Cloudy... but clean

[chuck9997]

This may be nothing... and I am not too concerned yet.. since temps are still in the 30 - 50 range here in East Tennessee.. However...

A few weeks ago.. we had a warm spell.. temps in the 60s and 70s for a few days.. I looked out at our uncovered (unclosed) pool.. to see a nice light green tint around the edges and sides of the pool. I didn't do anything for a couple of days.. and noticed the green appearing to cover a little more of the sides and starting to take over more of the middle. Made a trip to the grovery... and dumped in 8 gals of bleach (5.25). Ran the pump continuosly.

Green was gone the next day .. (actually in about 10 hours).. All appears to be ok now.. but I notice.. althought the water appears to be pretty clean (no green).. it is slightly cloudy. I am used to crystal clear water. anything to be concerned about at this time?

Pool is above ground, 21ft dia., 4.5 ft deep.

[Poconos]

You didn't say what kind of filter you have. It is possible you just stirred up some fine dust on the bottom. Happens here every Spring.
Al

[chuck9997]

It's a sand filter.
The pump has been running on and off all winter.. Filtering the water. I don't close the pool.

Been running for three days now..and still cloudy.. It isn't awful.. but it isn't crystal clear.

[Poconos]

Sand filters do let fine stuff thru. Some of us have been adding a little DE powder to the system to catch the smaller particles. It does work. Be careful and go slowly for the first couple times until you 'calibrate' how much DE to throw in. What I've done is to note the pressure on a clean filter, just after backwashing, then add a cup of DE to the skimmer and wait a while for the pressure to stabilize, at least 10 minutes. Add another cup and keep repeating the cycle until the pressure is about 1 PSI higher than when you started. Once you've done this a couple times, and you are 'calibrated' you can just throw in the right amount of DE after you backwash. DE should be mixed with water before chucking it in the skimmer. The DE forms a layer on top of the sand and is very efficient at trapping smaller particles. Be careful when vacuuming to keep an eye on the pressure, especially when you may have a bunch of dirt on the pool bottom. Pressure can rise rapidly. ALSO.....WHEN HANDLING DE POWDER BE CAREFUL NOT TO INHALE THE DUST.
Al

[mwsmith2]

Just FYI: the "cloudy" is the dead algae that is suspended in the water column, just waiting to get filtered out.

Michael

[apoolman]

Try this. The clouds are the dead algae as our friend mentioned before. Raise your CL to 5 PPM and balance out to 7.4 PH and 90 to 100 ALK. Keep the CAL at 250 to 300, and then shut off the pump for 2 days. The 5PPM of CL will keep anything from growing back. Let the cloud settle to the floor. Live algae floats, dead algae sinks. When you can see the bottom covered with the "Dead cloud", start up the pump in waste mode and vaccuum that dead algae out of the pool all together. This will result in a clean bottom and none of that Dead cloud in your pump. Then Backwash and Filter. I just finished this process on my 50,000 Gal Oval in Pensacola. LOOKS GREAT!!! As a CPO I do this all the time and have my friends do it as well. It really works.

[PoolDoc]

Try this. . . . and balance out to 7.4 PH and 90 to 100 ALK. Keep the CAL at 250 to 300

What does any of this have to do with allowing dead algae to sink?

I just finished this process on my 50,000 Gal Oval in Pensacola. LOOKS GREAT!!! As a CPO I do this all the time and have my friends do it as well. It really works.

OK.

I'm confused.

If -- as a CPO -- you are maintaining your pool properly, why would you EVER have to do this to your own pool? In 15 years of chemically operating many large commercial pools (45,000 gallons to 680,000 gallons), I only had two pools 'go green' on me. The first time, was my first year: I vowed never again. The second time, was 10 years later, when I was carelessly over-confident in one of my operators.

I'm going to warn you again: you have more to learn here, than you have to teach. Read for a couple of months and then post. You'll probably find that it will be harder to UN-learn some of the errors you've been taught, than to learn new stuff.

Ben

PS: PoolForum members have been using DPD-FAS testing for . . . 5+ years, now.