Cloudy Pool Water - Could use some help

Watermold does take a lot of bleach for a long period of time. Just remember to keep it at shock levels continuously - I would take it higher than shock level if you can't test often. The more vigilant you are now, the shorter the time to clear the pool. By the time you see the tissue like strands that you described, you have a pretty good case of it and you have to use a lot of chlorine to get rid of it. It also takes a while after it is dead to clear out. Don't get discouraged - just keep up with the bleach:)

I'll check the pool throughout the day and continue to try and get this to shock level.

Only problem...I'm out of bleach so I'll need to run out for more sometime today. I know Watermom said not to use the dichlor anymore as it may be contributing to the cloudiness. I have quite a bit of the dichlor on hand........considering my CA is low would it hurt to add a few pounds of the Chlor Brite or should I avoid that for now and stick with bleach? I don't want to mess this up but at the same time I hate to wait until I can get some more bleach (which would probably be a few hours from now.) Wife is going to run to Walmart (which was cleaned out of their brand yesterday) and probably to the Aldi's for their brand as well. Will also hit the BJ's club tonight and see if I can buy in bulk.

-Brian

Since your CYA (not CA) is so low, go ahead and use the dichlor one more time but then I'd switch to bleach. Bleach will not cloud the water.

Don't forget to retest those chlorine numbers and repost with them.

Just tested the water again.

FC = .8
CC = 6.6

I'm using the Taylor kit. I added the powder as directed to the water and it came up very slightly pink and only took 4 drops to bring the pink water to clear (4 x .2 = .8). Then I added the other drops to the solution to test for CC and the water turned HOT pink and it took 33-drops to bring that one to clear water (33 x .2 = 6.6).

If you really have a CC of 6.6 (and it sounds like you do :eek:) then at least you know the chlorine you're adding is fighting the stuff in the water. So...Watermom and Mbar have laid out your best plan--get that chlorine back up to at least 15 ppm and hold it there as consistently as you can. Brush the pool every day, keep the filter running and backwash/clean as the pressure indicates, and it will clear up. You are going to need a good dose of POPP--pool owner patience and persistence--the pool took a long time to get into its current condition, so the solution won't be overnight--but the solution WILL work if you apply it.

Janet

Thanks Janet. My thoughts were the same.....sounds like the bleach is fighting the good fight which is the reason for the high CC. The little ones really want to get in the pool soon so I'll load up on the bleach and get back to work. :)

Thanks!
Brian

Are you using the 10ml or the 25 ml sample of water when you test?

I'm also trying to understand why yesterday your CC was 0 and now it is so significant? Something just isn't adding up here.

Just remember that the chlorine is killing the bad stuff--but the filter is what will remove it from the pool, and often takes up the most time. So keep an eye on your filter pressure and clean it as necessary. The payoff will be worth it!! :)

Janet

I agree with Watermom... since it's only turning slightly pink when you put two scoops in, there's a possiblity that you might have really high levels (it's possible that it's getting bleached out). Try putting 3 scoops in and see if it turns bright pink.

I'm going to retest the water now and use 3-scoops. I'm definitely using the 25ml sample when I test.

I'm no chemist but my thoughts were that by putting (4) big bottles of bleach in yesterday and then finding out today that my CC was quite high that the bleach was in there killing something. Let me retest now and I'll post the results in a few minutes.

Definitely going to owe you all big time on this one. I'll need addresses and lists of your favorite summer beverages. :)

-Brian