NEW POOL OWNER and cloudy water

Causes and cures for cloudy swimming pool water.
Milky pool water, white, pink, brown, purple, black cloudy water.
lagal
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NEW POOL OWNER and cloudy water

Postby lagal » Sun 30 Mar, 2008 12:15

We are NEW pool owners, pool just put in Feb 08...our water is very cloudy here are my stats at this moment....
ph(end pad) 7.8
ppm free chlorine 10
ppm total alkalinity 120
ppm stablilizer 30-50

This is a 16 x 32 salt water pool...I still have some dirt areas around the pool because we have not completed all the landscaping...also we live in South Louisiana where the pollen is a BIG PROBLEM as I speak...its not as bad today, but the other day you could see the pollen just laid out on top of the water...

Can someone help please...I was so hoping for crystal clear water...

Thanks[/i]


chem geek
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Postby chem geek » Sun 30 Mar, 2008 13:08

You didn't list your Calcium Hardness (CH). If it's high, then the cloudiness could be due to oversaturation with calcium carbonate. By any chance have you been using Cal-Hypo as either your regular or shock source of chlorine? [EDIT] I see you have a saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pool, but your high chlorine level may mean you shocked with extra added chlorine; if so, what did you use? [END-EDIT]

Cloudy water can have many causes, the above being just one (here are 100 causes!). You may need to clean your filter and increase pump (filtering) runtime, especially given all the pollen. The cloudiness may just be pollen that is oxidized and not yet filtered (or fully broken down).

Algae growth is the most common cause of cloudy water, but if your FC level was at least 3.8 ppm at all times prior to the cloudiness, then that probably isn't the problem. If the FC level was lower (and assuming the meausrements, such as CYA, are correct), then you should shock with a higher FC level of 15-20 ppm. Use chlorinating liquid or unscented bleach (e.g. Clorox Regular or off-brand Ultra).

Richard
lagal
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NEW POOL OWNER and cloudy water

Postby lagal » Sun 30 Mar, 2008 13:29

Oh my gosh all this you said is greek to me, lol...how did I find out the calcium hardness...
chem geek
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Postby chem geek » Sun 30 Mar, 2008 14:09

Get yourself a good test kit. Either the Taylor K-2006 you can get at a good price here or the TF100 test kit from tftestkits(dot)com here which has 36% more volume for tests so is equivalently priced to the Taylor kit (and uses the same reagents).

In the meantime, run your pump for a longer period of time and clean your filter if it's too dirty. I don't think the problem is algae since that is less common in a saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pool. I suspect it is just the pollen overwhelming the chlorine and filtering.

Do you remember what the Free Chlorine (FC) level was before the cloudiness occurred?
lagal
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Joined: Sun 30 Mar, 2008 12:08

NEW POOL OWNER and cloudy water

Postby lagal » Sun 30 Mar, 2008 14:25

The free chlorine level has been at 10 for a couple of weeks...

I trully appreciate all the help and info you have given...we are NEW to this, never ever owned a pool...

Thanks
chem geek
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Joined: Thu 21 Jun, 2007 21:27
Location: San Rafael, California

Postby chem geek » Sun 30 Mar, 2008 16:32

OK, so it's unlikely you've got algae. Get the full test results and filter longer and check back in with the results. I'm still thinking it's just the pollen overwhelming your chlorine/filtering. You don't really need to keep the chlorine as high as 10 ppm -- 5 ppm should be fine at the CYA level you have.

How did you measure 10 ppm Free Chlorine anyway? Most test kits only measure to 5 ppm except for the test kits I recommended (that can measure up to 50 ppm).

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