Blue Cloudy Water

[justmypool]

Hello and thank you for this great resource! I've used the advice found here for several years but may need some first hand advice.

I have a 30' 54" A.G. pool with a 1-1/2 hp pump cartridge filter. I only run the pump on low speed. 24 hours per day. I didn't cover my pool last year, was tired of fighting the cover in my area which is constantly windy. Also I was late opening my pool. It was real green with lots of algae. Here we go... I have added 4-bottles of the generic Wal-Mart 8.25% bleach every night for the last week. I would clean my filter cartridge and brush up the bottom. Because of work I could only do this at night. (I always add the bleach after the sun sets). So this weekend I tested the water and found I held chlorine thru the night and when I brushed-up, things remain somewhat the same, meaning not turning back to green as it did during the week. Earlier in the week the water would turn green after brushing. I think I'm on the right track and may be dealing with dead algae. I have the 6-way hth kit. So far I have only tested chlorine 5-10 in morning down to .5-1 during the day, PH 7.2 I added PH Plus, PH was at 6.8 and CYA - 0.

I added 1-cup of DE thru my skimmer and checked the return to see no signs of it getting past my filter cartridge. Also my cartridge would load up every day and return water would decrease considerably in a 24 hour period. I'm hoping this is a good sign my filter is intact. Visible it looks good but is about 4-5 years old.

Should I work on getting my CYA up or just stay the course with maintaining the chlorine level, brushing etc .

Thanks in advance!!

[PoolDoc]

I would recommend adding some CYA. The easiest way is to use dichlor, which adds BOTH chlorine and stabilizer. If you have access to a Sams Club, they have excellent prices on undiluted dichlor. You may find it elsewhere: look for product that shows at least "56% available chlorine"

. . . membership upgraded.

Undiluted dichlor is getting hard to find, but is available at Sams Club and via Amazon. It's sometimes available at Lowes or Home Depot, but you'll need to be a expert label-reader to recognize it!

PoolBrand granular dichlor 50lbs @ Sams Club => ~$2.20/lb (May 2014 in Chattanooga)
PoolBrand dichlor bagged shock 24lbs @ Sams Club => ~$2.50/lb (May 2014 in Chattanooga)

Kem-Tek dichlor 22 lbs @ Amazon => ~$3.50/lb (May 2014)
Kem-Tek dichlor 12 lbs @ Amazon => ~$4.10/lb (May 2014)
Kem-Tek dichlor 5 lbs @ Amazon => ~$5.00/lb (May 2014)
Kem-Tek dichlor 2 lbs @ Amazon => ~$9.00/lb (May 2014)

Keep in mind that Amazon products normally ship free; and that in many parts of the country, you will not have to pay sales tax. Shipping + tax can increase the cost from other suppliers by 15 - 40%, so compare delivered cost, not nominal price.

[justmypool]

I finally cleared my pool. Looks like I was fighting lots of dead algae. Thanks. I would like to purchase a 50# container of Dichlor from my local Sams club but fear I won't use it all this summer. If I don't will it still be good next year? My local pool store sell it in smaller quantizes. If I purchase there is it only important to confirm the 56% available chlorine?

Thanks!

[PoolDoc]

Buy their 24 pack of bagged dichlor, instead. It will keep. The other may not, and will definitely become nasty to work with, if stored for over a year.

If you don't have a K2006, get one, and monitor your CYA level. Dichlor adds 9 ppm CYA for every 10 ppm chlorine! http://pool9.net/tk/