Also have cloudy water (with a story)

[Justardnck]

I really think you need to add chlorine - your cya test doesn't give enough info - but even if it is at 50, you need to have your chorine higher. Your fc in one test was 0, and in the other 1.5. Either way you probably have algae which is why your pool is cloudy. If you added a quart of shock, and have tablets in your floater, then something is eating the chlorine. Using stabalized tablets is what is raising your cya - You need to add chlorine in the form of bleach - what kind of liquid shock did you add?

The brand is "smart" it's from Home Depot
10% Sodium Hypoclorite
90% Inert Ingredients

Was it a peroxide shock?

?? What is that? I have never heard of that before, where do you get it?

[fullhouse]

peroxide shock is for pools with baquacil or softswim instead of chlorine.

[Justardnck]

peroxide shock is for pools with baquacil or softswim instead of chlorine.

Ahh, ok. I don't have a soft swim pool.

[Justardnck]

*UPDATE*

Saturday evening my brother recomended I shock the pool which is also what one or two of the members here have recomended so I did. I added 1 gallon of liquid shock to 5500 gallons Sat evening and 1 gallon this evening. The pool showed a 50% improvement Sunday morning. I assume by Monday morning I will have it reletively clear.

I was maintaining the pool incorrectly all along (this is my first pool) I was under the impression that a pool only needed to be shocked when there was a problem but my brother informed me that in South Florida I need to shock the pool once every two weeks in the evening. I kept testing the water and it tested fine cause I have the floater with stablized tablets to I always thought I was ok... I guess I was wrong.

I still have a high TA of 260 but that is coming down with small amounts of Muratic Acid. I also added a small fountain pump so that the water aerates itself.

Thanks for all the help folks and I will keep you posted.

I don't know much about pools but I service and install Access Control equipment by trade so if anybody needs some advise on repairing your gate operator or telephone entry system please don't hesitate to ask

[KurtV]

redneck,
You should only need to shock when you get combined chlorine (chloramines) above 0.5 ppm. That will probably happen more easily in your locale than farther north, but if you're maintaining your water chemistry correctly, you shouldn't need to do it on any kind of a schedule just because you live in Florida.

The amount of chlorine you need to keep in your water is a function of the amount of stabiliser you have in it. Use Ben's Best Guess Table (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365) to find the minimum and shock levels you need for your CYA level (you'll need to determine that a little closer than 50-100ppm). Again, you should only need to shock when your combined chlorine gets to 0.5 ppm. To know that, you'll have to test your water regularly with a good test kit.

Lowering your pH will have only a temporary effect on your alkalinity. If you want to lower it permanently you'll have to follow Ben's procedures to the letter.

[mbar]

I'm so glad yor pool is clearing up - the best advice I could give you is to invest in a good test kit (the one sold on this site is great) this way you can take care of your pool yourself. You will save a lot of money, and your pool will be easy to maintain. When you have time, you can go on the "Pool Soutions" page and read up on pool tips. You can also find answers to many questions on this forum. here is a link to the kit that is sold here, the one most of us use:

http://www.poolsolutions.com/cart/kits.php

[Justardnck]

*UPDATE*

The pool has been clear for a few days now inspite of all the rain whe have had. I have been testing the water daily and have been keeping the clorine levels and PH levels right but the Alkaline is still 280 PPM I have been aerating the pool with a fountain pump (which we actually like the sound of... or so I've been told)

Any ideas or is this just gonna take time to heal?


*edit* I also added 1 cup of acid today due to what my "acid Demand" test requested

[KurtV]

What levels are you keeping your chlorine and pH at?

[Justardnck]

What levels are you keeping your chlorine and pH at?

Todays numbers are

CL 1.5
PH 7.6
TA 220

[KurtV]

According to Ben's alkalinity lowering procedures, you need to keep the pH at or below 7.2 while you're aerating. Aerating at your current pH of 7.6 probably isn't going to do much for you.