bleach clouding water?

[mbar]

I was just wondering if anyone would know why my pool turned cloudy on Saturday when I added two 3/4 gallons of 6% bleach to my water. I watched it turn cloudy as soon as I added it - the water was crystal clear before that. When the grandkids started swimming the chlorine was at 4, which is good for a cya of 40. When I tested after they were finished swimming the chlorine was at 0, no one admitted to peeing in the pool (hee hee) , so I took it to shock level....the water has been cloudy ever since. All other numbers are fine, the alk is a little low at 60, so I added some baking soda this morning. The chlorine level went down overnight on Sat so I added more bleach to take it back to shock, so far the chlorine has been holding, but the water is still clouded. I really am scratching my head. Any ideas?

[aylad]

Marie,
I'll have to do some thinking, because off the top of my head I can't think of anything that would cause cloudiness just from the bleach, unless it was contaminated with something. I know this is a no-brainer, and please forgive me for asking, but did you double check and make sure it wasn't one of the "new and improved" formulas?

[mbar]

Hi Janet,
It's generic "great value" 6% bleach from Walmart. I don't understand, but I have noticed that whenever I put the bleach in the water clouds a little, but clears up as soon as it all gets dispersed. I wonder if it reacts with the metals in my water - even though I haven't had any staining this year since the initial stain treatment. I am flummoxed!

[Watermom]

Has it only been happening since you used that product - Culator or whatever it was called? (Too lazy to look it up right now!)

[mbar]

no, it's been happening for most of the summer. I started to use the culator after. I noticed it last year too. I didn't give it much thought till it really clouded up on Saturday. It is clearing now. Could it be that the alkalinity was low? My numbers on Sat were:
FC 1
CC 0
TC 1
PH 7.6 (a little high for my pool, I usually keep it at 7.2 - 7.4)
Alk 60
Cal 220
CYA 40

I put in two bottles of 6% generic bleach and the water went cloudy. Added a dichlor tab to the skimmer (to bring down the ph) Left the filter run all night. Checked the chlorine in the morning and it was FC 15 no CC and the water was still cloudy. Added baking soda. I Checked the chlorine tonight it was 11 no CC - we had a bad storm which added water to the pool along with other junk. The alkalinity was up to 100. I added another bottle of bleach (just in case) and saw the cloud permeate the pool, although the water looked like it was clearing up. I will keep the pump running all night again. So far no stains though!

[aylad]

That's really strange..maybe Ben can shed some light on it?

Janet

[CarlD]

With those numbers? I'm guessing you have an algae bloom that keeps coming back because you let your chlorine levels get too low...FC=1, CYA=40. I think it may be dead algae that then needs to be filtered out.

The only other thing it could be is a high metal content, but of some odd metal like magnesium, where the precipitate is whitish. It's not calcium, unless your calcium reading is wrong and it's much higher.

Carl

[mbar]

I just got home a little while ago and the water is almost clear. It may have been an algae bloom, but the chlorine had been steady at 4 to 5ppms for the past month and a half. I just think that it was too strange that my chlorine never did drop before that day, and to have so much cloudiness when the algae had to have just started, hey but I have heard of stranger things. Maybe it was all the dead worms! The chlorine did drop today about 3ppms, but it was hot and sunny. The metal in my water may be magnesium, because I checked my calcium in my faucet and it is not that high. What really is the question is why has my water always clouded where I put the bleach in for the last 3 seasons? I never noticed it before then, but maybe didn't pay too much attention because it does dissipate very quickly (except Saturday). That's why I always say that different pools can react differently to certain chemicals because you don't know what exactly is in the water.

[mbar]

I am thinking that maybe the walmart bleach has something in it that clouded my water? Did this happen to anyone else? It is labeled Great Value and is 6% bleach. My water has cleared up, but today I put in Clorox 6% bleach and it did not cloud. Hmmmm, It may have been an algae outbreak, but I just think it would not happen that fast to get that cloudy, or is this something that can happen. Anyone's input would be appreciated! Thanks.

[Watermom]

Marie,
I have used Walmart's generic bleach for years and never had that happen. I'm pretty sure that is what Janet uses, too. I don't think it is because of the brand of bleach. It is 6% sodium hypochlorite and 94% water, just like Clorox.