How Can I Clear Up My Pool Water

by Kim

How Can I Clear Up My Water

by Kimm
(North Carolina)

I have a 13000 Gal above the ground pool. It was neglected for most of the summer last year due to financial problems, but now this spring, we are opening it up. I have gotten it balanced, gotten rid of chlorine demand, and have vacuumed out 3 skimmer baskets full of debris from the bottom.

My dilema is this: during the winter, our metal pole we use to attach to the vacuum hose fell in the pool and we didnt notice it until I went to start cleaning it this spring. So I now have an oxidation scale on the sides of the pool that I have tried to brush off.

I have gotten it off the loose layer, but there is still a layer that will not come off unless I scrape it off with my fingernails. Despite the pool being totally balanced, it is still extremely cloudy.

I have flocked it this weekend and was assured this will settle everything to the bottom, but of course, it hasnt. I vacuumed it this morning to waste and DID get alot of the scale out to the yard.

My question/questions for you is could this cloudyness be due to the oxidation still? What must I do to get it clear? Will the residual scale that is on the sides just keep it cloudy?

I am at my wits end with this thing and am just ready to rip the whole thing out and say forget it. I am SICK of working on it without seeing any results.

ANYTHING you can tell me would be greatly appreciated. I have spent over $400 on this pool since the end of April. PLEASE HELP ME!!

Thanks for the question Kim

I'd like to have your complete chemical readings:

Chlorine, CYA (cyanuric acid/stabilizer), pH, Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness, and Metals (iron and copper). It makes troubleshooting much easier and the process of clearing up your pool will go much faster.

You can get this done at your local pool store. Next is the cloudiness. There could be many reasons why a pool goes cloudy. More times than not it's an early sign of an algae bloom. This is why I need your readings so I can rule that out.

I would encourage you to lay off floccing the pool for a while. While this could be a temporary fix, it never addresses why the pool is cloudy in the first place.

I would encourage you to test for metals in the water, mainly copper and

iron. While the pole might be a contributing factor, you need to know if your fill water is high in metals. In that case, you would want to use a metal sequestrant that is based on HEDP, phosphonic acid or something similar are the most effective.

Jack's Magic Blue, Purple, and Pink Pink Stuff, Metal Magic, Metal Free, & Metal Klear are very good. Be sure any algaecides you use don't have any metals or copper in them. You don't want to add to the problem. An algaecide does not remove green pool water or kill algae, it's used for preventative measures only, normally on a weekly basis. A PolyQuat 60 algaecide is a good one to use.

A metal sequestrant does not remove metal from pool water, regardless of what the guy at the pool store says. It holds it in solution until it can get filtered. Then you backwash the metal out. Because metal sequestrants break down over time and get filtered and backwashed out, you need to weekly dose your pool if you have high iron and copper.

Here's a good post about using the wrong algaecide with a vinyl pool liner:

Sticky Pool Algaecide On Vinyl Liner

Another test you can run is with ascorbic acid, which is nothing more than Vitamin C. The procedure is found here:

Brown Algae Won't Come Off Of A Vinyl Liner

Using a Trichlor tablet, hold it on the stain for about 10 minutes. Use a stick or a pool pole. You can also use about 1/2 lb. of calcium hypochlorite (granular chlorine) in an old sock to put on a spot.

If the stain doesn't lighten up, gets darker or the color changes to black, it's probably a metal stain. If it does lighten up, it's organic and a shock will take care of it. To confirm it's a metal stain, get a Vitamin C tablet (crushed up acsorbic acid), put that in a sock, and place it on the stain. If the stain is removed, you can treat the pool with the ascorbic acid treatment.

To sum it up:

- Get me your chemical readings

- Test for metals. If you have them, use a metal sequestrant.

- Test for metal staining using the chlorine tab and Vitamin C tablet. For organic stains, you'll shock the pool. For metal stains, ascorbic acid treatment.

If you need immediate assistance (within 24 hrs) or for emergency personal assistance, you can make a donation of your choice and I'll answer your questions by phone. Hope this helps and have a great Summer.

Robert