blue cloudy, soapy water

[pooldufus]

Here are the latest facts:
FC is very high (>10).
Ph=8.2 and rising
foam/air bubbles are still present especially when running SWG
I have used over 40 gal of bleach in the past 2 weeks. At what point do I cut my losses and drain?

How do you determine the 15 level? Is there a test kit that measures that high? The level must be high because the color is orange instead of yellow in the test kit I have (the worthless test strips even indicate it is 10+).

I am beginning to think the foam may be air bubbles. My ph is rising. It was around 7.6 yesterday then 7.8 last night then 8.2 this morning. I think I read that aeration can raise the ph level. Do I need to add acid now to lower ph or just continue to filter? I have been running the SWG on and off to help with the chlorine levels but maybe I need to turn it off completely until the chlorine level holds. Will this amount of bleach cause the foam or air bubbles?

I am at my wit's end but I really appreciate your help

[aylad]

My bet is on air bubbles causing the foam. If it were my pool, I would turn the SWG off for now, and see if that eliminates the bubbles altogether. It would also give you a chance to fix the leak.

Don't give up on the pool yet--you'd be amazed what a lot of bleach and some patience will do for a pool!!! Keep your chlorine at 15, testing and adding more as needed as many times a day as possible--the more consistently your chlorine is up, the faster it will clear.

There are test kits that will measure FC up to 50 ppm--the Taylor K2006 is a good one that will measure all you would need. Leslie's also carries a similar kit. What you want is a drop-based kit that will measure free chlorine, combined chlorine, CYA, pH, ta, and CYA. The ones that do all that accurately are a little pricey, but they will save you hundreds of dollars in the long run and are well worth it. In the meantime, you can use CarlD's "shotglass method" to estimate your higher chlorine levels....get your regular pool sample and dilute it 1:2 with non-chlorinated (distilled or tap that's been dechlorinated) water. Mix the sample, test as usual, then multiply your result x 2. This will give you a ballpark chlorine level for now. If you need to go higher, then mix it 1:3 and multiply the result x 3. You lose a little accuracy everytime you dilute, but again, it'll give you a good ballpark idea of what your chlorine is.

Your pH may or may not be as high as your testing shows--normally when your chlorine is above 10, your pH is going to test falsely high. However, you already know that aeration raises pH, and if I'm correct in thinking that your foaming is caused by air bubbles, then that is certainly a cause for your pH rise quickly. You'll know if that's the culprit by turning off the SWG and seeing if the pH stabilizes, even with your chlorine levels that high.

Hang in there--I know patience is hard to come by when you're looking at a pool that won't clear, but don't give up on it yet!!

Janet

[pooldufus]

Janet, I believe you're right on the air bubbles. I am a little confused about why the bubbles/foam are higher when the SWG is on since it is installed in line on the return piping. The return water runs across the SWG cell either way. I understand it produces bubbles during the chlorination process, but it still confuses me unless the cloudiness is also due a piping leak.

I tried the shotglass method and came up with a chlorine level of around 20. I will maintain that and start looking for a better test kit. The pool is still cloudy as I can only see about 24" deep. The pump pressure hasn't moved since last night's backwash so it doesn't appear to be picking up anything. I will continue to filter 24/7. Thanks for the advice, it gives me hope.

[aylad]

You might want to try CarlD's trick of adding a handful of DE to your sand filter in case the cloudiness is caused by something too fine for the sand to catch. He recommends that you add just enough DE to raise your pump pressure by no more than 1 psi--and that rise sometimes takes a little while to register--and then see if it helps. The DE will wash out when you backwash, so if you add too much, you can backwash it out and start over.

Keep filtering, keep the Cl high, and keep us posted!
Janet

[pooldufus]

I will give that a try if I can find DE locally. I've about decided to change the filter sand (starting the fourth year on this). It probably is needed so it won't hurt. At least I'll be able to dismiss that as a possibility. The pool seems to be clearing although at a very very slow rate. It could have residual algaecide or suntan lotion, etc from last year. I ordered the TF100 test kit today so I can get better numbers on high chlorine levels. I will continue to shock and filter. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Watermom]

It won't hurt to replace the sand, but it probably isn't necessary. I'm on my 10th year with the same sand and I know there are others with even longer time frames with their sand. You should be able to find DE locally. I think Janet even said that she found it in her local Wal-Mart. Certainly a pool store will have it and maybe Lowe's or Home Depot? Buy the smallest container you can which will most likely be 10 lbs. Good luck. Keep us posted how it is going.

[pooldufus]

Just an update on my pool. The water is slowly clearing. I still can't see the bottom drain but it won't be long before I can. I have tried to seal any leaks but think the pump basket lid o-ring is bad. At some point the pump filtered enough of the fine particles out and the SWG can now run without producing the foam/air bubbles. If I had thought of it earlier I would have ran the recirc and SWG to see if it foamed the same way it did on filter and SWG. I suspect it wouldn't and that the culprit was a chemical or something in the filter media that has since been eliminated. Anyway, the system seems to be working correctly. The water is clearing and swimming is imminent. I appreciate all the advice and encouragement from each of you. This forum is a great help because, as always, I am just a pool dufus .