ARGHHHHH!!! Cloudy water

[day1]

If you don't have a waste hose, you can use any hose that will fit tightly over the waste port on your filter (usually the back side). I use a short hose
that came with my pool for the aquabug cleaner, it has 8 four ft. sections that fit together. That way I can see it coming out of the hose instead of watching the little plastic window. I just attach to waste port and backwash...DON'T FORGET to STOP PUMP and move lever to RINSE before turning back to filter! I forgot that once when I started all this pool stuff last summer and blew alot of dirt back into the pool!
Main thing is to keep Cl levels up....I personally think a high cl level is better than a low when shocking....and my "bleach line" shows it on the liner. I just add water above the line and I feel alot better. Point is, if you don't keep levels high, you'll never get rid of the algae. It's much easier to maintain a good range than mess with shocking and consequently having to add muratic acid to lower pH. You'll notice as you add chlorine for shocking, it will raise pH...which is better kept at about 7.4-7.6 I only add Chlorine, muratic acid or water to my pool. You can swim in pond water...just don't drink it! good luck!

[let_her_flicker]

Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

I am sure you have seen the above chart. You should shoot for 15 ppm, but if it goes to 20 or even 25, it will most likely not damage or fade your liner because you have stabilizer in your pool.

You should have total chlorine. That is Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorine which equals Total chlorine. Don't worry, just post your chlorine number. My neighbor's pool was one cloudy, dirty mess. I tested their water with my kit and never had a positive combined chlorine reading. Took 1.5 weeks, but we got it clear. They just need to keep the vacuuming up.

Just make sure not to go over 20 ppm (parts per million) of chlorine in your pool. Try to keep it that high every day. Vacuum to waste every day. Don't forget to refill your pool as necessary to keep it around the middle of the skimmer entrance. You should see a difference in your pool in about a week. You must vacuum regularly (and not into the filter) and I would brush the walls every other day.

Keep up the good work. If you have any questions about backwashing, PM me and I will try to help. As stated earlier, any time you move the handle on your filter, Stop the pump first.

Harry

[mbar]

Total Chlorine is the free chlorine plus the combined chlorine. The first numbers you posted were :
Tot chlorine 7.3
Free Chlorine 6.1

Which leaves you with 1.2 combined chlorine, which means that you are fighting something in your water. Without a test that tests for combined chlorine it is ok to just bring your levels up to shock - I would try to bring it up to 20ppms. You can tell that you don't have anything fighting your chlorine when the chlorine holds overnight.

I told you to point your return eyes up so that you can aerate your water, because as long as your ph is low, you can lower your alkalinity this way, and your alk is way to high - it should be 80 to 125 in a vinyl liner pool and not higher than 180.

Just keep adding the chlorine - your pool will clear. Every time it goes down at all, add it back to 20ppms.

[let_her_flicker]

1. 6.1 and 7.3 are pool store readings. Can't trust them. You can only trust Ben's readings with his kit. If your chlorine drops at night, yes you are fighting something.

2. I would worry about the TA later. It is not causing your pool to be cloudy.

3. I will let mbar help you from now on as I don't want to confuse you with anymore recommendations as your pool is giving you enough trouble already.

Good Luck

[geneskaf]

ok, i've done as asked Scrubbing, vacuuming, adding chlorine daily. Added 2 gallons of chlorine yesterday and this morning its still at 15.

My chlorine is holding but my pH is now 6.8. And, the pool is still cloudy.

What should I do now? Today our warm weather is starting and I'm bummed, but not as much as my kids!

Kathy

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

Can you post a full set of #s? I don't want to recommend any changes without knowing where the TA (total alkalinity) is. Also, how is your filter pressure? Have you been backwashing the filter? Lastly, is the water coming out of your returns clear?

[geneskaf]

ok, i went to test the alkalinity and my directions are not in my pool kit. Another roadblock. I have the 5 test from Wal Mart. How do I test the alkalinity? My CYA is 42 and there is O hardness. My chlorine is 15 ppm and my pH is 6.8. As soon as I figure out how to test the AK I will. I think you put 5 drops of AK Indicator in some water (amount?) and then add 5 drops of AK and count the drops it takes to turn red then multiply by 3???

Thanks

[geneskaf]

OK, now I have some new numbers. The water is still cloudy with visibility of about one foot. Todays numbers are:

Chlorine 1.5
pH 7.3
Alkalinity 60 (low, right?)
CYA 42

I know I need to add chlorine tonight. I had so much chlorine in it I couldnt test the pH or alkalinity. But...the chlorine HAS been holding. I'm told there is a lot of dead algae (tiny particles) in the pool. I'm vacuuming to waste, I put some sparkle stuff in the trap thingy and I'm backwashing as necessary. According to what I've read, I should let the filter get 5 to 7 pounds over and above the normal pressure before I backwash. Is this correct?

We are in the middle of a heat wave here in Washington and the kids are chomping at the bit.

Thoughts? Advice? Next?

Thanks,
Kathy