Calcium Preciptate Cloudiness:How Long Will It Last?

[Branzer]

Hi, all,
Hopefully someone can help me...I think I have the HTH 5 way kit here (It says Poolife, with hth in the upper corner). My water is still very cloudy (white), though possibly arguably improved. Or maybe not.

Last night I put in 3 gal. of 6% Clorox, which gave me the highest possible reading (3) on my old OTO kit, which held till morning.

At 2 p.m. the new kit results are:
FC 5 (adjusts to 6 using the 1 part pool water/2 parts bottled water method)
TC 5 (same)(6)
CC 0
pH 7.3 or 7.4
TA 210 (to compare, the test strip said 150)
TH ???? was blue at the outset (said it would be red if hardness was present, then do drop count till it turned blue)
CYA ??? Less then 30, since the black dot was still visible at the 30 line, but disappeared a few mm later at the very top.

I know this is still imprecise. The water is cloudy, but not at all greenish, only white. I have read about lowering the pH then aerating, but I'm not sure how to proceed. I have 1.75 lbs. of CYA on hand, 2 gal. of 12% and 1.5 gal. of 6% bleach on hand. I've not been able to get through to the BleachCalc...the link is "not found".

AG vinyl pool, 15X30, pool store says 13,300 gallons. Using the lengthXwidthXdepthX5.9 formula for ovals, I get closer to 11,000 gallons, which could be part of my problem.

Carl, Waterbear, Watermom, anyone...help!
Thanks in advance,
Tammy (if you read my previous post on Calcium Preciptates, you'll get my background)

[Watermom]

In a pool this size, each quart of 6% bleach will raise your chlorine level by about 1 ppm. A quart of 12% should raise it by about 2.5 ppm. Since your water is still cloudy, I'm going to suggest that you try and shock it up to 10 and try and hold it there. Test 2 or better yet, 3x a day and each time, add enough bleach to bring it back up to 10. Run your pump 24/7. Don't worry about your alk at this point. In a vinyl pool alk of 210 is not insanely high. Just worry at this time about clearing the water first. Is this a new fill? Have you ever added any cya? If it is not a new fill, what have you been using to chlorinate with?

EDIT -- Since you have two threads going about your pool's water problems, I merged them together. It makes it much easier to help if all the info is in one place.

[Branzer]

Thanks, Watermom,
I haven't added any CYA yet this year, but have those pucks floating around for whatever they are (or arent') worth.
Should I add the CYA (and how much?)(it seems to be less than 30) before I add tonight's dose of chlorine?
Glad to hear I don't have to worry about the ALK right now. One thing at a time sounds good to me.
I really appreciate the help!

[Watermom]

For now, I would just shock and maintain shock level for a few days before I worried about cya.

Then, after your water clears up you can adjust your cya. If it were my pool, I'd not use the pucks. I would just add a little cya. Since you aren't sure of the exact reading, you'll need to go slow. I would add enough to the skimmer while the pump is running (per label directions) to raise the cya by 10 ppm. Then, wait a week to let it dissolve completely before retesting it. That way you should be able to get a more accurate reading. Then, if it is still too low, you can add more later. (Also don't backwash for a week.) Other people prefer to just use the pucks to slowly let the cya rise. It is just a matter of preference. If you do decide to use the pucks, just monitor your cya level every few weeks.

[aylad]

In addition to Marie's and Watermom's advice (which is great, as always) you need to have your pump/filter running 24/7 until your water clears. Shock levels will kill whatever algae you might have in the water, but will not remove it from the water--your filter does that. Same thing with the Ca precipitation. If that's your problem, (and it sounds to me like the problem may be a combination), the filter is what will take it out once the chlorine kills.

Janet

[Branzer]

Thanks for the further advice and encouragement. We have had the filter running 24/7 and we are starting to see some improvement. I agree, I really think it is a combination of calcium and dead (or lingering live) algae. This afternoon my daughter said "Mom, why is the pool brush at the bottom of the pool?" I had no answer for that, but was thrilled that it could be SEEN at the bottom of the pool, even if "through a cloud". Couldn't see a thing a couple days ago.

Am continuing to test 3x a day; Cl is holding overnight and went down only slightly during the day today. We had a lot of rain yesterday and pH is 7.5 now.

My husband is no longer threatening to bring the John Deere home to smash it to pieces and we can (kind of) see something at the bottom, so we're making progress and all thanks to the Pool Forum!

Thanks so much!!!!

[gordyjamz]

I had the same problem opening this year. Lots of algea from the winter. had the cloudy water too. I read on another site about breakpoint chlorination, which is basically bringing the free chlorine level high enough to burn off whatever combined chlorine there is. This results in a 0.0 CC reading, leaving your entire CL reading as FC. I brought my FC to 25 ppm for 2 days, then let it gradually go down to 10 and held it there for a week, all the while running the filter 24/7. Once I reached the 0 cc reading my water cleared beautifully. I imagine if I had a cart or De filter, it may have cleared quicker, but nonetheless, it cleared. The cloudiness is the dead algea and Cl floating around. Another thing to keep in mind is to get the ph and alk balanced BEFORE trying this. PH tests are not to be trusted in very high CL readings. I made this mistake and have had the added job of bringing the high alk down, because I added baking soda thinking it was low, all the while getting a false test reading. Hope this helps.

[Branzer]

After 36 hrs. of maintaining Cl of 10 and 0 CC, I can see the fittings on the pool pole and (faintly) the pattern on the liner of the floor! I will be on this like glue today (test 4X, at least) and have high hopes!
Then we can deal with the high Alk etc.

QUESTION: I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what it means that my TH was blue at the outset (not turning red, then drop count to blue)....? Does this mean lots of calcium (that would make sense) or none?

[gordyjamz]

sounds like your making progress. I have an hth drop kit, and it says that the test is supposed to turn red to indicate the presence of calcium. I'm guessing yours is 0 since it stays blue. I've read here that with a vinyl liner, you don't really need to add cal to the pool. I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable folks here can verify this.