Persistent milky-blue water solved; Orenda CV-600, PR-10000, and clarifier thoughts

[AMGolf]

My pool pump would not start when I opened the pool in May. It took until late July to get all my equipment replaced (thanks supply chain!). My pool went from clear to a idyllic shade of green (picture attached) to a brown swamp with tadpoles in it (also pictured).

pH was astronomically high. I added acid to no apparent effect (evidently, a bad idea if the pump is not running), then added some more with equally poor results. Lots of 10% bleach helped turn it from brown to green, which is where our story begins.

After running for one night, the pool was a milky, pretty green on 7/22. On 7/24, it was similar but more blue. It kept turning blue until it was solidly blue but milky, and this persisted for a long time. By 8/2, it still looked cloudy and hadn't visibly changed in days.

I kept chlorine levels up per SLAM process for a long time (even as chlorine was holding overnight) and the water was generally balanced (although I was very low on calcium, so I added that during the process). Also, once my new pump turned on, I guess it stirred up the acid I'd added previously, because pH plummeted to well below 7. Getting it balanced out was a chore.

Anyway, the water was cloudy AF. I'd gone from a DE filter to cartridge, so I blamed that at first. I added Super Blue clarifier to no effect. I then added PR-10000 phosphate remover, since I've got high organic loads and phosphate levels (it reduced my levels from 1000 to 125 quickly) and I needed to install a SWCG once the water cleared up, but the milky/cloudy water persisted.

On 8/2, I tried added a $25 quart of Orenda's CV-600 enzymes. Their website claims that if you have high amounts of XYZ (oils, non-organics, etc.) in your water, chlorine can have a hard time dealing with it, and those materials can make water cloudy and also bind with the phosphate removers to keep them from settling out. I know folks on here are against most things that don't come from the supermarket, but by the next morning, the pool was markedly clearer, and by the following day it was clear. A little more Super Blue clarifier made it crystal clear.

So now I'm happily on SWCG, and 10% bleach as/if needed. But I thought I'd share my experience here.

 

[needsajet]

Sorry to hear you got taken to the cleaners, so to speak, by the pool stores.

To others, post your challenge early and we'll help you avoid experiences like this one. For clarity, TFPers have no preference for grocery store products, but we're very dedicated to using effective treatments at reasonable cost. Many of those can be purchased from pool stores safely and cost-effectively. We generally suggest members avoid following advice from pool stores, particularly when it includes some of the unnecessary products mentioned.

If pool water is cloudy, a SLAM should be continued until the water is fairly clear. 24/7 filtration through an effective filter is a good approach. Chemicals should always be well mixed in the water, regardless of pump status. Brushing or a small submersible pump are effective mixing methods during equipment failure.

 

[AMGolf]

Sorry to hear you got taken to the cleaners, so to speak, by the pool stores.

To others, post your challenge early and we'll help you avoid experiences like this one. For clarity, TFPers have no preference for grocery store products, but we're very dedicated to using effective treatments at reasonable cost. Many of those can be purchased from pool stores safely and cost-effectively. We generally suggest members avoid following advice from pool stores, particularly when it includes some of the unnecessary products mentioned.

If pool water is cloudy, a SLAM should be continued until the water is fairly clear. 24/7 filtration through an effective filter is a good approach. Chemicals should always be well mixed in the water, regardless of pump status. Brushing or a small submersible pump are effective mixing methods during equipment failure.

No pool stores were consulted on this, although the place I bought my pump from did try to load me up on a bunch of wonder chemicals. You'd be proud that I politely declined.

I had persistently cloudy blue water for a week. SLAM levels had been maintained, proper test kits were used, CC was long gone, and FC was holding overnight. It could be the case that continued SLAMing would have cleared it up eventually. I attribute the almost immediate improvement to the CV-600, which for $25 (vs dumping bleach endlessly into the pool) is a no-brainer. I'd use it again. If others have success with it too, it might get added to the list of cost/time effective products. Only way to know is to get feedback on observed results.

 

[Donldson]

I attribute the almost immediate improvement to the CV-600

Yep, a typical Amazon-style review.

"I dumped a bunch of stuff in to the water blindly. Eventually the water cleared. I attribute this to the last thing I dumped in. I recommend it to everyone now"

You do not know what was going on with your water or what the CV-600 even did. If that's how you want to run your own water then nobody is stopping you. However, throwing products in without knowing what they really are or why they might or might not help is not a good foundation for offering advice.

