Cloudy after shocking

Causes and cures for cloudy swimming pool water.
Milky pool water, white, pink, brown, purple, black cloudy water.
liontiger
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Cloudy after shocking

Postby liontiger » Fri 20 Jul, 2007 10:31

We just opened our 30,000 gal pool this spring. After weekly shocking (3 lbs poollife shock) ouyr water stays cloudy for longer and longer periods of time.

TA = 140
pH = 7.8
CHlor 5-10

We have removed the chorline tablets from the skimmer basket. Pool still stays cloudy for 24-28 hours after shocking. Any suggestions ?


Backglass
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Postby Backglass » Fri 20 Jul, 2007 10:38

Does your test kit test free chlorine, total chlorine, calcium hardness and CYA? If so post those numbers too. It could be a number of things, but without those figures it would be guessing.

Also what is the size of the pool, whats it made out of and what kind of filter.
===============================
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liontiger
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Postby liontiger » Fri 20 Jul, 2007 18:19

30,000 gallon in ground pool with vinyl liner

Filter is dejousx (sp ?) which filters through two bags (no sand)

Free Chorline is 3-5

hardness was 60 (our neighbors have the exact same pool, same water supply, and have never checked their hardness and have never had cloudy water problem).

I do not check chlorine before I shock it once a week. Being new I figured you shocked once a week regardless.

I don't know what CYA is ?
Backglass
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Postby Backglass » Sat 21 Jul, 2007 18:56

CYA (stabalizer) is Cyanuric Acid. Think of it as sunscreen for chlorine. With too little your chlorine will dissappear in a matter or hours. Too much and it lock up the chlorine so it doesnt work as efficiently, or at all. You really rneed to find out how mur or little you have.

If your chlorine is 5-10 and your free chlorine is 3-5, you have 2-8 combined chlorine. Thats the stuff that stings your eyes and smells. It means that you have something in your water that is using up your chlorine. You need to shock to burn it off until your free & total chlorine are the same.

When you say 3-5 and 5-10 I assume you are using test strips. If so, these are unreliable junk. Every pool owner needs a real test kit for accuracy and safety.
===============================

I'm no expert...just a long time pool owner. The real experts are at www . troublefreepool . com



Download Bleachcalc free at troublefreepool . com /files/BleachCalc262.exe and start saving money on chemicals.
Quad

cloudy after shock

Postby Quad » Sun 22 Jul, 2007 09:40

Yea I have the same problem so I took a sample to my pool store, they said all levels where perfect. So I shocked it because I had a few organic stains with 2.5 pounds. (vinly 19000gal.) That was last monday and It is still cloudy. I get the same problem after I shock it with the normal 2lb shock, it immediatley clouds up and stays that way for week or more. I take one pound mix it in an old 25lb shock bucket with water throw in pool then do the last pound the same way with the same result. I am using calcium hypochlorite. Is there a different kind I could use, this is driving me crazy. Thanks for any help
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Re: cloudy after shock

Postby Backglass » Sun 22 Jul, 2007 20:16

Quad wrote:Yea I have the same problem so I took a sample to my pool store, they said all levels where perfect. So I shocked it because I had a few organic stains with 2.5 pounds. (vinly 19000gal.) That was last monday and It is still cloudy. I get the same problem after I shock it with the normal 2lb shock, it immediatley clouds up and stays that way for week or more. I take one pound mix it in an old 25lb shock bucket with water throw in pool then do the last pound the same way with the same result. I am using calcium hypochlorite. Is there a different kind I could use, this is driving me crazy. Thanks for any help


Don't trust the teen behind the counter and buy a good test kit. Takea smaple to three different stores and you will get three different results.

Anyway...that being said, please post all the numbers from the pool store so we can double check their conclusions.

