Surprise ... Cloudy pool water

[uwinsome]

Hello all this is my first post here I hope I am following protocol ..(I have read some vicious reprimands )
I am out of town 18 days a month. I will be away for 3-8 days at a time.I find it hard to keep my pool clear so that's why I am soliciting advice from people with knowledge of any solutions or routines. I have 24' round pool 58"ht. I have the pump running on low 24-7 when I am away and 8-10 hours when I am home. I live in Virginia Beach ,VA, it has rained here on and off all of the month of June. My water was crystal clear and I went out of town for 5 days and came back to a pale "milk green" pool. I have cleaned,shocked,chlorinated ,added borax, etc...and now my levels are good ....but the pool is still cloudy after 4 days. Any suggestions besides crossing my fingers hoping that the water will clear before the 4th?

Aquacheck5

total chlorine 3
free chlorine 3
TA 120
PH 7.8
total hardness caco3 100
my pool is 24'round 58"ht

[CarlD]

First:

Are those test strip readings or drop test readings? Drop tests are much easier to be accurate with.

Second:

What is your stabilizer/Cyanuric Acid level?

Third:

You could try adding some Polyquat algaecide (the only type of algaecide we recommend) because it's also the only flocculant you'll ever need.

Also try skimmer socks in your skimmer.

Now for regular maintenance you have a lot of options.

1) you can use a floater with tri-chlor tabs but only if your Stabilizer level is low and you don't mind raising it AND you watch your pH to make sure it stays OK---Borax. I'm doing that right now because all the rain has diluted my stabilizer to a too-low level of 22--I just watch my pH. The tabs give me constant FC and add the stabilizer I currently need. When it gets where I want it, out comes the floater and the tabs!

2) You could also use the Liquidator--a liquid chlorine feeder. Apparently they work well, but the earlier brand that was supposed to do the same thing never worked for me--but it was a different gadget.

3) Intex is now making a very inexpensive SWG for pools under 12,000 gallons. There's another inexpensive one that floats in the pool and is not plumbed in.

4) You could have someone dump in 1 gallon of bleach every other day (or a half-gallon every day). When I travel with my family I make it fall-over simple for my father-in-law. I say "Dump 1 one bleach bottle into the skimmer every other day." If he follows it, I'm good for the two weeks I'm away, everytime.

We will need more info--these are just some of my thoughts.

[uwinsome]

They are test strip aquacheck 5 doesn't have a stabilizer level check. I just vacuumed and noticed lots of tiny particles are just passing through the cartridge filter, back into the pool.I am going to get some skimmer socks as advised and I think that is the problem. I will have my neighbor add bleach when I am away . Thank you very much for the quick response.

[Phillbo]

If you have particles passing back into the pool you may have a filter issue that needs to be addressed.