with granualr chlorine - gave it the required amount as per instructiuons to "shock". We also put in enought stabilizer as required per instructions - it says nothing on the bottle about taking 5 days to dissolve or anything, only states to let pump reciculate for 4 hours so it can completely dissolve. I just spoke to my husband and he said he just added chlorine - "shocked it" per instructions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vrogan

I am using test strips, 2 different ones. One that test FC and the other Total Chlorine. Total Chlorine is lowest one it can be to be considered "ok" per test strip (I forgot to bring tose readings with me, I am trying to rember the color chart).

You need to get a good drops based test in order to get accurate results. I believe Wal-Mart has a 6-way test that includes CYA.

We have dosed it and dosed it with granualr chlorine - gave it the required amount as per instructiuons to "shock". This might be hypo-cal which will add calcium to your pool - what are your calcium levels - high levels can make the pool cloudy

We also put in enought stabilizer as required per instructions - it says nothing on the bottle about taking 5 days to dissolve or anything, only states to let pump reciculate for 4 hours so it can completely dissolve. I just spoke to my husband and he said he just added chlorine - "shocked it" per instructions.

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You need to get a good test kit and post a full set of numbers

TC (Total Chlorine)
FC (Free Chlorine)
PH
TA (Total Alkalinity)
CA (Calcium)
CYA

Next you need to pick up some BORAX from Wal-Mart to raise your PH - really you want it between 7.2-7.6 (do this BEFORE you raise the chlorine level above 10ppm - when testing for PH with a chlorine level above 10ppm it can interfere with the PH test)

Also - what type of pool do you have - vinyl, concrete, fiberglass?

You also need to pick up plain old laundry bleach (unscented) 6% strength (usually listed as "ultra bleach"). Use the bleach to add chlorine. Each gallon will add about 6ppm for every 10,000. You need to get to about 15ppm (another reason for a good test kit) and keep it there by testing 3X a day and adding more bleach to get back up to 15ppm until the pool is clear.

Sorry about the muatic acid. Just had got off work that morning and had a brain cramp.
Steve

We all get those kinds of brain cramps - then we go into our pools and unwind...... : )

After that cramp I spent the whole week end in the pool:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vrogan

We’ve been trying to clear this pool up for 4 weeks now and just about to give up. The pool was not opened last year nor was it covered. When we started, the water was very very green, there were turtles, a bloodsucker and lots of frogs. We also found plastic glasses, cd’s, big rocks etc.. at the bottom of the deep end that we removed. We shocked and shocked the pool, put algecide in, brushed and vaccummed and continued to shock it - we’ve had clear but cloudy water for about 2 weeks now – you can see the bottom of the shallow end, but still not clear enough to see the bottom of the deep end.
One thing we didn’t do was put any stabilizer in and we realized that this is probably are problem with chlorine loss ( we were going putting tons of shock in every night). I put stabilizer in on Wednesday night , this morning I did a test and these are my readings:

PH 6.8
FC 1
Alk 120
CYA 30

What is wrong? The water is clear, but cloudy. We have a 17 x 31 inground oval pool with a sand filter. We were really hoping to have the pool ready last week end now I am praying this week end. Anybody have any ideas? We are complete new to this and tried everything, even took water sample to pool shop and tried what they suggested.
Thanks so much.

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I am a new guy here and I don't mean for this to be a smart a$$ question: What does it mean when your water is "clear, but cloudy"? :confused:

No color but hazy.
IMHO
Steve