adding celloluse fiber to sand filter to clear dead algae haze?

[john redcorn]

I would have posted in the other guy's de into sand filter thread but I think i remember this forum being one that likes new threads for different situations and mine's a bit different than his

SWG didn't work this year and have been doing bleach, forgot for a couple days and it got green.

It's about a week since I killed it all off by shocking with bleach but the sand filter just isnt picking up the dead algae the flow never slows on it by feel (the psi guage on it is worthless.) it's way hazy, can barely see the legs of the ladder on the floor of this 48" pool.

I've read on here about people adding DE to a sand filter to help with this, also by googling I saw some saying they used cellulose fiber.

I saw this at the store yesterday, was cheaper and says it's safer and easier than DE so I got it.

I've been adding between 1-3 cups at a a time and it slows the flow within 2-3 hours so much that I backwash and add more.

I think it's doing something, i mean it doesn't immediately slow the flow when added so I think the flow is slowed later by it catching stuff. But I've backwashed, added cf about 6x since I got it yesterday and not really seeing any clearing up yet.

Is my filter (a 14" intex) so small that it just can't handle catching that much stuff on top of cf?

I have not tried (ever used) any type of flocculant or clarifier, are any of those any good? or should I just take a couple days to mostly drain and refill?

 

[Richard320]

I'm wondering if you "shocked" the pool or did you do the full Shock Level And Maintain process to completion?

I suspect you just stunted the algae and now you're at a stalemate where it's reproducing at the same rate you kill it so there's a never-ending supply of dead, bleached algae carcasses to filter out. The SLAM means keeping the FC up at shock level until the water is clear. Adding DE to get superfine filtration too soon will lead to rapid clogging, as you've seen.

Follow the link I posted and do what it says and kill the algae for keeps.

Here's some stories of folks who have done it. Recovering my old inspirational links - Page 2 Start there and move back in time. If they did it, you should be able to.

 

[john redcorn]

Hate to admit this here, but I don't have a proper test kit, just the ph + tc one. I've always been lucky and never needed anything more, esp using the swg and the other couple times I had a algal bloom i just put in 2 gals of bleach a day for 2 or 3 days until I saw no green and it just worked from there. from pool calculator 2 gals would give me 20ppm from 0ppm so i was probably above the 16ppm recommended shock level for 40 cya at times and maybe below at other times.

This is the only time I haven't been lucky and I'm considering just mostly draining and refilling, it's only 7000gal, water is cheap here (have never had to drain before but cheap water is why I've never got the proper test kit)

 

[john redcorn]

Had a pretty major clearing up overnight last night. I used the cf stuff 3x or so sunday and 3x or so monday and hadn't really seen any progress by about 7pm monday but overnight last night it's filtered out a whole lot, visibility is much better.

 

[chiefwej]

I don't know how much help we can be, since you are working completely blind here. You don't have a proper test kit, so you have no idea what your FC or CC levels are. You don't even have a pressure gauge to tell you what's happening with your circulation.

 

[tim5055]

Order a TF100 and at least include the XL option. That will give you what you need while you are clearing the pool, and probably enough reagents for a couple of years normal use.

The only other real option for a test kit is a Taylor K-2006. Be careful comparing prices because the K-2006 comes in sizes, designated by a letter. The basic K-2006 has .75oz bottles. You need to get the K-2006-C to get the larger bottles that you want. Even then it is a little short on the reagent & powder for the FAS/DPD test.

I also have the SpeedStir and Sample Sizer. They speed testing and accuracy.

 

[poolnoob.ca]

Also if you are ordering from TFtestkits add on a nice new pressure gauge

 

[john redcorn]

so i said I hadn't seen a difference using this cellulose fiber backwashing and changing it a few times from 1-8pm sun, few more times almost all day monday until 7 or 8 without a noticeable difference, there was a big difference overnight i posted about this morning but even bigger just the 10 hours i've been gone for work since this morning, I guess since the concentration of the particles has gone down it's more visible the changes and they come quicker.

Water is almost perfectly clear again, I can see a tiny speck of dirt on the floor perfect looking from above, but if i look at an angle across the pool i still see the slightest haze.


May just be blind luck again on my part, the guy without the proper test kit but I think this stuff really did cure my haze problem that I had for a week after I'm pretty sure I killed everything alive with bleach.

 

[domct203]

so i said I hadn't seen a difference using this cellulose fiber backwashing and changing it a few times from 1-8pm sun, few more times almost all day monday until 7 or 8 without a noticeable difference, there was a big difference overnight i posted about this morning but even bigger just the 10 hours i've been gone for work since this morning, I guess since the concentration of the particles has gone down it's more visible the changes and they come quicker.

Water is almost perfectly clear again, I can see a tiny speck of dirt on the floor perfect looking from above, but if i look at an angle across the pool i still see the slightest haze.


May just be blind luck again on my part, the guy without the proper test kit but I think this stuff really did cure my haze problem that I had for a week after I'm pretty sure I killed everything alive with bleach.

Have you ordered a proper test kit, or will you continue to use the "luck" approach?

Until you pass an OCLT and your CC is 0.5ppm or less you cannot be sure you have killed all the algae.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/136-perform-the-overnight-fc-chlorine-loss-test-oclt

Also, without accurate FC levels you are setting yourself up for another algae bloom.

Dom