Really confused on cause of haze

Please help me. I thought I could finally handle one problem on my own, but obviously not! My water was very cloudy (couldn’t see drain at 8’) with a green tint. There are deposits on the “slopes” of the walls (where it angles down toward the bottom) and on the flat surface of the shallow end. They look like dirt but dissolve anytime you get near them. It seems to be mainly where the jets spray. My filter hasn’t been off in 3 weeks. I have maintained 15ppm FC for a week now. The green is gone, but it is still hazy. I can see the drain, but it isn’t crystal clear as in years past. I brought it up to 15ppm with bleach and my SWG has been holding it there for the past 3 days. EVERY morning the “sediment” is there again in the EXACT same spots. I vacuumed and backwashed 3 days in a row last week – seemed to help a minute amount. I have pantyhose in the skimmers and I have tried clarifiers. I am not building any backpressure on the pump. A lot of this sediment came in a few weeks ago when I added fill water and didn’t know the water company had just fixed a broken pipe. We had a lot of sediment in the toilets in the house and I added water to the pool for hours:eek: Also, I am adding about 32oz. of acid a day to keep the pH around 7.2. I assume it is because my SWG is at 50% and running all day. Questions:

Are my pH readings likely to be off at this FC level?
Why the haze? Algae? Calcium? Sediment?
How do I get this stuff off the bottom of the pool and keep it off?
I know there are metals in the water, but do they cloud it? (I thought they just stained)(it has a bottle of sequestering agent in it)
Vitals:
FC: 15
CC: 0
pH: 7.2
ALK and CAL: 90, 120 (don’t remember which is which)
CYA: about 50
I am going to wait until I get this haze cleared up before I fight the metals. I don't want to fight too many battles at once - I can't even win this one.

I am really ready to turn the pump off, but I know I can’t until I have clear water. My electric meter will be needing new bearings before long!!!:eek:

Sw, any chance you have a DE filter, it doesn't quite match up with the questionable water being added to the pool timeframe, but filter type would be nice to know. Hang in there and someone will be able to figure it out. I'll keep my eye on this thread, best of luck - Waste

I would go to 20 or 25 ppms with the chlorine. Sometimes you just need a higher level of chlorine to reach "break point" and since you are on the border with "cya about 50", then the higher level just might do the trick.


Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

by keeping it at 15, you may be holding what you are fighting, but never getting ahead of it. Try bringing up the chlorine, and see if the clarity changes. The ph could be off a little, but it wouldn't make your water cloud. Sometimes you need to keep the chlorine level high for a week to break down what is in the water.

It also depends what kind of sequestering agent you used - if there are a lot of metals in the water, it could cause cloudiness. The high chlorine levels will break it down and then it will filter out.

Filter is a sand filter. Maybe I need to add some DE to trap this "sediment".

Correction to original post.
ALK is 70
CAL is 110
I will go for the higher CL, but could my haze be from low ALK? Is it low because of the acid that I use to keep pH down? If so, how do I keep the pH down without affecting alkalinity so much? It may not have anything to do with it, but I just thought it would be worth mentioning.
Thanks for the replies and keep 'em coming.

I don't think the haze is from the low alkalinity - it isn't very low, you want alk to be between 80 - 120. You can add baking soda to bring up the alk - it may bring up the ph a little, but that would be ok. Using baking soda will raise the alkalinity and the ph may raise just a little' - then you can add acid to take the ph down - it won't effect the alk much. When you want to raise just the ph you add borax, it won't raise the alkalinity. Hope this helps, ask any questions you may have.

I've never had to raise the pH, I think it is because of the SWG. Is my ALK down because of all the acid I have to use? I think you are right, though, I need to raise the FC. I'm just trying to understand the relationship between pH and ALK. If I get my ALK up some, won't that help my pH not to fluctuate?

Yes, if the alkalnity is stable it helps the ph to stay stable. I would just let them both alone for now, raise the chlorine, kill the rest of what is making the pool hazy, and then work on the alk and ph, they are fine for now.

You got it! I have learned to do EXACTLY what I'm told on this forum. I added extra bleach last night to get it up to 20. I noticed this morning, it looked a LITTLE better. Big problem - I ran out of DPD reagent this morning so I don't know how much it used overnight, I added a gallon anyway. I ordered refills from Ben, but I assume his shipping log is still full. I guess I will try the dilution method. That stuff is still settling in the exact same spots. I guess I will vacuum tonight.

For what it's worth, you may not have to wait for your refills for very long :) . I ordered refills on 7/11, they were sent out the very next day and I received them on 7/17 - also in TX. Way to go, Ben!

Update - Water could be accused of being PERFECT today. I think you were right Marie, I need to shock at 20. (and I thought stains were your only specialty - hehe). I plan to keep it up there for a while until my refills get here. Will 20-25ppm damage my liner? After I bring the CL back down, I plan on maintaining pH at 7.2 and ALK at 100. Does this sound acceptable? I read somewhere that SWGs seem to be a bit more effective at a lower pH. I also noticed there was considerably less "stuff" on the bottom this morning. Makes me wonder if the "stuff" was some sort of algae that wasn't getting completely broke down. Anyway, thanks a million Marie. I hope someday to be able to help like you all do.
Thanks again.

You are quite welcome! I learned everything by reading this forum! It has helped me over the years more times than I can count. You can maintain a ph of 7.2 and an alk of 100, I am not sure about a swg - because I don't have one. Maintaining a ph of 7.2 is ok if your ph tends to drift up - I would be leary about maintaining that low a ph if it tends to drift down. I maintain mine at 7.2, but using the bleach, it tends to rise on me. You should not have any problem with getting your chlorine up to 20 with a cya of 50 - your liner will be fine. You are right, the "stuff" was something that was not completely dead, and was staying in the water. As it was getting killed off, it was then able to be filtered out, or fall to the floor to be vacuumed out. Just remember, keep ahead of your water, you will get to know your own pool and be able to tell when you need to add your chlorine, and at what level. It is very freeing to take control of your own pool - knowledge is power! Welcome to the forum, sharing your experience with others is how you give back to this forum.

Quote:

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I ordered refills on 7/11, they were sent out the very next day and I received them on 7/17

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I guess I'll let you order them next time, I'm still waiting.