cloudy water

[my_youngminds]

We had a heavy rain about 2 weeks ago and I ended up with a slight algae bloom. I shocked the pool a few days and it all seems to be dead now. However, I cannot seem to get the water to clear up. My readings today were:
FC 8.5
CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 80
CYA 80

We have a 30 foot above ground round pool w/ a sand filter. Would it help to add a clarifier to the filter? We run our pool rover continuously as well and that does help. But I just can't seem to get the algae cleaned up. Any ideas?

[Watermom]

Are your running your pump 24/7 while you are trying to clear the water? Are you watching the pressure on your filter? Is it rising? Backwash when it shows a 8-10psi over your clean filter pressure.

What did you use to shock with? Is the water still green or just cloudy?

[my_youngminds]

I am running 24/7 and backwashing frequently. It's rising slowly. I used the liquid chlorine shock from Ollies. (12%). The water was just a bluish cloudy, but today it's a bit greener so I added 2 gallons of 12% liquid chlorine/shock from Ollies. What's strange is that all the while during the rain, the levels seemed to be good, but there was definite growth, so I shocked anyway. I am using the recommended kit that I purchased at the end of last summer. Maybe I need to keep it at shock level longer?

[Watermom]

You need to keep your chlorine at shock level until:
1) You can go from sundown one evening until within one hour of sunrise the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine
2) You have no higher than a 0.5 CC reading
3) Your water is clear

Then, you should keep it at shock level for one more day for added insurance. Then you can let the chlorine drift down and keep it in the proper range based on your CYA level.

[my_youngminds]

I added another gallon of bleach before bed. This mornings readings were:
FC 23.5
CC 0
PH >8
Is the off the charts pH due to the high chlorine? And is it really that high right now, or is it a false high? Do I need to worry about the ph then while I'm shocking if it's a false reading? Based on the chlorine chart, my shock level should be above 20. Since this morning it is only slightly above 20, should I add another gallon to carry it through the day and then take a reading tonight/tomorrow morning to see if everything is ok? If I add the gallon this morning, will it be circulated enough to do the test this evening/tomorrow morning or will it still be rising during the night? Thank you for your help.

[Watermom]

Sorry you didn't get a reply til this evening. I assume you tested this evening. Test again in the morning and see how much chlorine you lost overnight. You are right that the pH reading will be falsely high when your chlorine is high.

[my_youngminds]

Late afternoon I tested it and it dropped below 20, so I added 4 gallons of 12% bleach in the hopes that will raise it enough to get through the day above 20 so then I can test it tomorrow night and the next morning and know that it is still above shock level. I wasn't sure how long from when I add the chlorine that it would register when tested. Maybe it would be ok to test tonight after all? I was more concerned with keeping it above shock level with this hot weather we are having for a few days. Is that right thinking? I figured it couldn't hurt to keep it up for one more day?

[Watermom]

With your volume, I would say that you need to give it about 3 or 4 hours to mix in well before you get a reliable reading.