This is not directed at you, but I am baffled that people will pay hundreds, thousands even tens of thousands of dollars on a pool but wont drop $60 for a decent test kit. :?
===============================

I'm no expert...just a long time pool owner. The real experts are at www . troublefreepool . com



Download Bleachcalc free at troublefreepool . com /files/BleachCalc262.exe and start saving money on chemicals.
mamcwifey
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Re: Cloudy after shocking

Postby mamcwifey » Mon 23 Jul, 2007 11:02

liontiger wrote:We just opened our 30,000 gal pool this spring. After weekly shocking (3 lbs poollife shock) ouyr water stays cloudy for longer and longer periods of time.

TA = 140
pH = 7.8
CHlor 5-10

We have removed the chorline tablets from the skimmer basket. Pool still stays cloudy for 24-28 hours after shocking. Any suggestions ?


how many hours are you running yoru filter?
also- if you point the eyeballs down and away from the skimmer, that may improve water circulation.
*mamcwifey
liontiger
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Postby liontiger » Mon 23 Jul, 2007 20:51

I run the filter 24/7. I plan on having the water tested on Wednesday and I'll try and post the numbers, the recommendations and the end results. What type of test kit is recommended and where can it be purchased ?
liontiger
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Postby liontiger » Fri 27 Jul, 2007 13:00

All my numbers were in the desired ranges. I was using Poolife Rapid Shock (Calcium Hypochlorite) and the pool store suggested using Poolife Clean Shock (Sodium DiChhloro-s-Triazinetrione Hydrated) and the pool is now crystal clear. Off course the Clean Shock is about $1.50 more per bag but the clear water is worth it.
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Postby chem geek » Fri 27 Jul, 2007 13:53

The shock you are using is Dichlor and for every 1 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Dichlor it also adds 0.9 ppm to Cyanuric Acid (CYA). Whereas the chlorine will get used up, the CYA does not and builds up over time making the chlorine less effective and it more likely for you to get algae. The early stages of algae make the water look dull, then cloudy, then eventually green, but it takes at least 2-3 days.

I suggest you get yourself a good test kit, the Taylor K-2006 from Taylor here or from Leslie's here or from other online stores (most pool shops do not carry the K-2006, though some carry the K-2005 but that is NOT the same thing and has an inferior chlorine test) or you can get the even better TF-100 that is based on the Taylor kit from tftestkits here. These kits use the FAS-DPD chlorine test which can measure chlorine levels up to 50 ppm and has a resolution of 0.2 ppm or 0.5 ppm depending on sample size. The test kit also measures pH, Total Alkalinity (TA), Cyanuric Acid (CYA) and Calcium Hardness (CH).

I suspect your CYA level is high so if you don't keep a higher Free Chlorine (FC) level, then you will be at risk of getting algae more and more. If you don't want to lower your CYA level, which can only be done through dilution (partial drain/refill or more frequent backwashing), then you should use PolyQuat 60 algaecide with an initial dose and then a weekly maintenance dose. That will keep away the algae even with the chlorine level being too low for the CYA level.

Richard
Kenric

Postby Kenric » Fri 27 Jul, 2007 22:12

liontiger wrote:All my numbers were in the desired ranges. I was using Poolife Rapid Shock (Calcium Hypochlorite) and the pool store suggested using Poolife Clean Shock (Sodium DiChhloro-s-Triazinetrione Hydrated) and the pool is now crystal clear. Off course the Clean Shock is about $1.50 more per bag but the clear water is worth it.


So you used a different type of pool shock and it became clear. But I'm wondering if it's just a coincidence and that your CL level was raised high enough to kill the algae. If you put Poolife Rapid Shock instead this last time, your pool could have cleared up also.

Chemically, how would this second type of chlorine help clear up the pool?
liontiger
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Postby liontiger » Sun 29 Jul, 2007 20:36

The CYA was 34. We never had algae. The hardness was 200. pH was 7.2 and TA was 120. We use an algicide every week. I am going to invest in one of the aforementioned kits. Thanks for all of your responses/suggestions.

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