Pool was nice and clear with near perfect water and nice suddenly....

[phillipjko]

Seems like Copper is at 0.2. 22,000 gallons, Sand filter.

Tested today..
TA 80
PH 7.2
T-Hardness 150
TC 1
TA 140
CYA 20-30

What can I do to make the liner getting more stains? Water is still quite clear or like 96% visibility at least for now.. I put in phos free a few days ago. 4ft to 12 ft depth. I also put in metal free 2 weeks ago along with The purple stuff or magenta stuff. If water is clear no clarifier is needed right or algecide? As when I brush the sides a little I see some powdery things sweeping away.. like very very light maybe greenish. Do I need Algecide. Seems like it is some greenish or light greyish dust when I brush the bottom or sides of the pool. Do I need to suck this out to waste?

[SunnyOptimism]

Ok, here it goes -

The BBB Method

- Chlorination using bleach only and following Ben's Best Guess Chart

- Use only simple chemicals you can find in supermarkets, hardware stores or pool stores, ie, bleach, borax, baking soda & muriatic acid

- DO NOT USE ANY OTHER CHEMICALS, THEY ARE ALL DESIGNED TO TAKE MONEY FROM YOU

- Algaecides, for the most part, are banned especially metal-based one. The only algaecide you should ever use in your pool is Polyquat-60 and there are only a few instances when you should use (like during an ascorbic acid treatment).

- You must learn to test your water yourself and the only kit worth using to test pool water is a Taylor K-2006 test kit. All other test kits, strips, pool store testing is a useless waste of time.

On to your specific issues -

- Your CYA (stabilizer) is 20-30ppm. That's the bottom range of the test. It is also WAY TOO LOW. Your CYA level for a vinyl pool should be between 30-50ppm.

- You're reporting Total Chlorine (TC) as 1ppm but Total Chlorine is the sum of Free Chlorine (FC, the good stuff that actually kills dangerous stuff in your pool) plus Combined Chloramines (CC, the bad nasty stuff that is the by-product of FC killing things and oxidizing bather waste), that is TC = FC + CC. So you have no idea if your chlorine is 1ppm FC or 1ppm CC or some combinations?? But one thing is true - YOUR FC IS LIKELY WAY TOO LOW.

- The "dust" at the bottom of the pool could be algae (dead or alive) or organic crud like dust or pollen. Impossible to know for sure but I would not be surprised if it is algae considering your FC level.

You need to correct your CYA (add more stabilizer to get to a minimum of 30ppm) and get your FC up to at least 4ppm with FC NEVER dropping below 3ppm at anytime.

You should not be blindly using any Phosphate removers as they can cause scaling and water clarity problems if improperly used. As well, all phosphate removers are designed to do one thing - part people with their money. If you have a properly chlorinated swimming pool, then you have little to no need for phosphate removers.

Metals can be dealt with later when you pool water goes from 96% visibility to perfect clarity.