pool newbie with cloudy water

Here are all the brands we've identified as unmixed HEDP -- dilutions range from full strength (60%) down to 1/3 strength. One huge caution; manufacturer's can, and do, replace ingredients with other chemicals or other dilutions without warning.

HEDP:

Jack's Magic Blue Stuff (20% solution)
Jack's Magic Purple Stuff (20% solution)
Jack's Magic Pink Stuff (60% solution)
ProTeam Metal Magic (30% solution)
RamChem Ram Metal Hold ((60% solution? )
Kem-Tek 338-6 Metal & Calcium Eliminator (20% solution)
Haviland Stain & Scale Magic (30% solution? )

We're pretty sure these two products are HEDP, in the dilutions described, as of summer 2012

Jacks Magic The Pink Stuff 1qt (60% HEDP) @ Amazon
20% KemTek HEDP @ Amazon

And YES, do a lime softening test. I just got feed back from "Old BAT" -- she completed the bucket test and went from CH > 300 ppm, to CH < 40ppm ! She has not done her pool yet, but that's exactly the sort of result we're hoping for. But, keep in mind that the bucket test requires you to vacuum sediment out of your pool. You can do this with a pole, a vac head and a vac hose, by setting up a siphon. But you'll need all those pieces.

Thanks, again! Did you want me to lime test pool or fill water, Pool Doc?

I checked the metal bucket test last night and there is some brown-orange substance both on the bottom of the bucket and floating on the surface. (See attached pic, if it worked right.) http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/...wackbucket.jpg

Interesting. Those aren't exactly the colors I would have expected.

Do the colors in the photo accurately reflect what you saw? I would have expected a more red color.

Did you do anything different than what's in the metal bucket test instructions?

The colors are close. No, I followed directions: used 4 gal. fill water, added 1/2 cup bleach, mixed and after 15 min. added 1/2 cup borax, mixed, covered and checked in 24 hrs.

Should I do the lime bucket test on fill or pool water?

Thanks.

After two 1/4 gal doses of bleach, the water is much clearer. There's light rust colored sediment on the pool floor. The chlorine level was 5 ppm, too high for swimming today. The skimmer and vac I ordered should be here end of the week.

5 ppm is *NOT* too high to swim; that's bogus stuff that traces back to standards that were established in the '60's, on a purely 'pulled that one out of the air' basis. During the *same* time when "above 3 ppm" was set as "too high to swim", there was NO upper limit on chlorine in drinking water. Some utilities routinely shipped drinking water at 10+ ppm, so there would still be chlorine in the water when it reached the end of their old and corroded water lines!

However, if you still have no CYA, that chlorine will drop by over 1/2 in an hour of full sun!

Read the Best Guess page, linked in my signature, to get a better understanding of this.

Got it, Ben. Thanks for the info. I'm waiting for your direction on next steps with the cloudy pool. HEDP was ordered and vac & skimmer are on the way. I have muruatic acid and polyquat on hand.

If you would, go ahead and complete the pool chart:

Pool Chart Entry Form

I know you did the metal bucket test; but have you done the lime softening test? If we do that, and every settles out nicely, that process will ALSO remove all the metals remaining in the water.

Chart complete, lime test underway.

Vac and skimmer arrived today. I'll be installing the skimmer and vacuuming tomorrow. HEDP will be here Monday. This is a pic of the lime test @ 24 hrs. There's an orange film on the surface and around the rim, but the water below is quote clear. At the bottom I see a very small amount of white residue from the washing soda. What do you think, Pool Doc?

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/...cklimetest.jpg