Pool Is Blue But Cloudy

[jenlind]

I have a 17,000 gallon, Gunite black plaster pool, cartridge filter. It came with a house we purchased about 2 years ago.

Initially, we had a pool service, and everything was fine. My husband got cheap, canceled the service, but didn't bother to learn anything about pool chemistry. Passive aggressiveness paid off, finally, and I decided to take care of our swamp.

I have the Taylor K2006 kit on order, so at this point, I don't have exact numbers. Our pool has gone from green and murky to blue but cloudy. Yesterday, our pH was 7.1 and TA 90. Pool store recommended 4 pounds of Soda Ash. I ultimately added two boxes of Borax, gradually, testing as I went along, instead. Chlorine had stabilized overnight two nights ago, but was down this morning so we added bleach to get it back up over 5. (It was 2-3 and I added 4 ppm to get it between 5 and 10.) Here are our numbers as of this morning:

FC: 5+ (best guess is 6-7)

pH: 7.5

TA: 100

CYA: 70

CH: 350 (tested yesterday)

We've been running the pump 24-7, have a sock in the skimmer, been brushing the pool and running the polaris. We switched out the filter yesterday, which was green and filthy and put in one we had cleaned. We have not vacuumed because as of yesterday, we didn't own one. Now we do, but don't know how to "vacuum to waste," which I'm anticipating as one of the things we need to do. Also, you should know that my husband didn't pay enough attention to me, bought and put in scented bleach at one point. Doh! I'm sure this isn't helping the cloudiness. Any advice to help us get our pool to crystal clear would be appreciated. Thanks!

[itabb]

Pool stores have a blue chemical that is good at binding to small particles to help your filter. I can't recall the name. Don't overdose on it, and give it 24 hours. Your pool will clear. You might pull your filter and spray it down too. It could be full. Your CYA is good for a SWG, a bit high for chlorine. I'd say keep your FC at 10-12 for now, maybe even go to 20, and keep it there until it does not drop overnight. You'll need about 4 gallons of bleach 6% to get to 20ppm (or so). The problem could be that with your CYA so high, algae started up last night and that's why you saw a drop.

If you do want to get your CYA down, drain your pool about 20% and refill, will cut your CYA by 20%, as well as your TA and CH.

I don't know what "sock in the skimmer" is, but it cannot be good with your current CYA levels. Stick with bleach. Dichlor or Trichlor will just make things worse for you.

[waterbear]

I have a 17,000 gallon, Gunite black plaster pool, cartridge filter. It came with a house we purchased about 2 years ago.

Initially, we had a pool service, and everything was fine. My husband got cheap, canceled the service, but didn't bother to learn anything about pool chemistry. Passive aggressiveness paid off, finally, and I decided to take care of our swamp.

I have the Taylor K2006 kit on order, so at this point, I don't have exact numbers. Our pool has gone from green and murky to blue but cloudy. Yesterday, our pH was 7.1 and TA 90. Pool store recommended 4 pounds of Soda Ash. I ultimately added two boxes of Borax, gradually, testing as I went along, instead. Chlorine had stabilized overnight two nights ago, but was down this morning so we added bleach to get it back up over 5. (It was 2-3 and I added 4 ppm to get it between 5 and 10.) Here are our numbers as of this morning:

FC: 5+ (best guess is 6-7)

If you dilute a small amount of pool water with an equal amount of distilled water your can then test your chlorine (only the chlorine) and multiply the results by 2 to get an approximation of how high your chlorine is. A shot glass is good for measuring. If you need to go higher you can use 1 part pool water and 2 parts distilled and multiply by 3 or 1 part pool water and 3 parts distilled and multiply by 4 or 1 part pool water and 4 parts distilled and multiply by 5. You will lose accuracy with each dilution but it will give you a ballpark until the Taylor kit arrives

pH: 7.5

TA: 100

CYA: 70

CH: 350 (tested yesterday)

The rest of your numbers look good.

We've been running the pump 24-7, have a sock in the skimmer, been brushing the pool and running the polaris. We switched out the filter yesterday, which was green and filthy and put in one we had cleaned. We have not vacuumed because as of yesterday, we didn't own one. Now we do, but don't know how to "vacuum to waste," which I'm anticipating as one of the things we need to do.

You can't vacuum to waste with a cartridge filter. You just have to keep cleaning the cart.

Also, you should know that my husband didn't pay enough attention to me, bought and put in scented bleach at one point. Doh! I'm sure this isn't helping the cloudiness. Any advice to help us get our pool to crystal clear would be appreciated. Thanks!

With your CYA at 70 ppm keep your FC at about 20 ppm until the FC is holding overnight. Your pool might be cloudy at that point. It's just dead algae that your filter will eventually remove. It can take a week. I am not a big fan of clarifiers. They can make the cloudiness worse if you overdose on them. If you are going to use one with a cartrdige filter get a 'natural' one based on chitosan and not a polymeric one.

