cloudy water

[Watermom]

The only way to get this pool cleared up is to consistently keep chlorine in it. You may also have some filter issues since you think some of the DE came out. I'll let Ben address those. But, even if you have to have filter work done, you'll still need to keep chlorine in there or else you aren't going to have a cloudy pool, you'll have a green pool!

You can either use bleach for your chlorine and then add some CYA separately. If you go this route, you'll need about 5 or 6 lbs. of CYA, often called stabilizer or conditioner. The ingredient will be cyanuric or isocyanuric acid.

OR you can chlorinate with dichlor for awhile which will add chlorine and CYA at the same time. You can buy it at a good price at Sam's --- PoolBrand. Some other places are selling blends which have unwanted stuff in there, so be careful what you buy. (Once your CYA level gets to 40-50, you'll want to switch to an unstabilized form of chlorine, though.)

No guarantees about Saturday or Sunday though..........

[Zac851]

What about those large 3" chlorine tablets I have? Can I use those? If so can I just fill my chlorinator with the tablets and then turn the flow control knob all the open? I also have a little floating one as well

I have a costco membership so maybe they carry something similar to SAMs

[PoolDoc]

You can put them in the skimmer. If you put them in the chlorinator, there's no telling when they'll dissolve. Those units have VERY erratic performance, in my experience. But, in the skimmer -- if you have a timer, make sure your pool is never off more than 8 hours at a time.

You can use the floating one, TOO.

BUT . . . add 2 boxes of borax SLOWLY through the skimmer. (You can even do it while the tabs are in the skimmer, but do NOT let ANY other chemicals EVER touch trichlor!!!!) Wait 4 hours; check the pH. Add 2 more if the pH is below 7.6

Costco? No. We checked. They went over to the dark side, and are selling AquaChem devil-blend chlorine.

But you can buy bleach there. Use bleach to GET YOUR CHLORINE UP. You can use the tabs, but USE BLEACH TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE! You are not going to be clear by Saturday. And, if you don't keep your chlorine up, you won't be clear by Saturday week, either!.

Do you have an OTO kit? (If you don't get one). Do NOT let your pool get below dark yellow, even for a minute, while there's the slightest trace of green in your pool.

Post tomorrow with test readings, info on what kit you have and how you are testing, and pool appearance.

Also, check your chlorinator and make sure (A) it's empty and (B) it's turned on FULL. We can use the cal hypo you've got, soon, but we have to be 100% sure there's ZERO cal hypo in that feeder. (Best thing would be to remove it altogether!!)

[Zac851]

good info thanks, and sorry, I forgot to add that those last numbers I posted were done with my new taylor kit that UPS delivered today. I'll go pick up the Borax and stock up on bleach from costco tomorrow and start off by adding a couple bottles of bleach tomorrow afternoon and then test the following morning and drop some tabs in the floater and skimmer and see how good it looks by the weekend

[Zac851]

Just thought I would post a update real quick. I put 2 gallons of bleach into the pool, and then 3 tablets into the skimmer and filled the chlorine floater up with 4 of my tablets. The 3 tablets in the skimmer already dissolved when I got home late last night and the 4 tablets in the skimmer were just dissolved a small amount. They might have all 4 gotten about a half inch smaller. Thats with the floater opened all the way and I always run the pump 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Anyway, It's amazing how much more clear the pool is. I can easily see the bottom on the shallow side very clearly and I can see the bottom on the deep side although the deep end is just a tiny bit cloudy still... I'll test the pool numbers with my Taylor K0006 kit when I get home from work late tonight and post them up and see if you guys think I should make any changes...but otherwise I think everything is coming along great. I've got to run to the local pool place today and pick up a new vacuum hose since mine has a broken end and wouldn't stay attached very well when I vacuumed the other day. I can easily see the sand/dirt every where that I missed when I vacuumed blindly in the cloudy water...but from what I can tell...I dont see any algae anywhere at all. Just dirt.

Oh, and one more question. There is a underwater light on the deep end of the pool that's built into the pool wall and the bulb blew. Is there a standardized size for pool bulbs that I can use for a replacement?

[PoolDoc]

Is there a standardized size for pool bulbs that I can use for a replacement?

Replacing pool bulbs can be very tricky. The bulb may be standard, but the lamps are not. You need to make sure you know the type of lamp, and that you have replacement gaskets available BEFORE you try to remove the lamp. Otherwise, wait till you don't mind if the pool is unusable for 2 weeks, because you've got a messed lamp and wires in the water.

[Zac851]

Just got home and tested with my k0006 kit.

