Numbers look OK, but still a bit cloudy - results in post

[rdbrya1]

Hi all, long time no talk All has been going good so far with my pool maintenance, but for some reason my water is looking a bit cloudy this week.

I am also have a real hard time figuring out my CYA reading.

As of this morning:

FC- 6
CC- 0
PH - 7.8-8.0 (also, how will I know if this is above 8 or not since that is the highest it goes?)
Alk - 100
CYA - trying to determine (I think about 30-50)

I've tried testing the CYA with my k-2006 kit. When I slowly pour the cloudy mixture back in, the dot disappears well before the numbers even start. But when I tested with strips (just to see) its showing a CYA reading of around 30-50 mark.

Any ideas of what could be causing the very slight cloudiness? I miss my sparkly clear pool :-(

[BigDave]

Strips are utterly useless for CYA. It sounds like your CYA is well over 100. Mix equal parts pool water and tap water then test the mix for CYA and double the reading. If it's still over 100(200) then mix two parts tap to 1 part pool water and test the mix and multiply by three.

Have you been using trichlor or dichlor? Have you been using calcium hypochlorite?

I think your pool is cloudy because the FC has gotten too low for the CYA level and it may very well turn green soon. Could be something else though. What's the CH(K-2006, not strips)?

You can guesstimate how far away you are from the pH range by using the Acid Demand drops - 1-2 drops you're pretty close. Either way it's time to bring the pH down a bit. Have you seen the muriatic acid page http://pool9.net/muriatic/?

[CarlD]

Are you running the CYA test correctly? to review: Mix pool water and R-0013 equally, shake for 30 seconds and..
Hold the tube at waist level, with your back to the sun, and add till the black dot disappears.

[rdbrya1]

That makes the most sense that the FC has gotten too low I should not have relied on the strip saying it was 30-50. I am going to dilute it now and try the CYA test to see what the results say.

I mostly use bleach but I travel for days at a time for work with nobody to add bleach for me so I do use Trichlor tablets from time to time. I know that continues to increase the CYA so I do try not to use them except only when necessary.

My CH was 70 with the k-2006. I am not using anything to add calcuim to the pool (its vinyl liner).

[rdbrya1]

Yes that was exactly how I performed the test based on the info on this site. I am performing it now with diluted water and will report back!

[rdbrya1]

I just did it with 1/2 pool water, 1/2 tap and at 60 the dot disappeared making my CYA 120! Now that sounds right!!! I need more FC if this is the case.

So doing the CYA test. I slowly added the water...waiting for the dot to disappear. At one point (80ish) I thought it disappeared but if I waited a second and killer squinted and strained my eyes I could still barely barely barely see the dot. Am I wanting to go past that point untill I 100000% cannot see the dot anymore or should I have stopped at 80?

Thanks everyone!!!

[BigDave]

You can repeat the test by pouring the sample back into the dropper tube and trying again. Really it doesn't much matter. Your pool's CYA is 120 to 160 that puts you in the same bracket in the best guess chart. It's probably time to shock the pool.

Bring the FC up to 25ppm with bleach and keep it there until one day after these three criteria are met: 1) Pool is clear; 2)The pool loses less than 1ppm FC between sunset and sunrise; 3) There's 0 or nearly 0 (one drop - 0.5ppm) CC.

[rdbrya1]

Great, that was exactly what I was going to ask!! Off to bring it to shock level now. Thank you so much for all the replies!! :-)))

[Watermom]

I agree with Dave that whether your CYA is 120 or 160 is irrelevant because the needed chlorine levels would be the same in either case. But, just for future reference (or for anyone else who may be reading this thread), this may help you with the CYA test:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...interpretation

[rdbrya1]

I agree with Dave that whether your CYA is 120 or 160 is irrelevant because the needed chlorine levels would be the same in either case. But, just for future reference (or for anyone else who may be reading this thread), this may help you with the CYA test:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...interpretation

Thanks watermom! I had checked out that link before doing the test. I was apparently just overthinking it. In that last picture I feel like if strain hard I can baaaaaarely still see the dot (which was what I kept doing on my own test).

I know for this partiuclar case it didn't matter if it was 120 or 160 since they were the same shock level. Just thinking about if retest awhile from now what I'll be looking for.

Thanks again!!