cloudy water

[poolmompa]

We took the mesh safety cover off of our pool Memorial Day weekend, only to find that the pump died. Finally had a new pump installed this past Monday & have been running the filter 24/7 since. Started with very dark green water. Since Monday, I've added 5 gallons of liquid chlorine twice & also superchlorinated with dichlor granular once, as well as having trichlor tabs in a floating container. It's been raining often for the past few days but I've also been brushing as often as I can. Right now, I have cloudy water that's mostly blue.

I do not have a Taylor 2006 (yet). I've been using a Taylor Deluxe DPD kit which I can use to test for chlorine, pH, & TA. I tested the water at 5:30p yesterday & here were the #s:

FC 0.5 / TC 1
pH around 7.0 (color seemed between 6.8 & 7.2)
TA 60

I did bring a water sample to the local pool store this afternoon so I could get a Stabilizer #. The reading they gave me for FC & pH seemed similar to mine from last night, which was nice to see since I've read on here that pool store reading are usually way off. This is a small local store & so far, I've received decent advice without trying to sell me add'l chemicals, so I'm hopeful. Here are the #s I got:

FC 0.0 / TC 0.3
pH 7.0
TA 85
Calcium Hardness 50 (although I have a vinyl liner & no heater so n/a)
Stabilizer 105
Phosphate 600

I got another 5 gallons of liquid chlorine & put it in as soon as I got home. That was the 2nd 5 gallon dose this week.

My questions are: 1) Is the Stabilizer level high? 2) Based on the Stabilizer level, how high do I need to get the chlorine?

I have an IG 18' x 36' vinyl liner pool. DE filter, 1 HP Hayward single speed Super Pump.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!

[PoolDoc]

Your chlorine levels need to be set from the cl-cya page => http://pool9.net/cl-cya

[Watermom]

Your pH is also low. Use some 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart) to bump it some.

[poolmompa]

Thank you PoolDoc & Watermom. I did pick up Borax this morning but I am a little confused. I've also read to use washing soda to raise pH so when do you use Borax & when is washing soda used? Is one used exclusively, meaning once you use Borax, you always use Borax?

Also, is 105 too high for CYA for my size pool? Should I discontinue using trichlor tabs? (I'm still shocking the water; today I used cal hypo)

[PoolDoc]

Borax raises pH without increasing your carbonate alkalinity. With your current readings, that's not a problem, so you can use washing soda (soda ash, pH UP) if you like

We tend to recommend bleach and borax, until we are really sure about a pool, since we don't have to worry about unwanted side effects with those two products.

[Watermom]

105 is a pretty high CYA reading but whether to stop trichlor or not depends on a few things:
-- How many tabs do you have left?
-- Are they wrapped or unwrapped tabs?

Read this: http://pool9.net/chem/store/

[poolmompa]

105 is a pretty high CYA reading but whether to stop trichlor or not depends on a few things:
-- How many tabs do you have left?
-- Are they wrapped or unwrapped tabs?

Read this: http://pool9.net/chem/store/

Watermom,
I have about 20 3" trichlor tabs left (unwrapped) & 4 lbs of dichlor. I bought the trichlor Spring 2013. The dichlor bags came in the closing/opening kit I bought Fall 2013.

Update:
Fri, 6/13 - added 2 c. borax

Sat. am -
FC 0.5 (still)
pH 6.8 (still)
TA 50
Added last bag of cal hypo I had, plus 2 gallons of bleach my hubby brought home. Couple of hours later, I tested again - no change. Added 2 more cups of borax & ran to store for more bleach. Tested again a few times, every couple of hours, with no changes & continued shocking. By 6pm, I had added 3 gal. of liquid chlorine & 3 gal. of bleach. I decided I wasn't fooling around anymore, went to the store & bought a ton of liquid chlorine & bleach. At 10:30 pm, I added 5 gal. of liquid chlorine.

Sun. am -
FC was still 0.5! I added 6 gal. of bleach & then a couple of hours later I added 4 more gal. of bleach.

This morning, the FC was at least 5 (that's the highest reading I could get). I had events to attend at my kids' school so I couldn't bring any water to be tested, to try to get a more accurate reading above 5. I also knew it was going to be sunny & hot so I added the last 4 gal. of bleach I had. At 4pm, the chlorine was still at least 5 so I'm hoping the algae is now completely dead. My pH is still only 6.8 so I added 2 more cups of borax. At 8pm, I tested & added another 2 cups.

There is no visible trace of any green. The water is milky white. I wanted to vacuum to waste but I can't see what I'm doing because I can't see the vacuum once it's in the water. I can only see a few inches. Tomorrow morning, I going out to get more borax. Any suggestion of how much I should get?

My kids are dying to go swimming! I'm hoping I'll wake up to a less cloudy pool tomorrow morning!

Thanks for the advice so far & please continue to share any other advice.

[Watermom]

That is one of the limitations of a DPD chlorine testing kit --- DPD can bleach out at high levels. It may be that you have had chlorine at times when you've tested but it is just bleaching out the reagent. Go to Walmart and pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops). It will not bleach out at high chlorine levels. Use it to test right now while you are working to clear the pool. You can use the chart at this link to help decipher readings that are higher than will show on the OTO kit. http://pool9.net/oto-chart/

If your pH is registering 6.8 on your kit, it could actually be much lower than that since that is as low as the test will show. Add bigger doses of Borax until the pH starts moving. Add a half a box at a time. Test two hours later and add more. Keep at it. Low pH is a critical issue as it can damage your pool. I'd probably buy about 4 or 5 boxes. If that is more than you end up needing, it doesn't go bad.

It would probably also help to bring your TA up some. Aim for 80-100ppm. Add a couple of lbs. at a time, wait a couple hours, retest, redose. It is fine to add Borax and baking soda one right after the other with no problem.

[PoolDoc]

You listed a DE filter on the equipment form.

With a functioning DE filter your pool should clear very quickly, if you run the pump 24/7. However, if you haven't opened and washed down the filter this season, it would be a good time to do so.

[poolmompa]

PoolDoc,
My husband actually opened up the filter & cleaned it all up a few weeks ago. Pressure gauge has been at about 16. Leslies is coming back out tomorrow though because there is a suction leak somewhere & they installed our new pump last week. So the filter may not be operating optimally right now.

Watermom,
I do have a Taylor kit (although not the K2006) with yellow and red drops. But is the OTO/Phenol kit different?

Also, I know I've read to pour the Borax slowly into the skimmer but the Hayward pump manual says that adding any chemicals directly into the skimmer voids the warranty. So I've been diluting it first. Is it less effective that way?