Free Chlorine - 1ppm
Combined Chlorine - 1ppm (I thought these would be different)
pH - 7.3
Total Alkalinity - 90
CYA - 0

I'm about to go add 2 boxes of the Borax that you said to add and then test later on tonight before I go to bed. I was always under the assumption that 7.2 pH was great but after reading your link - http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/hiphpool.html I'll just take your word for it.

I'm still a little confused on CYA though. I understand its a chlorine stabilizer but why don't I have any traces of it in my test? Is there not any CYA in my 3" chlorine tablets?

Either way I know the Cholorine numbers need to come up or I'll be back green shortly. I think I read on here somewhere that 5-10ppm was idea? What do I need to do next? I was going to add the borax tonight and test pH in the morning and I guess I need to get the chlorine numbers up and add the stabilizer to it. The closest pool store to me is a leslies pool supply. What is the best CYA to pick up from there? I've got to go there in the morning to get a vacuum hose since the pool place I stopped at today only had 40+ foot hoses.

[Zac851]

Oh forgot to post pics of how clear its looking as of 20 minutes ago. Thank goodness I didnt pay the pool place the $500 they wanted to do everything.

Entire pool with algae dust



Steps with algae dust

[Zac851]

Alright, I tested again this evening with my taylor kit. I guess my walmart kit was pretty spot on this morning. I just don't understand how the pH went from 7.3 to 8.0 by using 1 four pound box of borax? I checked twice to make sure I wasn't making some sort of mistake (pretty impossible to do that anyway). I'm really glad that I decided to only add that first box to see how it would affect it before adding the second box.

So awhile ago the numbers were:

FC - 1
CC - 0.5
pH - 8.0
Alk - 100
CYA - Didn't even bother wasting a test.

I understand that most here recommend to run high pH levels regardless of what pools stores and Pool SOP's say but with it being at 8.0 should I adjust it down slightly to like 7.8? I also vacuumed to waste this evening and kind of took my time doing it which caused approximately 5 inches of water loss. It took right at 2 hours to get it back to proper levels so perhaps that might have knocked the pH down a tad by me adding all that water back??

While at Leslies pool supply I picked up 8 pounds of conditioner (says 99% cyanuric acid and 1% other ingredients) per WaterMoms instructions I was going to add 5-6lbs of it and see where that takes the CYA to. Actually I think I might go with 4 lbs starting out to be safe. From reading here, just add straight into the skimmer and then don't backwash for 4 of 5 days so it will dissolve in the filter. Then do a CYA test and see where the pool is at. It is almost completely clear now but the deep end is still slightly hazy but still viewable on the bottom..

Anyone see any problems with this plan?? Also I will still add a one or two bottles of 1.42 gallon bleach every evening.

And that brings me to my last question…I actually have a lot more of these expensive tricolor 3" tablets than I thought. I understand they increase CYA so If I get my CYA to the proper level range, its probably best that I do not use these anymore right? If thats the case I've got a co-worker who swears by them and says its just about the only chemical he uses and says he goes through at least four 50lb buckets a year. I told him that I may sell him the rest of my bucket for a cheap price which is actually a 50lb bucket thats over 3/4 full. I thought it was a 25lb bucket and maybe I should keep 10 or so as a last resort like if I go vacation? I technically wouldn't need them anymore right? I wouldn't mind maybe making half of my money back on them.

[PoolDoc]

Hi Zac;

My Hi pH page on PoolSolutions, basically says that you shouldn't fight your pH more than you have to, and that higher pH levels aren't necessarily a disaster. It does not say, "Thou shalt run a high pH", but it seems sometimes to be taken that way. Right now, you should try to stay between 7 and 8.

Also, people tend to think all the test values are independent of each other. This too is not quite correct. Especially when you are cleaning up a swamp, all sort of things are going on that push the pH first one way, and then the other. If you had a chart with accurate test results and dosing actions listed every 4 hours, I might could tell you why your pH jumped, or maybe Chem_Geek could . . . but it's hardly worth it.

Here's a simple fact: even when you follow the BBB method -- and used the fewest and simplest chemicals possible -- a pool's chemistry is MUCH too complex to fully model or comprehend. An analytical model of nothing more than the relationship between chlorine and stabilizer requires 14 equations -- and there are many relationships in pools besides that one. If you are working on a graduate degree in analytical chemistry, then it might be worthwhile to try to establish a comprehensive model of what's happening in your pool.

But, if you just want to enjoy your pool -- or at least, not work yourself to death on it -- it would probably better just do respond to what's going on in your pool in the most direct and simplest method possible, and not worry too much about why it's happening that way.

Regarding your trichlor . . . given that you have a high pH and a low CYA, I think this would be a good opportunity to use some of those tablets optimally: they will both chlorinate your pool, add CYA, and lower the pH, and you need all three functions! Unlike the trichlor, the granular CYA will keep indefinitely..