Cloudy water, balanced chemicals?

[nicakemp]

Hello,

I would greatly appreciate some insight on why I'm not able to clear my pool, water is cloudy. I tested all of the chemical levels except for CYA since I ran out of the reagent, and I am tempted to go the pool store for a water reading but I know how that will end up, me buying a bunch of chemicals I probably don't need. We just installed a new pump, chlorinator was just fixed and then proceeded to add salt and test the water. Please help since I don't understand why the water won't clear up!
Thank you

Levels read as follows:
pH: 7.2
FC: 10 (Maybe because I added a gallon of liquid chlorine early this morning since there was a dead mole in the pump)
CC: 0.5
TA:120
CH: 180
CYA: 55

TDS: 4,800

Are these levels ok or do I need to adjust something?

Thank you for any feedback!
Maria

[Denniswiseman]

Hi Maria and welcome
Congratulations on having your own test kit
Those levels don't look to bad but with a CYA of 55 you would keep your chlorine at about 8 and a minimum of 4.5 with a shock level of 22
You may want to do an OCLT (overnight chlorine loss test) to determine whether you are losing chlorine to algae or sun
I would be inclined to do a Slam with relation to your Chlorine / CYA Chart and recommended Pool Levels
Bearing in mind that a Slam and OCLT should be done with liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite / plain bleach) with the SWCG turned off
Don't go buying pool stores products use these common products from most retail outlets
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach)
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA

[nicakemp]

Hi Maria and welcome
Congratulations on having your own test kit
Those levels don't look to bad but with a CYA of 55 you would keep your chlorine at about 8 and a minimum of 4.5 with a shock level of 22
You may want to do an OCLT (overnight chlorine loss test) to determine whether you are losing chlorine to algae or sun
I would be inclined to do a Slam with relation to your Chlorine / CYA Chart and recommended Pool Levels
Bearing in mind that a Slam and OCLT should be done with liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite / plain bleach) with the SWCG turned off
Don't go buying pool stores products use these common products from most retail outlets
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach)
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA

Thank you so much for your quick response, it was very helpful! I will try your suggestions and post back:) My next question would be that when the water is finally clear, what are the ideal FC and CYA levels for a salt pool? Is 0.5 CC bad, does it have to be 0?
Thanks again!
Maria

[Denniswiseman]

The FC is 5-6 with a shock level of about 28 but checkout the Pool levels link in my previous post, your CYA should be 70-80
0.5 CC is not bad and is acceptable whereas 1.0 would require some work to lower it
Bear in mind that a FC level of 10 and above will give a false pH reading

[nicakemp]

The FC is 5-6 with a shock level of about 28 but checkout the Pool levels link in my previous post, your CYA should be 70-80
0.5 CC is not bad and is acceptable whereas 1.0 would require some work to lower it
Bear in mind that a FC level of 10 and above will give a false pH reading

Hello again, happy Friday! So this morning I re-tested and it seems to be clearing up! All other levels seemed fine but my main concern is still knowing if this is ok since it seems to change daily. Is it normal to have a CYA reading of 55 many hours after adding stabilizer to the water, and then have a reading of 90-100 the next day?
I guess I am concerned because so many things have gone wrong since opening and I'm not sure yet if the SWCG is working properly after it was sent in to the manufacturer for repair and we also had to get a new pump...

FC: 7.5
CYA: 80-90 (or possibly maybe even 100) not too sure of my CYA readings yet:(

Thanks!!!

[Denniswiseman]

CYA takes time to dissolve (how did you add it)
If it was just dumped in the skimmer then it would take time to dissolve and mix
When I add CYA I pre dissolve it in hot water before pouring in front of a return jet, others put it in a sock and hang it in front of a return jet
You can't use any thing to reduce it apart from a partial drain and refill
Use Pool Maths to work out how much chemicals to add

[Denniswiseman]

CYA takes time to dissolve (how did you add it)
If it was just dumped in the skimmer then it would take time to dissolve and mix
When I add CYA I pre dissolve it in hot water before pouring in front of a return jet, others put it in a sock and hang it in front of a return jet and test the next day
You can't use any thing to reduce it apart from a partial drain and refill
Use Pool Maths to work out how much chemicals to add

[Teapot]

Can take up to week or two to fully mix cya, if you think you are over shooting and it's still in your skimmer take it out again, you have 55 so that's ok for now.

[nicakemp]

CYA takes time to dissolve (how did you add it)
If it was just dumped in the skimmer then it would take time to dissolve and mix
When I add CYA I pre dissolve it in hot water before pouring in front of a return jet, others put it in a sock and hang it in front of a return jet and test the next day
You can't use any thing to reduce it apart from a partial drain and refill
Use Pool Maths to work out how much chemicals to add

Thanks again for your help:) I added the CYA to the skimmer basket but did not dump it all in at once, I added like 1/4 cup at a time very slowly. Pool is already looking better than last week though! I re-tested yesterday and levels seemed ok.
Have a great week!

[Denniswiseman]

Even slowly adding it to the skimmer means it gets trapped in the filter and slowly dissolves

[nicakemp]

Even slowly adding it to the skimmer means it gets trapped in the filter and slowly dissolves

Is that bad for the filter??? I have heard many opinions about this. The sock method takes too long (in this case I needed to up the CYA quite urgently). The bottle's instructions say to SLOWLY add to skimmer or throw in the deep end of the pool, brushing the floor later so it doesn't sit at the bottom.

[Teapot]

It requires a flow of water to slowly incorporate it into the water. I had an urgent one so used buckets with hot water in and a paddle mixer, got some in that way. I put the undissolved into a plastic bin and it was mostly still there 2 weeks later as it would be on the bottom of your pool.

[Denniswiseman]

Even slowly adding it to the skimmer means it gets trapped in the filter and slowly dissolves

Is that bad for the filter??? I have heard many opinions about this. The sock method takes too long (in this case I needed to up the CYA quite urgently). The bottle's instructions say to SLOWLY add to skimmer or throw in the deep end of the pool, brushing the floor later so it doesn't sit at the bottom.

You say the bottle is it a liquid then and not a granule, that would be different, anyway I would have put it in the pool by a return
As Teapot and I said previously you can mix with hot water and pour in to speed up[ the process

[Denniswiseman]

Even slowly adding it to the skimmer means it gets trapped in the filter and slowly dissolves

Is that bad for the filter??? I have heard many opinions about this. The sock method takes too long (in this case I needed to up the CYA quite urgently). The bottle's instructions say to SLOWLY add to skimmer or throw in the deep end of the pool, brushing the floor later so it doesn't sit at the bottom.

You say the bottle is it a liquid then and not a granule, that would be different, anyway I would have put it in the pool by a return
As Teapot and I said previously you can mix with hot water and pour in to speed up the process

[nicakemp]

Is that bad for the filter??? I have heard many opinions about this. The sock method takes too long (in this case I needed to up the CYA quite urgently). The bottle's instructions say to SLOWLY add to skimmer or throw in the deep end of the pool, brushing the floor later so it doesn't sit at the bottom.

You say the bottle is it a liquid then and not a granule, that would be different, anyway I would have put it in the pool by a return
As Teapot and I said previously you can mix with hot water and pour in to speed up the process

No, it is not liquid, it is granule, and I added it very slowly and little at a time in the skimmer basket until it was all gone.
Could that ruin my filter?