cloudy water all summer?

[hsdancer]

Readings: pH 7.9
FC: 9 ppm
CC: 0
CYA: 25
TA: 70

We've been using BBB since we found this site -- fantastic! But this year, we've never gotten the sparling water we've had in years past.

We have a vinyl liner pool with salt water chlorinator that takes the pH up -- have to add muriatic acid sometimes twice a week to keep it at 7.6.

How can I get the alkalinity up without also raising pH? Or, which should I take care of first?

Why would the water be cloudy with a CC of 0?

Thanks for your expertise,
Joie

[waterbear]

Readings: pH 7.9
FC: 9 ppm
CC: 0
CYA: 25
TA: 70

We've been using BBB since we found this site -- fantastic! But this year, we've never gotten the sparling water we've had in years past.

We have a vinyl liner pool with salt water chlorinator that takes the pH up -- have to add muriatic acid sometimes twice a week to keep it at 7.6.

How can I get the alkalinity up without also raising pH? Or, which should I take care of first?
Raising the alkalinity will make the pH rise even faster!

Why would the water be cloudy with a CC of 0?

Thanks for your expertise,
Joie

You TA is perfect for a SWG. If you raise it your pH will become more unsable and rise more quickly and your acid demand will increase. The problem is that your CYA is MUCH TOO LOW for a SWG. Bring it up to around 70 ppm. This will allow you to run your cell at a lower ouput percentage to maintain a FC of between 3-5 ppm. Once you do this you should find that your acid demand goes down considerably.
What is your Calcium Hardness? Just because you have a vinyl pool does not mean you don't need to know your calcium levels. It does have an impact on your water balance and is a possible reason why your water is cloudy.
Try dropping your pH to around 7.2 and see if the water clears (but normally keep your ph between 7.5-7..8)
One final thing you can do AFTER getting your water balanced as suggested above is to add borates to your water to 50 ppm. This will help reduce your acid demand even more.

[hsdancer]

Guess I didn't realize how much CYA we lost when drawing down the pool after all the rain. The CYA is in the skimmers as I type, and am bringing down the pH. Will test in a few hours and keep bringing pH down to 7.2.

The calcium hardness is 120 (purplish) to 130 (blue).

How do I test forthe level of Borates? I have Borax.

[waterbear]

Guess I didn't realize how much CYA we lost when drawing down the pool after all the rain. The CYA is in the skimmers as I type, and am bringing down the pH. Will test in a few hours and keep bringing pH down to 7.2.

The calcium hardness is 120 (purplish) to 130 (blue).
With this low a calcium then the cloudines is probably not from the calcium preciptating out (unless it was higher and already did) but probably from the chlorine getting spot depleted in the pool because of the low CYA. If dropping the ph has no impact on the cloudiness then it's the CYA level. If it clears the pool then retest your CH. You will probably find that it went up as the calcium carbonate redisssolved.
How do I test forthe level of Borates? I have Borax.

This link should tell you all you need to know about adding borates.