cloudy water not clearing during slam

[mambawamba]

Hello all. Newbie here. We are on our 3rd week of the slam and my water has gotten blue but it is not clearing. We do have a sand filter and I know that they are slower to clear. The water hasn't really changed any since Monday. I take a pic every afternoon to compare. Filter running 24/7 backwashing when it increases 25%. Scrub twice a day. Checking levels 4-6 times per day.

ph was 7.4 when we started. I haven't rechecked
TA 100
CYA 40
FC 15 (added 2 c bleach to reach 16)

We were gone for a couple of days last week and used pucks in the skimmer. They were removed when we returned and slam started again after rechecking our CYA.

Just wanted to make sure we weren't missing something.

 

[RobbieH]

Have you tried an OCLT to see where you are?

 

[jblizzle]

Have you Deep Cleaned your Sand Filter ever?

If you are passing the OCLT and have checked/cleaned the sand, you could try to Add DE to your Sand Filter

 

[mambawamba]

Thanks for the quick response. I will try the OCLT tonight. I'll have to set remember to set my clock. We did clean the sand before we started slamming. We haven't been able to find DE in our area. We did find cellulose fiber. Will that work?

 

[RobbieH]

If you have to backwash a lot already, it will increase the backwash frequency so that you'll be backwashing even more. And, each time you backwash, you'll have to re-add the DE. Depends on if you are OK with that or not.

 

[mambawamba]

We were backwashing a lot at the beginning of the slam. But there hasn't been an increase in pressure all week. Should i backwash anyway?

 

[RobbieH]

Nope, backwashing before necessary only decreases the filtering efficiency.

 

[pabeader]

Thanks for the quick response. I will try the OCLT tonight. I'll have to set remember to set my clock. We did clean the sand before we started slamming. We haven't been able to find DE in our area. We did find cellulose fiber. Will that work?

The cellulose fiber will work but I question the lack of DE. Lowes and Home Depot both carry it in their pool areas. Any pool $tore will carry it, also. Just be sure you by the pool DE, not the garden DE.

 

[mambawamba]

Thanks I will check with them.

 

[mambawamba]

Passed the OCLT, 14 last night 13 this morning. Adding fiber today to filter today. From what I've read on here, the procedure is the same as adding DE to the sand filter.

 

[cowboycasey]

yep, use the same way.. add till your pressure raises 1 PSI and then watch the magic happen

 

[mambawamba]

Abracadabra

 

[mambawamba]

3rd day of using fiber and still not noticing any clearing. Any other suggestions?

 

[mambawamba]

Day 4 on the fiber and i still can't see the pattern in the pattern in the shallow end. Any other suggestions?

 

[pabeader]

Maybe fiber doesn't work the same as DE? Could you post your daily pics?

 

[mambawamba]

I just realized I forgot to take one yesterday morning. Here are the others since we have been using the fiber.

 

[mambawamba]

Sorry, forgot to post my numbers.
FC 2.5
CC .5
ph 7.4
CYA 35
TA 100

 

[otter86753]

So to go back over this, you pass the SLAM when you have met these three criteria:

Crystal Clear water
Pass the OCLT with less than 1 ppm FC loss
CC less than .5

If your water isn't clear, then you should still be at SLAM level which would be 16. Have you maintained the level of 16 consistently for three weeks? If so, we will look at other issues, but with a FC of 2.5, you are way under your SLAM level.

 

[jhirsch1]

For some reason when I opened my pool this year it stayed cloudy longer then expected. I just put some clarifier or something like that in and it was clear the next day. No issues in the 2 months since.


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