Need advice on cloudy Intex Pool . . . but I don't want a K2006

[EllenF]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this and could use some advice!
We got an 18ft Intex Easy Set pool this year. I know that these are not the greatest as far as filters go (I just have the standard that came with it) but I wanted to see how much use we got out of a pool before investing money in a permanent pool.
After being away for 2 weeks we came home Saturday and removed the solar cover. The water was guacamole green. We shocked it. The next day it was still green and I took the water to Leslie's to have it tested. He said the chlorine was too high to read and gave me no other advice except vacuum it, wait a day or 2 and bring it back. I vacuumed and when I did it turned a more solid green ( the particles seemed to delete into the water) The next day I took another sample back. He said everything was in line except my water was registering hard. I told him it was still green and he kind of shrugged and said the intex pools don't have great filters. I had read another thread and someone with an intex and a similar issue was told to shock it a few day in a row. I was surprised this guy didn't suggest to do that. So I went to Namco a half mile down the road and that woman said to put an algaecide in, wait a few hours and shock it again. Then if it didn't clear to repeat that process and add a clarifier. After the algaecide and shock it turned light blue but still cloudy, I can barely see the bottom. I never added the water hardener because the Namco woman said all hard water will do is make my skin feel a little dry. I don't have hard water in general so if that doesn't effect my cloudiness I'd just as soon return it to the store.
I've had the filter running non-stop and have rinsed and swapped it at least twice a day. I've added clarifier twice and it's not changed the fogginess. There doesn't seem to be any residue on the bottom of the pool.
I haven't brought the water back in to be tested since I re-shocked it (twice)
I'd love your advice on what I should do. The man at Leslie's said adding even a small amount of DE could ruin my pump.
Thanks in advance
Ellen

[Watermom]

Without having some numbers, it is hard to give advice. We typically don't trust pool store numbers or advice. And, reading the advice they have given you, explains why.

We think everyone should have a good drops-based kit. The test kit that we think is by far the best is the Taylor K2006 or 2006C (better buy). Not available locally but you can get it through this link that takes you to Amazon: http://pool9.net/tk/

But, in the meantime, go to Walmart and see if they have the HTH 6-Way drops-based kit (no test strips!) and get that. If they don't, get an OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) instead. Use it to test and then post your numbers. Also while you are at WallyWorld, get several jugs of their generic 8.25% bleach, a couple of boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle) and a gallon of distilled water.

Test your water and post your numbers.

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[EllenF]

Okay, here's my info after testing:
18ft Intex Easy Set (5400 gallons)
Chorine 5 Br 10 - this was very yellow. I've shocked it twice this week, the last time being yesterday at about 4pm
Ph - 7.5
Alk - 100 ppm
Cyanuric Acid - 50 ppm
Hardness - the test water didn't turn dark red, only pink, so the titrate drops didn't get deep blue or change after about 6-10 drops, so I'm guessing it is somewhere between 70-100 ppm
The water is light blue and very cloudy. I can barely see the bottom of the pool. This is a change from when we got back from vacation and it was guacamole green. It's been shocked twice and an algaecide was added. Nothing in the last 24 hours.

Thanks
Ellen

[Watermom]

Hi, Ellen. Sorry nobody got back to you quickly after your last post.

How is it looking now? It has been a couple of days, so can you give us new chlorine and pH numbers? No need to test the other things right now. If your chlorine is really high, use the color chart here to try and interpret the level:> http://pool9.net/oto-chart/

Don't add any more algaecide. Those don't usually help and can often cause issues. In fact, for now don't add anything else to the pool other than chlorine and preferably bleach instead of other forms of chlorine. What kind of shock have you been using? Give ingredients.

(You can ignore the bromine column on the tester.)

[EllenF]

Thanks for the response.
Today the chlorine is 5
PH is 7.5
I used Blue Shield liquid shock a few days ago: sodium hypochlorite 12.5%, inert ingredients 87.5%
The water is SLOWLY getting clearer. I can see the bottom and there is very little debris.
I've been running it non-stop and actually took some advice yesterday and put a knee-high around the crappy typeA cartridge filter. That seems to have sped things up a little.
Do I need to do anything about the hardness of the water? Does that effect anything?

Thanks

[Watermom]

5 is the highest that the kit can read. Are you sure it is 5 or is it darker yellow? Did you look at the link I posted above with the color chart?

To try and clear the pool, you need to maintaining chlorine levels around 15ppm. Does the Blue Shield Liquid chlorine mention anything else on the ingredients? If not, it is probably fine to use.

In your pool, each cup of the 12.5% sodium hypo will add about 1.5ppm and each quart will add just under 6ppm. Use that as a reference to help you figure out how much to add each time you test to get the chlorine back up to 15ppm. However ---- it may be that it is not actually 12.5%. Chlorine degrades quickly. Who knows how fresh that is. That is one reason we like Walmart's generic bleach. It is stored in an air-conditioned store and the turnover of the product is quick. I just left my Walmart a few minutes ago and bought several jugs myself!

You really should think about order the K2006 kit I mentioned above. It can measure chlorine levels higher than 5ppm.

Another chart you should look at explains the connection between CYA and chlorine:> http://pool9.net/cl-cya/ Not understanding this connection is one of the main reasons that people get algae in their pool.

Basically, you want to keep your chlorine high until you can go from sundown one evening to within an hour of sunrise the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine and the water is clear.

Don't worry about the hardness right now. Also, when you test, you don't need to retest the CYA anymore unless you use a product that has it in it like dichlor or trichlor. And, you shouldn't use either of those. Your CYA is perfect right at 50.

One more tip for now, the pH results will be invalid with your kit when the chlorine is over 5ppm. (Over 10ppm with the Taylor K2006 kit.) So, if you have high chlorine, dilute your water sample before testing pH. Take one part pool water and mix it with an equal part of distilled water. Then, run the pH test with that as normal.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have further questions.

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