alkalinity is very high, ph is ok water cloudy...help

[rappacl]

My total alkalinity is very high and my ph is ok according to my test strip. I have been to the pool place twice and both times they tell me add two bags of shock, and ph reducer. This help in the very short term but the cloudiness has never fully gone away and water gets somewhat greenish after a few days. I do as they say but this vicious cycle keeps happening. All I want is clear water but this is driving me nuts. Please help.

[reese]

is your cyanuric acid at 50? is your t.d.s.below 2000?, you may need to change some or all of your water

[Guest]

I had the same problem cloudy water. It is already one month now since I battle cloudiness problem. I have a vinyl above the ground pool. When it started clearing after putting several gallons of bleaches I found out that there were 4 torpedo grass grown in my pool. When I tried to pull it out , the leak was terrible I lost a lot of water in one day. I cannot see the bottom to patch it so I ended up draining some of the water out about till my knee where I can see enough to patch it. Then I have to fill the water back up. Took me few days due to my iron well water I had to regenerate every 500 gallons. Anyway, my pool was so dirty because I did not put any chemicals since November and tried to start again in July. Lots of leaves accumulated and loaded with green algae and lots of scales on the walls. I started over again. I put 14 gallons of regular bleach in the evening first and run filter all night. The next day vacuum to waste. I have 24" round pool and is 4' deep. Since this will lost some water, I had my hose on to fill water at the same time. I vacuumed like blind since I cannot see the bottom. While vacuuming I stopped every 10 to to 15 minutes and cleaned the skimmer. I watched the water line also to make sure it won't go below the flowing water to skimmer. It was not a quick process so you need patience. You need to stop vacuuming before the water go too low. Vacuum the pool everyday. I put 4 more gallons of bleach 1n 2 days. Then I put 4 packs of shocks. I know it is too much but I was desperate. When I started seeing the sides of the pool I went in the pool and started brushing it. Run your filter over night and vacuum again the next day. Then I stopped running the pump for 4 days. Then the pool started clearing up and I can see the bottom . I can see all the dirt and the leaves . I then vacuumed it. What I did was instead of using the vacuum with the brush attached I took it off and used just the hose vaccum and I tied the long handle. It's a little awkward but it was better for me because with the brush attached it was stirring the water quickly and started cloudying again. I set the pump to low pump(I have high and low settings). I did not go in the pool to avoid stirring the water up. I then vacuum to waste slowly to avoid stirring. After vacuuming, I backwash it to get the dirt out of the filter. Then I put flocculant. You can follow the directions. It will help the little particles joined together under and it is easier to vacuum. Vacuum everyday and watch your pool getting clearer everyday. I test my water everyday for free chlorine and ph mostly. I am using the aqua chem professional test kit. It is around $6 and you can use it for several months. My pool now is clear and blue and is ready for swimming. My alkalinity is a little high but my ph is ok. Alkalinity is my next thing to take care. I hope this helps you. It took me a while but it is because of other problems. You don't have to follow what I did but you can try. This might help.