Cloudy Water

[money pit]

I bought a foreclosure that has an in ground fiberglass pools that was neglected for about 2 years. I got the pool cleaned up and the water clear. The walls were badly stained. A couple of weeks ago I bought some stain remover and it worked to remove the stains (stain free and a metal remover). The stain remover called for the chlorine to go to almost nothing which I did. It also caused the PH and total alkalinity to drop.

That was a couple of weeks ago. I've got my PH and total alk back up, but the pool continues to eat chlorine. As soon as I started working on the PH, total alk and chlorine, the pool got very cloudy. When I add granular chlorine, it just makes the water more cloudy. I've tried clarifier and it doesn't seem to help.

Help!!!

[jkusmier]

Have you checked the filter? It may well need cleaning/servicing. Also, have you tested all levels (esp CYA and CH)? Excessive CH (calcium hardness) levels can cause cloudiness - lowering pH is a quick fix but ultimately you need to drain and refill.

I'm betting your CYA (aka cyanuric acid/stabilizer) level is too high. If you're using granular chlorine you're probably using dichlor, which adds 9ppm of CYA for every 10ppm of chlorine. Over-stabilized pools are a common culprit to many pool problems, including cloudy water and difficulty holding FC (free chlorine). In a nutshell, your available chlorine is locked and you need to add more and more (unstabilized) chlorine to reach normal sanitation and shock levels.

Have your CYA level tested to confirm. A CYA level of 40-50ppm is a good initial target for a fiberglass pool. You'll need to do several partial drains/refills. CYA can degrade over the off-season once you close the pool but generally does not leave the water in significant levels unless you drain/refill. DO NOT EVER drain more than half of the water from a fiberglass pool since hydrostatic (ground water) pressure could pop it right out of the ground, damaging or destroying the shell and breaking the deck and plumbing. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you drain in 12-18" increments over a period of days (and remember to close the skimmer valve during the process because it would otherwise be sucking air when you drop the water level below the skimmer line - instead, rely on your floor/main drains).

Again, have your water tested first, w/ an emphasis on CYA - to be sure, take samples to more than one pool store or buy a good test kit and do it yourself. Again, if you're using dichlor, I'm betting excessive CYA levels are the problem.

How to avoid the problem in the future? Obviously, periodic draining/refilling isn't an attractive option. So consider the common forms of chlorine:

calcium hypochlorite (adds calcium, which raises CH, which can cause scaling above a certain point - aim for 150ppm or less)

dichlor and trichlor (add 9 and 8 ppm of CYA per 10ppm of chlorine, respectively)

lithium hypochlorite (doesn't add any CYA, but the most expensive form of chlorine)

bleach (look for liquid chlorine in 10-12% strength at pool stores or plain old USCENTED generic bleach at 6% strength at Wal-Mart, etc).

Bleach/liquid chlorine and lithium are the only commonly available forms of unstabilized chlorine. A chore to lug jugs of bleach/liquid chlorine from store to home to pool but we all do it. Make sure to store in a cool place (e.g your basement) because its strength decreases in relation to storage temperature.

Another option - go to a salt-water chlorine generator (often referred to as a SWG). You're still using chlorine, but the SWG produces chlorine from a fairly low salt level. There are critics who attribute corrosion of equipment and decking to SWG's, but many of us use them without trouble. I do rinse my deck a couple of times/week just to be safe. Costs vary per brand and instillation but you're probably looking at $800-1000+ for the initial install. You can do the math on chemical costs savings but the ease and peace of mind are priceless.