my water is clearing but still cloudy

ok I have really high cya(95-100) and water has been cloudy for weeks. now I have gotten the cl -with bleach- to 25ppm for about 1 day. it is clearing but not all the way. I brushed the sides today then vacuumed and now it is cloudier than it was. is that expected? also how long should I leave the water at 25 ppm if it doesn't clear all the way. at some point I need to let it come back down to about 8 so that I can measure ph. just an aside but I had been using cal hypo to chlorinate with and I believe it has left white cloudy substance in my pool that will not filter out!!! if anyone has had an experience like this with cal hypo. would you please let my know how you handled it. I have vacuumed to waste which helped but there is still white stuff that comes out of the jets when I vacuum which I am sure is contributing to my cloudy water. any thoughts anyone? As always thanks for your reply.

i feel for you, my fellow newb, as i too have made all the same mistakes with all the same problems. Used cal hypo, and suspect that it contributed to cloudiness, based on forum help to find out this is not best. Will only use bleach or high power NaHypo/shock stuff from now on.

I can't maintain FC above 1ppm....but I don't think I've added enough bleach at once (my newb mistake).

Stuck at cloudy too.

I can't vacuum because I can't see where to vacuum - visibility is less than one foot of depth.

Tonight I'm adding 10 gallons of bleach and praying to the forum gods for a miracle.

I'll be awaiting the veterans response to your problem, as it is my own problem too, amongst many others....

sorry I can't help you, but I can empathize with your situation.

subscribing

mspool, What are your other numbers? Calcium can definately make your pool cloudy. It happened to me before I found this site - pool store kept telling me to shock with cal hypo, they had already added way too much calcium to my pool, and when I ended up with a calcium level of 500, they told me to drain and refill till my calcium level went to 200. Don't get into that mess. For now try to post your numbers, keep your chlorine level up at 25 - because you may still have algae.. Once you can hold the chlorine level overnight, and you have no combined chlorine, you can start to bring your chlorine level down. Remember to backwash. After you post your numbers, we will tell you what to do next.

my numbers before I shocked a couple of days ago were: th-250; tc-3 now higher around 25ppm; fc-3 now higher; cc-0; ph-7.2; ta-120; stabilizer-95-100. how long should I hold the water at 25ppm. any other thoughts on what the cloudy is. maybe I just need to vacuum to waste every time to see if I can get rid of all the white stuff whatever it is. soooooo frustrated.

If you have no combined chlorine, and your chlorine holds overnight, you can bring your chlorine back down to 8. When I had the white powdery substance I flocked my pool (I know a lot of people on this board don't like to use flock, but it worked great for me). I put in the amount it said on the bottle, let the filter run till it was all circulated. Then I turned off the filter over night. The next day there was a lot of stuff on the bottom of the pool which I vacuumed to waste. It was still cloudy - but not as cloudy, so I turned the filter off and let it stand for the rest of the day and overnight. I vacuumed to waste again, and did this until the pool was clear. If you want to do this I would do it while the chlorine is high. Since all of your numbers are good, and you don't have any combined chlorine, it seems that there is something small in your water that isn't filtering out. If you have a sand filter you can try putting a lb of DE in the skimmer to coat the top of the sand first. If you use this method, you have to add DE everytime you backwash. It's your choice, if you don't want to put flock in your pool, you can try the DE, but the DE method will probably take longer. Good luck, and keep us informed.

ms, was it an algae problem you shocked for? more importantly:
What kind of filter do you have? Because it sounds like you are getting 'bypass' through the filter (though a bad gasket in a multiport is also possible) if you are seeing cloudy water entering via the returns while vacing.
If you'd let me and the others on the forum know this, someone here will surely get to the bottom of it and help you cure your issue. (though water chem #s are always nice).
Welcome to the forum gnu bees (paradox( ;) ) and mspool) BTW Hi Marie :)

I have a sand filter. my pool is 27,ooo gall. my pool was clear when we first moved into the house in november. the chlorine levels were very high. I let the chlorine drop to about 2 or 3, sometime in april. the water was getting a little cloudy at that point. I added cal. hypo. to the pool for chlorine then it immediately got cloudy and stayed cloudy. this is around april. I kept up my routine of vacuuming, adding soda ash and an algaecide and something called pool perfect and then the cal. hypo. the water never cleared. then I found this forum and stopped adding everything switched to bleach. realized my stabilizer was at 95-100 because I also had the pucks in a feeder. also stopped using those. got my levels up to 25ppm with bleach. it has cleared but cannot see the bottom in the deep end. I am going to hold the chlorine at 25ppm for a couple more days and see what happens. if it does not clear completely then should I add floc? Yes, I did get an algae bloom about a month ago, before I found this forum. My thought was that this white stuff is so fine that the sand does not stop it as the vacuum is picking it up off the floor. and then it is coming right back out through the jets. but what do I know I am really clueless at this point. Maybe something with the filter but I thought I would rule out other causes before going there.

Actually you are not clueless, you are learning how to listen to your pool - we have all been there. Now that you have found this forum, you will be able to keep your water crystal clear with bleach, baking soda and borax. You don't need anything else - once you get all of your numbers balanced you will find that it takes a couple of minutes a day to keep up with the water, and if you keep up with the water you won't get algae, so you won't even have to shock.

First I would try some DE in your filter. Put about a lb of it right in the skimmer. It should cover the top of the sand, and will give you better filtration to get out the fine stuff. Remember to add more DE after you backwash. If it still isn't clearing (I think it will) then you can add flock, or a clarifier. It is just that the less you put into your water, the eaiser it is to maintain, because everything you add is doing something and it just gets all messed up. I would keep the chlorine high for a few more days just to be sure all the algae is dead. You are on the right track!

What is de for the filter and where do I get it? I have ordered ben's test kit meanwhile all I have is aquachem from walmart. it says that I can't test for ph ta or hardness until I get my chlorine down to 5. soooo I only have test numbers from before I shocked the pool. I will try the de if I can find it anywhere around here.... smallish town but there are a few pool stores. I am also planning to keep the chlorine at 25ppm for at least 3 more days????? does this sound right.

DE is diatomaceous earth - it is made for the DE filters. You can get it at a pool store, or walmart. It is a very gritty filter medium. You would only need a small bag. If you go to a pool store, can you get a water test? It would be good to see if your chlorine is holding, but a couple of more days of high chlorine won't hurt - you will really know too, if the water clears up with the DE, then the algae is most likely dead.

It definitely sounds like you have more of a filter problem than a chemical problem. I would try a little clarifier or add a small amount of DE to the filter and see if you have any improvement. If this works then you can add a little more until it clears. Running high CL for a few days won't hurt but if your FC is holding steady overnight then it probably isn't doing much good either.

I have a sand filter. Is de ok to add to the skimmer if you have a sand filter. Its not going to mess up the sand is it?

No, it won't mess up the sand filter - I do it all the time. Just put in 1 lb, and watch your pressure - 1 lb shouldn't raise it much. It just helps to filter out the really small particles. You can also put a skimmer sock in your skimmer to help get the fine particles, you can find them on line or at a pool store. Some people just use an old nylon stocking.