Cloudy water is it my filter?

[Watermom]

Is your sand "pool sand." It makes a difference. Try the DE test. (By the way, DE is not sand. You should be able to find it at your pool store.)

Check your manual for how much sand your filter needs. It may be that you are low and need to top it off. The consensus around here seems to be that most people don't think Zeobrite is worth it.

Glad you ordered a K2006. Unfortunately, most pool store testing isn't accurate.

[Skymarc]

Im pretty sure its pool sand as it was sold by a pool shop. I will try to find some DE.
Just got my K2006 test kit. Will test tomorrow.

[Skymarc]

I added some Stabilizer and Borox. I did my first test with my k2006. PH is still low, could the Stabilizer put the PH down?
Water is still cloudy, need to find the problem with the filter.

PH 7.0
FC 7.5
CC 0.5
TA 80
CA 200
CYA 50

[Watermom]

Stabilizer doesn't really affect pH too much. Go ahead and add some more Borax to try and bump it up.

[PoolDoc]

. . . membership updated.

DE filter test info => http://pool9.net/de-test/

[Skymarc]

Just want to update.

I took my sand filter apart, found out that the installer 7 years ago had use a 1.1/4 pipe standout on a 2" filter head. Spyders were ok. No wonder it wouldn't filter. Glued in an adapter and pipe to 2" and reinstall my sand and filter head. Big job on a 30" filter.

Within 4 days the pool as clear up perfectly.

Added 2 box of borax and 1 box of sod bicarb.
Added 3 x 2 kgs of stabilizer and now the pool is clear and uses very little chlorine.

Here are my numbers, from the pool shop test but mine are basically the same.
FC 3
TC 3
PH 7.5
TA 140
CH 220
CYA 70
Borate 30
Copper 0.5

I took a sample of water to my pool shop and they gave me a perfect water balance certificate !
Thanks for the help.

Now I got a few stains on the liner, whats the best product to clean does?

[CarlD]

Fire your pool store.

With a CYA level of 70, your FC needs to be a MINIMUM of 5ppm. If you have an SWCG (saltwater chlorine generator), it needs to be a MINIMUM of 3.5ppm.

So FC of 3 with CYA of 70 is definitely NOT perfect and at risk of algae growth. Other numbers look OK for a vinyl pool.

But...if you find your pH isn't stable, you'll want to lower your TA. If, however, pH is stable, you are fine--don't fix what isn't broken.

[PoolDoc]

Argh. I really, really *wish* we had a simple way to remove stains and metals.

But you've got a sand filter; that will help. Let me explain the concept, and then get to the details.

1. You need to find out out the metals are getting into your water -- and stop it, if possible.
2. You need to make sure that standard chemicals will remove the stains -- test with Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and Iron Out (sodium hydrosulfite)
3. You need to prepare to re-dissolve the stains into the pool water (Vit. C or Iron Out) -- using non-chlorine compatible chemicals.
4. You need to re-chlorinate BUT keep the metals dissolved.
5. You need to gradually remove the dissolved metals from solution, without returning them to the stains
6. You need to act to prevent metals from entering your pool (preferable) or else manage their entry, if you can't prevent it.
7. Because the process often isn't perfect, you may have to repeat the stain removal 1 or 2x, before you can permanently eliminate them.

Whew!

As you can see, this is a complex process. As far as I know, there is no simple one-step fix. The various products on the market for metal control or management are over-hyped and under-described, presumably because explaining to pool owners how complex this process is, hurts sales.

Keep in mind, that doing nothing is an option.

Stains don't hurt anyone, and if no one in your family is getting green hair, deciding you can live with them is a perfectly good option. You *should* figure out (a) if that 0.5 ppm Cu result is real or bogus, and (b) if it's not bogus, how copper is entering your pool. Once you do, you probably want to stop it.

If you decide you DO want to deal with the stains and metal, you need to do all of the following:

1. Enter your pool data in the pool chart:

http://pool9.net/pf-pool-form/

2. Enter test results from your pool into the pool history spread sheet:

http://pool9.net/pf-hist-form/

You can see results here:

http://pool9.net/pf-hist-chart/

3. Enter test results from your pool FILL water into the pool history spread sheet as well.

4. Try to identify HOW metals are entering your pool. (Algaecides, ionizers, fill water)

5. Test your stains with Vit. C and Iron Out to see if applying a few tabs or 1/4 cup granules will lift the stains.



Lemme know what you plan do to!