Cloudy water and High Total Alkalinity

[mgannonid]

Hello, We just opened our pool and it was looking great, but now the water is very cloudy. The chlorine reading is at 2, the PH is at 7.2, and Total Alkalinity is 150. Any suggestions what to do about the cloudiness and how to lower the TA? Thank you!

[chem geek]

Have you tested your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level? If it's high, then the Free Chlorine (FC) level of 2 ppm may not be high enough. Is the chlorine level holding overnight or is it dropping? If it's dropping, then you may have algae developing (water turns dull, then cloudy, before turning green).

Another possibility is that you may have a very high Calcium Hardness (CH) level since your Total Alkalinity (TA) is also high, but your low pH makes cloudiness from over-saturation of calcium carbonate less likely. Have you tested the CH?

Another cause for cloudiness is improper filtering -- too short a filtering time or a filter that isn't cleaning properly.

Richard