TFP is about educating people so that they know not just what to do to their water but also why they want to do it. Adding what is needed, when it is needed. Encouraging people to add items without knowing why they are doing it and for no reason than "yeah, this might work" is a pool store game.

 

[AMGolf]

The manufacturer of the product has a library of content on pool chemistry, and the hows and whys of their products and what they are meant to do. I read it; it made sense to me; my issues seemed to track with the problems they described; I used the products as directed; they worked as expected. Unless of course it was a happy coincidence, and that product had nothing to do with my pool abruptly clearing up right on queue.

I've gotten a lot of good info here over the years. Many posts though talk about how SLAMing can take weeks to clear water (just keep the faith), which is either the one true way or is dogmatic to a fault. I found something that has the very strong appearance of having worked to cheaply and quickly solve a major nuisance for me; the experts here are free to debate its efficacy. I have no dog in the fight, but if my results are repeatable then that would be useful to know in general. Granted, I've never dealt with a pool that far gone in all these years, and I hope to never again.

 

[needsajet]

Many posts though talk about how SLAMing can take weeks to clear water

A SLAM done correctly does not take "weeks" with the possible exception of a foreclosure swamp with heavy organic load unseen on the bottom. A SLAM done because of cloudy water and identification of algae consuming FC overnight can be completed in 4 to 7 days on average. The benefit of complete algae elimination (crystal clear water) can last for years.

When people follow TFPC, it's unlikely to be needed, but we're all human and people can miss a contamination event, delay testing too much, something happens over a holiday, or equipment can break down. A SLAM will fix it. Cloudiness gets fixed with filtration, which takes little effort, but does require the filter to be operated properly.

It's all very simple and requires only proven products. We help people with the methods, but that doesn't mean they follow along correctly, and indeed, there have been some long SLAMs. Our concern with unproven products is the time delay and worsening of the problem. For many people, the swim season is short, so we're unlikely to recommend playing around with methods that may or may not work.

 

[SoDel]

My understanding is the CV-600 is effective at oxidizing formerly-living organics more efficiently than chlorine. Chlorine is simpler, of course and the CV-600 isn’t exactly cheap. YMMV, etc. I totally agree with not pouring any “magic elixirs” in a pool to cure all ills. If a particular situation warrants enzymes based on an experienced diagnosis, seems to make a lot of sense. If it’s a shot in the dark, might as well light the money on fire and interpret the ashes .

Chlorine seems to cure pretty much everything and it’s not really expensive. Makes a whole lot of sense to stick with the chlorine universal cure unless there are other constraints and the operator has the experience to change up the course of treatment.

 

[AMGolf]

In case the original point was lost, my pool was basically a foreclosure swamp, having not been run, filtered, or chlorinated from closing in Fall 2021 until late July 2022 - the last 2mo+ of which it was uncovered. There were heavy organic loads unseen on the bottom, which I worked to net out before dumping chlorine in. Frogs adored the pool at night, and tadpoles were growing rather large. It was a huge mess, not a "I took a week-long vacation and now look" scenario.

SLAMing absolutely took care of the green issue. The cloudy blue mess seemed to go nowhere though, and to your point, swim season was practically over. The robot and filter were clean and had stopped fouling. Maintaining SLAM levels during full-sun/heat isn't free and I was already 12 days into it; the 10% chlorine from HD runs $4.50/gal and is the cheapest thing going locally. Trying something that worked as advertised that cost me ~4 days worth of SLAM chlorine seems like a screaming good deal in my situation.

I'll say this though: for dealing with general algae problems, actually maintaining the high/SLAM FC levels as prescribed really does eliminate algae nicely. I've battled recurrent algae issues over the years; never green water or cloudiness, just mustard algae on the walls, and I don't think I was ever able to come to grips with dumping enough bleach in to get FC up high enough for long enough to get rid of it. Finding the 10% stuff nearby at HD for the first time this year was huge; previously it involved Costco runs, and 5 cases of 8% bleach doesn't last that long if you never get it over the hump. ...and FC would dip and algae would come roaring back. Since SLAMing this time, I haven't seen a spec of algae and FC is holding. Now with the SWCG, it seems dialed in for the first time ever! ...I wonder if Orenda makes a magic pH bounce eliminator?