Need help with cloudy water

[Yvonne]

I have an 18', 8000 gal Opera fiberglass above ground pool, this is the 4th year. It has been cloudy for about a month now. Have 4 step ladder and can barely see the 2nd step. Alk was off the chart and I have slowly brought the it down to 120 with muriatic acid. The PH is at 6.8 (using Aquacheck strips) Chlorine 0, Stab 0. Had alot of debris when we opened (needed new cover!). Have been shocking with 12% sodium hypochloride at night and still not getting a reading. Am also using 2 trichloride tablets in the skimmer. About 3 weeks ago used clarifier and algecide. Filter is Millennium 16" sand, pump Millennium 1 HP. The filter gague only registers about 9 pounds preassure right from the star new this year, normal? I am aerating the pool as we speak and have done this for 24 hours, PH rose a little. I am going to get a Taylor k2006 test kit asap, (my grandaughter's name is Taylor and was born in 2006!) I've hated this aquacheck system since the start but supply place dosen't offer any thing but this, to me anyway. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[aylad]

Hi Yvonne,

One major problem I can see is the use of test strips, which simply are not accurate or reliable enough to use to try to correct a problem. Odds are you actually DO have chlorine in the pool, at least in the evening, but the strips are bleaching out. Go to WalMart and get a cheapie OTO kit (uses red and yellow drops for pH and chlorine) to use until you get your Taylor kit in. Or, if they have the hth 6-way drop kit, get that one instead of the OTO--it's even better. Use that to test your water for pH and chlorine, and see if you get a different result. If you get a pH less than 7.0 using that kit, then you need to get the pH up ASAP--use aeration and Borax to raise it. Taking the trichlor tabs out of the skimmer will help--they are very acidic and will drive your pH down.

You also need to get some chlorine in the pool. No doubt you have algae starting, and that is contributing to the cloud. In 8000 gallons, each cup of 12% chlorine you add should raise your FC by approximately 1 ppm. With a stabilizer of 0, you need to add enough chlorine to get to 12-15 ppm in order to achieve shock level. So..to go from 0 to 12, you would need to add roughly 3 quarts + 1 cup. You'll need to reach that shock level, and hold it there until you can go all night without losing any chlorine--but you're going to need the Taylor kit in order to measure that accurately.

Do not use any more clarifier or algaecide--chlorine is the most effective algaecide there is, and many of those out on the market will actually make your problem worse instead of better. Just chlorine, chlorine, chlorine.

I suspect that your pump is also too strong for your filter, and may be pushing some of the stuff back through the sand, but I'll let the equipment gurus comment on that.

Get a drop kit, get a set of test results, get some chlorine in your pool, and we can help you go from there.

Welcome to the forum!

[Yvonne]

This afternoon everything has changed again! The alk is up and the PH is up, I'm aerating and frustrated.

[Watermom]

Were you able to get one of the kits Janet recommended above? We need some good testing numbers to be able to help.

[aylad]

The alk is up and the PH is up, I'm aerating and frustrated.

Aerating is going to raise your pH. If you don't want it to rise anymore, then point your returns downward so they're not rippling the water surface, or stop whatever aerating method you're using.

Janet