BTW, skimmer socks are the BEST thing every. I keep one in my pool all the time. They really help keep a lot of stuff out of the filter. I am always amazed at how much junk they collect!

[waterbear]

Pool stores have a blue chemical that is good at binding to small particles to help your filter. I can't recall the name. Don't overdose on it, and give it 24 hours. Your pool will clear. You might pull your filter and spray it down too. It could be full. Your CYA is good for a SWG, a bit high for chlorine. I'd say keep your FC at 10-12 for now, maybe even go to 20, and keep it there until it does not drop overnight. You'll need about 4 gallons of bleach 6% to get to 20ppm (or so). The problem could be that with your CYA so high, algae started up last night and that's why you saw a drop.

If you do want to get your CYA down, drain your pool about 20% and refill, will cut your CYA by 20%, as well as your TA and CH.

I don't know what "sock in the skimmer" is, but it cannot be good with your current CYA levels. Stick with bleach. Dichlor or Trichlor will just make things worse for you.

I know you are trying to help but you need to learn a bit more and get your own pool under control before trying to give advice. A CYA level is certainly managble in a manually chlorinated pool by keeping the FC level a bit higher. In fact, if the pool get a lot of sun it might even be desirable. With a CYA of 70 and a gunite pool then keeping the FC at 20 ppm will be an effective shock level an d maintaining the FC between 6-10 ppm for normal sanitation would be fine.

The TA and CH do NOT need to be lowered and, depending on the fill water, a drain and refill might actually raise them.

Skimmer socks are a stocking that fit over the skimmer basket and act as a prefilter. They are an excellent 'gadget' that are inexepnsive and really work. They have NOTHING to do with chemical levels.

Please learn a bit more before posting. I know you are trying to help but I also know that you are a newbie since I have been helping you get your own pool under control.

[jenlind]

Waterbear,

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I have seen many of your posts at other boards and I respect your opinion. I have a couple more questions.

Our cartridges are looking pretty gross. I soaked one overnight last night and it is still pretty filthy. I used two cups of powered dishwasher detergent, but I think that I should have added more because we have a tall cartridge and it required a huge container (100+ quart cooler) for soaking. I can tell it did clean some, because the soaking liquid was really dirty this morning. But will the cartridges still work if they are stained?

Do we need to use a vacuum at all or is our Polaris enough?

Also, my husband turned on the jets to the spa, which spills over into the pool. It was the first time he had done that in a while and all of this crud came out into the spa. It looks better this morning, but it is still worse than the rest of the pool. Any suggestions to get the spa up to the same level as the pool? Should we continue to run the jets regularly during the cleaning process or do you think that we have blown out all of the crud by running them for a few minutes?

Thanks for your help.

[waterbear]

Waterbear,

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. I have seen many of your posts at other boards and I respect your opinion. I have a couple more questions.

Our cartridges are looking pretty gross. I soaked one overnight last night and it is still pretty filthy. I used two cups of powered dishwasher detergent, but I think that I should have added more because we have a tall cartridge and it required a huge container (100+ quart cooler) for soaking. I can tell it did clean some, because the soaking liquid was really dirty this morning. But will the cartridges still work if they are stained?

use 1 cup per 5 gallons of water. If you have a really tall cart (I have one that is really tall myself--over 31"!) you might want to find a container such as one of those plastic storage bins that you can lie the filter on it's side in. It will take a LOT less water and detergetnt. Just make sure it's deep enough to have the filter submerged. I found one that fits my filter at Target (Rubbermaid) and it takes a LOT less water to submerge the filter.

Do we need to use a vacuum at all or is our Polaris enough?

A vacuum will be faster to get the stuff up so you can clean the filter. The advantage of the Polaris is the stuff will collect in it's bag and won't dirty the filter as fast but it will be a lot slower.

Also, my husband turned on the jets to the spa, which spills over into the pool. It was the first time he had done that in a while and all of this crud came out into the spa. It looks better this morning, but it is still worse than the rest of the pool. Any suggestions to get the spa up to the same level as the pool? Should we continue to run the jets regularly during the cleaning process or do you think that we have blown out all of the crud by running them for a few minutes?

I would turn off the jets for now and either use a spa want to get the stuff out of your spa or vacuum it out. When the pool is clear and the filter clean turn on the spa and see if anything else goes into it. If it does vacuum or use a spa wand to get it out.

Thanks for your help.

[jenlind]

The cooler is 25 gallons and the cart just fits laying on its side. I guess I should have added more like 4 cups of detergent, since I probably added 20 gallons of water. Next time I will do that.

Looks like we are going to have to take a stab at vacuuming the pool.

Thanks again.