Sudden cloudiness

[Barry J]

It's the next morning , and here is what I did last night.
I put in one gal of shock , 4 lbs of stabilizer (3lbs in a sock hung in front of the return, and the rest thru the skimmer), and I also put in 6 lbs of baking soda.
I have not check on it yet, but will in ten minutes.
I ordinally do not run my filter all night, I hope I do not have to , to much longer, my electric bill is going to hurt this month.
Barry

[Barry J]

Just teted (5am)..chlorine is up to 3, and ph is still hovering around 7.0,maybe a little less.
Questions:
Should I put more baking soda in?
At what hours should I be running my filter(on normal days)?
How offer should I be putting in granular shock?
and last, how often should I be putting in stabilizer?
Thanks
Barry

[Watermom]

Go ahead and add about 6 more lbs. of baking soda. Maybe put in 3 lbs. and an hour or two later add the other 3 lbs.

Your pH is a little low. Get some 20 Mule Team Borax from Walmart (laundry aisle) and add a half a box slowly into the skimmer while the pump is running, breaking up any clumps. Wait a few hours and retest pH. Redose as needed to get pH to about 7.4-7.8. Once the pH starts to move, you'll probably want to add less than a half a box at a time.

Go ahead and add another 1/2 gallon of your 12.5% liquid chlorine. That should add about 3.5 more cl. In your size pool, each quart of 12.5% bleach will add about 1.8ppm of cl. Use that as a reference point. For the next couple of days, test at least morning and evening and each time, add enough bleach to get back to around 6ppm. Hopefully by Friday, your CYA will have dissolved and you'll be able to test and add chlorine in the evenings only. Every time you test, you'll add enough to get back to about 6. You don't want it to dip below 3.

You need to add the other lb. of CYA to the sock in front of the return jet. (4 lbs. is not enough.) Then, wait until you return from your trip before you retest the CYA level and then report it back here and we'll decide at that time if you need to add anymore CYA.

For the next 2 days, I'd suggest running the pump 24/7 until that CYA dissolves. After that, you can run it for 8-10 hours per day and that should be plenty. If you want, you can break it down into two 4 or 5 hour sessions. But, always make sure you run the pump at least an hour after adding things.

Repost new readings (except CYA) this evening. When are you leaving town?

[waterbear]

I ordinally do not run my filter all night, I hope I do not have to , to much longer, my electric bill is going to hurt this month.
Barry

THIS is why testing your water on a regular basis and keeping it balanced is so important. It saves a LOT of money in the long run.

[Barry J]

I just re-tested this AM, and got Cl at 5, and Ph at around 7.0....more baking soda???
I leaving tomorrow morning, I should be safe with my dad just adding granular chlorine for a week, correct??
Barry

[Watermom]

Baking soda is not used to raise pH, it is used to raise alk. What is your alk now? 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart) is used to raise pH. Add a half a box slowly to the skimmer. Retest pH a couple hours later and add a little more if it is still below 7.6.

Did you add the rest of the CYA as advised?

[Barry J]

I added the CYA as advised last night.
In the medical field a ph of 7.45 or higher is called alkalosis, that is where I figured raising the Ph is raising the alk...I'll go test that now

Total alkalitiy is 80ppm..how much borax???

Oh yeah borax is for the ph......sorry I'm already in "vacation mode"...ok some how is my alk???? Do I need anymore baking soda???

[BigDave]

Your alk is good enough. If (after a while) you find you pH is moving too quickly, you may consider bumping up a little with baking soda.

[Watermom]

What is the ingredient in your granular chlorine. Cal-hypo or dichlor? What is your pH?