New pool owners - Sudddenly cloudy after adding soda ash

[hatzy]

We are brand new pool owners. We have the cheapo intex 15'. The pH was turning up low, below 7. I did the weekly shocking and then added about a cup of soda ash about 15 minutes later. The water turned very cloudy. It was crystal clear before that. I'm assuming it's from the soda ash, b/c from what I've read cloudy water could mean pH is too high. But when I test it, the pH does turn up about 7.8-8. Then we added pH decrease and the levels came down a bit, but still cloudy. This was over 12 hours ago and the brand new filter has been on all night, too.

#1- Is it safe to swim in the pool like that?
#2-IS it a result of doing the shock treatment AND the soda ash within a short window of time?
#2-How long should I wait before adding more pH decrease?
#3-Did I add too much soda ash or does that usually happen when you add the right amount?

Thanks for your help.

[thefish]

Same thing happened to me .... Pool guys told me to raise my harndness and lower my Alkilinity... Went back today and they told me my Cl is +10. Have no idea how that happened since I removed the floater two days ago ... Still cloudy

[chem geek]

If a pool is saturated with calcium carbonate, which plaster/gunite pools should be (or pools with tile that has exposed grout), then adding sodium carbonate / pH Up / Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda may cloud the pool or cause precipitate if added too quickly. The same is true if one adds Cal-Hypo. To avoid this, pre-mix these products in a bucket of pool water and slowly add them.

Also, get a good test kit, the Taylor K-2006, and test the water yourself. It is possible that you have a combination of too high Calcium Hardness (CH), Total Alkalinity (TA) and pH which cause over-saturation of calcium carbonate and cloudy water. Lowering any or all of these is usually the answer, though CH can only be lowered by dilution while TA requires aeration at low pH as described in this post.

Richard

[Grocd3]

I put about 6 pounds too much Soda Ash in my pool and now it's very cloudy. I tried diluting the water with a hose and pumping water out for 12 hours and that did nothing. Then I went to leslie's and they tested my water (they said it was fine) and sold me a bottle of pool first aid which is supposed to clear water fast!

It's been over 12 hours and my pool is still cloudy. My pool is inground, concrete and about 20,000 galons. I only have a day to clear it up. Should I put acid in there and then PH up to restore the levels? Will that clear the pool?

[chem geek]

Do not ever add acid and then later add pH Up. The net result is the same as adding baking soda and just increases TA.

You can lower the TA level by following the procedure outlined in this post. The initial step of lowering the pH should start to clear things up, but the point is to get the TA lower since your overdose of pH Up raised both the pH and the TA.