Water still cloudy

[benhiers]

Water reading are
FC 10
CC .5
PH 7.2
AK 90
CYA 40
29 x 52 above ground pool. Sand filter

Did the slam for a week. Passed OCLT on more than one night. But water is still very cloudy can not see the bottom. Any advise.
It was very bad. Green when I started.

 

[mknauss]

Sand filters are slow to clear.
Have you tried using Add DE to a Sand Filter

 

[Mdragger88]

It can take sand filters a little longer to clear the cloudiness.
Keep with slam level fc until you pass All 3 end of slam criteria to ensure you have eradicated the algae.
You are done when:

CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
AND
the water is clear.
(Crystal Clear w/no algae dead or alive)
There are some things you can do to help your sand filter along.

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...

www.google.com

And

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.

www.google.com

 

[benhiers]

Thanks. I will try the de. I have deep cleaned the filter.

 

[Texas Splash]

Man oh man does this sound familiar. Green in TN And from Murfreesboro no less. Must be something in the air over there. Ha. Stay with it. Take pics each day to compare progress and let us know if anything seems odd along the way. Good luck.

 

[benhiers]

I just added the de to the filter. Didn’t take much to bring pressure 1 psi. It took about half a quart jar. Added de to the jar mixed with water and poured in skimmer. Will see what it looks like in the morning.

 

[mknauss]

Keep checking it this evening. It can plug up quick. Not sure I would leave it overnight.

 

[benhiers]

Gotcha will do. Will I lose the de I put in when I backwash it?

 

[mknauss]

Yes. The DE is fine dirt. You are plugging up the sand filter so it can filter out the fines. A dirty sand filter works better, until it stops working ---

 

[benhiers]

Just checked it. Pressure already up about 4lbs from where it started. So looks like it is working.

 

[mknauss]

It can take several iterations of Add DE, filter, backwash, Add DE, etc

 

[Mdragger88]

Backwash when pressure rises 25% over the clean pressure you got immediately after adding de.
If you’re still up for baby sitting the filter go another round. Repeat as you are able to monitor.

 

[benhiers]

Thanks for the help. Will let you know how it looks in a few days.

 

[benhiers]

Backwash when pressure rises 25% over the clean pressure you got immediately after adding de.
If you’re still up for baby sitting the filter go another round. Repeat as you are able to monitor.

Sounds like I need to backwash already. Pressure wash 10psi. I added de to 11 psi. It’s already at almost 15 now.

 

[mknauss]

Check the flow from the returns. If strong, stay with it, if weak, time to backwash.

 

[benhiers]

Added it couple more times today. It is topping up really quick. Like in 10 minutes. Don’t have time to babysit it today. So backwashed and added just a small amount of de. Will check when I get back home. Gonna be home a couple hours.

 

[benhiers]

Update. I gave up and drained the pool. I needed a new liner anyway. Problem was under the steps. It was awful. I guess I need to take the steps out every couple of years. Now the problem is I have a few broken caps for the copping. I will post it in another thread.

 

[Mdragger88]

You should remove & clean the steps at least at the beginning & end of each season. Also many steps need to be modified with extra holes & waterproof weights so they don’t become algae hotels. Post a pic of what you have for ideas on how to accomplish that.

 

[benhiers]

Will post pic of steps once I get home. Yea I used a few backs of sand to hold them down. They didn’t do a very good job. Plus they were full of algae. Lesson learned

 

[Mdragger88]

Will post pic of steps once I get home. Yea I used a few backs of sand to hold them down. They didn’t do a very good job. Plus they were full of algae. Lesson learned

Sand isn’t the best choice unless it’s in water proof containers. My weights are bleach jugs with a mix of sand & concrete. The lids are capped with duct tape before putting the cap on (cuz bleach jugs are vented). I hang mine from a rope attached to a hole in the back of my steps since mine don’t have a bottom to set weights on.
In the ballast that sits in one of the steps I have sealed country time containers filled with sand. The pool people just filled it with sand initially even though I tried to object. It became algae city very quickly. I guess they didn’t care because it’s not their pool they just wanted to be finished installing. They also said that tiny cylinder of sand would hold them down- nope
Depending upon the configuration many people have done filled & capped pvc pipes as weights.