ARGHHHHH!!! Cloudy water

[duraleigh]

Kathy,

That's great. Everyone here will be looking for them and you'll get lots of help.

[geneskaf]

Geez, now I can't find where I posted this the first time. If you find duplicates...forgive me. I'm not only pool illiterate but also message posting illiterate...LOL

Sorry guys, but I started a new thread because I'm not sure what to do next and I guess I need to do something!! The test below was done at about 3:30 pm PDT from a sample I took this morning at 7:30 am and right now its 5:40 pmPDT. I just tested the chlorine and ph and this is the result (I added chlorine AFTER the testing this morning) The chlorine is a 5 and the pH is at 7.2 and the pool is still cloudy.
???????????????????
Hi,

I finally made it to the pool store after a very hectic day at work. These are the results:
Tot chlorine 7.3
Free Chlorine 6.1
Alkalinity 133
Tot hardness 243
Optimizer 30
No Maganese
Saturation Idx .02
No Copper
No Iron
They did not test the CYA or TDS

They recommended this:
3 bags of Oxysheen
2 oz of Polysheen blue (clarifyer?)

She also tested my phosphates and said they were high (1000) and recommended I buy Sear Klear Phosphate Remover and use 2 oze.

I didn't buy anything. Thought I would wait for some directions from you experts on here. The water is still cloudy. When I checked the chlorine this morning, my husband checked with the stick tester and it said low. When I checked with the drop kit it said over 5. Even though it read high, I still put a gallon of chlorine it because it just hasn't been staying there all day, especially today because its sunny out. Soooo....what next????

Waiting with bated breath....
Kathy

[geneskaf]

All the test drop kits I've seen go as high as 5. 5 what? I'm told to get my chlorine to 15. How do I know its 15 if the kit only goes to 5? I've spent $650 on my pool (above ground 28x16 vinyl) and its still cloudy. I'm getting so frustrated. What is ppm?

KATHY

[rmeden]

ppm is "parts per million".

15ppm says for each 15 units of CL, there is 1 million units of something else (water).

You need to dilute the pool water to measure over 5. Take one shot glass of pool water and put it in a cup. Now add 4 shot glasses of distilled water (tap water is probably close enough, test to make sure it has no CL).

Now do your test... and multiple by 5. So 1ppm on your gauge is now 5ppm in the pool.

Robert

[Watermom]

We really need to know the cya reading. In the meantime, test it at least 2x a day, and 3x a day is better if you can do it. Each time, add enough bleach to bring your cl level back up to 15. The key to clearing a pool is to sustain the high cl reading. If you let it yo-yo up and down, you'll never clear it. You really need a test kit that measures higher than 5 like the one Ben sells at the sister site to this forum www.poolsolutions.com which is what most of us use. But for now, you can dilute your sample and make your kit go higher than 5. Take one part pool water and one part distilled water, mix them together, test as usual and multiply the result by 2. If you need to go higher than this, take one part pool water and two parts distilled, multiply result by 3, etc. It does lose some accuracy with each dilution but it is better than nothing.

(After we get your cya reading, we may need to adjust what you need to keep your chlorine at but for now, go with 15.)

[Watermom]

Please don't start another thread. Let's keep it all together in one. I'm going to merge this thread with your other one.

EDIT - I deleted your post for you that you accidently posted twice.

[geneskaf]

CYA results:

42

I also tested the following (with a drop kit at home)

Chlorine - 15 (this is using the shot method - one shot pool water, 2 shots distilled water)

Alkalinity 250

ph 7.0 - 7.2 (the color is in between these two)

Hardness - 0 (the sample never turned red in the first place so it says there is no hardness).

And.......the water is STILL cloudy. I've been putting in bleach daily and honestly, I've about had it with this pool. I'm starting to feel like I'll never see the bottom again.!!!!!!

Any thoughts? What next??

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

Kathy (in overcast Washington - thank goodness!!!!!)

[geneskaf]

Hi everyone,

Any takers out there??? I just don't know what to do to this pool and I need some help. I've been working on it nearly a month (as my husband has reminded me a LOT and we still can't see the bottom.

Any of you experts have some direction for me?

Kathy

[let_her_flicker]

I am by no means an expert, but after reading the thread I have a few questions. Today your alkalinity is 250. On 6/16 you reported 133. That is a big difference.

When you vacuum are you vacuuming to Waste or into the filter? If you are going into the filter, you need to backwash or the dead algae will get back into your pool making it cloudy. Every time you vacuum, I would vacuum to waste and get rid of that nasty stuff. Keep at it with the bleach.

Sometimes when lots of chemicals have been added it can make your pool cloudy. One time Ben talked about pool water just getting worn out and needing to replace most of it. There is really no time table or chart about it, but the theory is at somepoint, a person's pool water may not respond anymore.

If you have check out this link, it may help you:

http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/cloudy.html

Good luck and keep working at it.

[geneskaf]

well, I guess mine is worn out, then. I replaced it 3 years ago. I'm going to take a pool sample in again for about the 10th time and see what it reads. I don't know anymore. I'm ready to bag the whole thing and not have a pool this summer!

Thanks for responding.

Kathy