I have a 10 year old IG 10,000 gal plaster pool. I have had dark brown metal stains (appear to be from nails) on the floor ever since I bought the house and pool several years ago. Also my CH is extremely high at about 650, mainly due to my high calcium fill water (400ppm). I have been using the BBB method for about 1 ½ years now with excellent results. I have not had a single algae bloom and water has been crystal clear all year.

Last Monday (7 days ago) I lowered my CL to about 2 ppm and my ph to 7.2, then I added 1 ½ qts of Pro Team Metal magic in an effort to remove the metal stains. The literature also stated that it would help reduce CH in the process. The water turned to milky white cloudy. I assume that is the calcium, which has bonded together into filterable sized particles. The filter is able to slowly clear the water. I have been removing and cleaning my cartridge filter at least twice a day, as the pressure rises. The filter is loaded with white residue, which I am able to clean easily until the water flows clear. I can see and feel that a lot of the old calcium scale buildup is being removed from the floor of the pool. The floor feels a lot smoother and also has a better appearance.

After cleaning and restarting the filter I have been adding bleach to bring my CL back up to about 2 ppm. Within a few minutes of adding the bleach, the cloudiness becomes more prominent again. Seems that I am right in the middle of a vicious cycle here. Filter does it’s job and then bleach seems to produce more cloudiness.

My numbers as of last evening after cleaning filter and adding bleach are as follows:

TC – 2.0
FC – 2.0
CC – 0
PH – 7.2
TA – 80
CYA – 55

I have not been testing for CH because I assume it is still very high due to the ever-returning cloudiness.

What to do? Seems like I’m running in circles here. Anyone else had this experience? I do have quite a bit of patience as long as I know I am on the right track. But it seems the track is obscured by my ever returning cloudiness.