cloudy pool please help

[CarlD]

It's generally a bad idea to add both soda ash AND baking soda. Usually, if you want to raise pH and TA you either add Borax and baking soda, or just soda ash, because the latter increases TA levels for any pH level.

BTW, Arm&Hammer Washing Soda in the yellow box in the detergent section of your supermarket is soda ash--exactly the same stuff the pool stores sell.

You may find with such a high TA you have trouble keeping your pH down, and you'll have to lower it just by lowering your pH.

[Mary eaton]

We added 7 lb of sodium bisulfate last night.

today's readings:

ph 7.6
TA 175
FC 17
CC 0

Should we add more acid? Let the chlorine float down now? What is a swimmable level of chlorine?

The pool is much clearer than before our backwash but not as clear as before the ill fated party.

Should we ever go back to the pucks? If not do we check the chlorine like every day? We typically give 4 gallons of chlorine(12.5% sodium hypochlorite) so is the bleach the same amount?

Thanks for your advice-it's made a big difference. Mary

[Watermom]

With a CC reading of 0, your on the right track. Since the water is still somewhat cloudy, I'd probably go ahead and maintain the high cl level for another day and run the pump 24/7. If you still show a CC of 0 tomorrow, and if you don't lose more than 1ppm of chlorine from sundown tonight until sunup tomorrow, then you can go ahead and let the cl drift down. With a CYA of 65, you want to keep the cl level between 5-10 all the time. If you drop below 5, you'll risk an algae bloom.

I would not use any more trichlor pucks. They have CYA in them and your level is high enough. Yes, to checking your chlorine level (and pH level) daily. Regular bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite so it will take more bleach than pool store chlorine to get the same amount of chlorine.)

Work on lowering the alk. Take a look at the following thread.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=191

Hope this helps. (BTW -- I deleted your other post since it was essentially the same as this one. If you post and it doesn't show up immediately, it means it is in the moderation queue waiting for one of us to mod it in.)

[Mary eaton]

Ok, got it. I think we are now on the right track so we will follow the protocol on your link for getting the alkalinity down. Thanks so much you've all been a great help.
Mary

[waterbear]

Hayward Chlorine Feeder CL 220(Replaced 2006)
If you continue to use this you will have the CYA problem again, especially if your System three is a cartridge or DE model and not a sand filter.
Nature 2 Cartridges
This is putting copper in your water. Copper is what stains pools and turns hair green. It IS an effective algaecide so the water doesn't turn green readily but, as you found out, it does nothing to prevent it turning cloudy. You are spending about $200 a year on carts for it and it realy doesn't do that much.

Hope this is helpful.

[Mary eaton]

ok I am back with more cloudiness. This am
FC 7
CC 0
ph 7.6
Alk 200
CH 130
CYA 85 (not using pucks anymore)

We have not run the Polaris (not fitting into the outflow for some reason), nor have we vacuumed (can't see bottom) The filter pressure is 18 which the usual. My husband thinks we need new filters but they don't seem that friable. I know we need to get the alkalinity down. Is there anything else you could recommend? Is there a particular flocculant that works better?
Thanks, Mary

[Watermom]

Had your pool cleared up and now become cloudy again or has it been cloudy all along? What all have you added to the pool recently? What has your pool care regimen been recently? Why has the alk gone up? Did you follow the alk lowering instructions posted earlier? We need some additional info to be able to help.

[Mary eaton]

Hi. It never cleared all the way but improved-now it's as bad as before. We have added chlorine regularly and the FC has always been 5-10. CC on one occasion was .5 but most of the time zero. We added some sodium bisulfate and that brought the alkalinity down some but it has never been within range. We stopped the pucks/chlorinator. The filter runs 24/7. Mary

[aylad]

Is the filter pressure rising at all? Can you see any debris blowing back from the returns? Keeping in mind that the filter is the key to clearing up whatever is making it cloudy, if your filter pressure isn't rising at all, I would first try a new cartridge and see if you get any result from that. If that doesn't work, and you're sure that the issue isn't algae-related (to be sure, try testing your water at night and then again in the morning before the sun hits the pool--if your chlorine loss is less than 1 ppm, then you can pretty much rule out an algae problem), then the only thing I know to do is to try a clarifier. Note that in other posts in this thread I consider using a floc/clarifier only after everything else has been tried and failed, but that's what kept me from having to drain/refill my pool after the filter startup catastrophe. The one I used was a Natural Chemistry product called Clear and Perfect, and is supposed to be concentrated. I used a couple of ounces more than the label dose one afternoon, left the filter running all night, and by the next morning there was a very, very distinct difference in the clarity. I also noted that my filter pressure was rising, which told me that it was starting to filter out some of the junk. I added the label dose again that afternoon, kept the pump running, and by the next morning it was crystal clear and has been ever since. Here's the thread and the resulting discussion on clarifiers, if you want to check it out. http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=9373

Janet