Water cloudy after hot weather, can't get it to clear up

Causes and cures for cloudy swimming pool water.
Milky pool water, white, pink, brown, purple, black cloudy water.
syarb002
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Water cloudy after hot weather, can't get it to clear up

Postby syarb002 » Sun 12 Jul, 2009 07:20

The little bit of Clorox I had brought the FC up to about 10 ppm (I aimed for 15...weak Clorox?) just before 11pm last night. This morning, it had dropped back down to around 0.5 ppm.

I'll definitely pick up a lot more in the next couple of days and work on getting it up to 15 ppm and holding it there.


syarb002
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Water cloudy after hot weather, can't get it to clear up

Postby syarb002 » Tue 14 Jul, 2009 15:43

I started yesterday afternoon with the bleach, and have been periodically testing and adding more to keep the FC level up. Here is what I've noticed in the last day:

Time FC (ppm)
4:15p 0.5
+ 160 oz. Bleach 6%
4:45p ~12.0
5:45p ~12.0
7:00p ~12.0
8:30p ~12.0
10:15p 10.0
+ 20 oz. Bleach 6%
==============
8:30a ~12.0
1:30p 10.0
+ 30 oz. Bleach 6%
4:30p 10.0
+ 60 oz. Bleach 6% (aiming to raise up to 16 ppm)

The water has definitely cleared up a little, but it's still cloudy. I can see to the bottom of the pool and I've seen several small, grayish-slimy puddles forming at the bottom. Is this dead algae? Should I add some clarifier now to help the filter clean it up, or just keep up the bleach for now?

Thanks!
chem geek
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Water cloudy after hot weather, can't get it to clear up

Postby chem geek » Tue 14 Jul, 2009 23:06

Well, with your probably weak Intex pump and no floor drain it could take a while to clear. If you can vacuum to waste, then you could use a flocculant such as OMNI Liquid Floc Plus if you are impatient. Otherwise, you could try pointing the return down to one side to try and create better circulation to stir up what's at the bottom and get it to the filter where you can clean it out. Up to you. And yes, keep the chlorine up. Also, consider getting your own good test kit (either the Taylor K-2006 or the TF100) as I wouldn't trust pool store numbers, especially for the CYA level.

See this post for how a pool gets cleared of algae and what it typically looks like over several days (up to a week).
syarb002
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Water cloudy after hot weather, can't get it to clear up

Postby syarb002 » Thu 16 Jul, 2009 13:25

Woke up this morning to sparkling, clear water. Chem Geek, you should write a book on this stuff :thumbup:

Thanks for all the help!
chem geek
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Location: San Rafael, California

Water cloudy after hot weather, can't get it to clear up

Postby chem geek » Thu 16 Jul, 2009 21:27

You're welcome. I'm glad you had the POP (pool owner patience) to wait for the clearing. You should only lower the FC level from the shock level after 3 things occur: 1) the water is clear, 2) you measure <= 1 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) drop overnight and 3) you measure <= 0.5 ppm Combined Chlorine (CC).

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