From green to cloudy!

[waterbear]

Hi again

I have an 18x36 vinyl pool. I'm using Sodium Hypochlorite (HTH) for shock. My PH is now very high( can't be a correct reading), which makes no sense as Sod Hypo usually lowers PH when you shock. I shocked with about 10 cups, which again is high, but I've done worse in the past. Usually a hard shock makes the water clarity better, but not in this case.
Sodium Hypochlorite might raise pH slighlyly, not lower it but what is most likely happening is that the phenol red indicator has converted to chlorphenol red because of the high chlorine levels. Chlorphenol red goes through the same color changes as phenol red but at much lower pH. It will turn purple at a pH of 6.8 as compared to 8.2 with phenol red! The better quality test kits such as Taylor's and the one Ben sells on the sister website www.poolsolutions.com have a chlorine neutralizer added to help minimize this interference.
I'm off the scale with CL (the test is actually an orangy red!), so can't give you a number. PH is reading wrong as well as CL is so high.

I've shutdown my pump, and hoping things will settle out. The algae (and anything else for that matter, ha ha) is killed off, just have to deal with the cloudiness.

It is difficult to get an accurate pH reading when the Cl level is very high. Let your chlorine levels drop to a more normal range and then retest your pH before making any adjustments

[MrApathetic]

Well, this is where I'm at.

When I opened my pool my CL was 2ppm and my ph was 7.6. I shocked and that's when it went cloudy. I shutdown my pump and alowed everything to settle out and now the water is clear enough to see the bottom in the deep end fairly well. My CL reading is now 6.5+ (probably higher, but that is the highest test kit I could find) and now my ph is in the 6.5 range, which I kind of expected as shock is acidic. I have alot of sediment on the bottom now, so I will be vaccuming to drain and then will adjust my ph slowly to avoid causing cloudiness again. The water isn't crystal clear, but it's getting there now that all the suspended solids have precipitated out.

As for raising ph, I've seen alot of discussion about using Borax to increase ph, instead of "ph up". Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[mbar]

Yes, borax is the way to go, it will raise your ph without raising your alkalinity. You are probably going to need a lot - if you are measuring 6.5, it may even be lower. I would get it in as soon as possible.

[aylad]

You said that you used sodium hypochlorite to shock, which is the same as bleach, which has a high (around 11) pH. I'm not surprised that your pH went up drastically after shocking. I am curious, though, about why it fell drastically. What is your TA level?
Janet