'A situation'

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Jun 26, 2016
17
NY
Opening the pool quite late... first time opening this pool (new house to us).

Does CYA matter at this point?

Pool:
16x32 (8 ft deep end)
Vinyl
Sand Filter

Vacuumed and pulled as much leaves out as possible for about 5 hours today with another person. Added 5 gallons of liquid chlorine this evening. Will test for CYA and pH in the morning. Pump running on recirculate because flow slows to a trickle after about 30 minutes and want the water moving overnight (I think)

Tomorrows plan:
Hoping water is clearer to see bottom somewhat
Test levels -> Buy chlorine and adjust pH if necessary
Vacuum to waste
Open up filter and clean sand as shown in deep clean video (PSI even after backwash seems high ~16-18, reaches 22 after 30 min)

Advice? Encouragement?IMAG2353.jpg
 
Does CYA matter at this point?
Click to expand...
It will, but before you add any, test it first to see if you have any. If there's none, increase/test FC to see if FC can hold at all before adding CYA. Test FC about every 10 minutes while trying to keep it between 5-10 before adding CYA. Once you can get FC to hold after 10 minutes, increase CYA to 30.
Advice? Encouragement?
Click to expand...
Have lots of bleach ready, cold drinks, and a clock to test FC frequently until the FC holds on its own. Oh ..... and aspirin. I think you may need some of that for a few days. :hammer: When you get a chance, please copy & paste all of your pool info into your profile signature so we can see it on every post. Make sure to include which test kit you are using as well.

Takes pics each day and keep us posted. Good luck!
 
Water still dark - can't see third step.

Tested this morning
FC at 1.00
CYA at a whopping 60 - will be losing a lot of water to backwash and vacuum to waste so that will come down
pH 7 or slightly less

So far
6lbs soda ash - will check again soon to see how much more I need
Added 10gal 12% chlorine

Going to brush and test FC and start working on the filter sand.

Test kit is the Taylor k-2006
 
Consider if you're going to need some replacement reagents in short order with all the FC/CC testing you will need to be doing and go ahead and order them now. Nothing worse than being in the middle of the SLAM procedure and running out....

TFTestkits.net has what you need.
 
Surprise! I have a cartridge (EDIT - DE?) filter not sand.... Old owners just happened to have a 50lb bag of pool sand lying around for some reason. It desperately needed some love.
IMAG2355.jpgIMAG2354.jpg
I cannot figure out how to remove the cartridge - the PVC seems to be attached very firmly. I removed a bolt on the top center, and there are 2 handles that say 'lift here'. Doesn't budge.

Took 20 gal of 12% Cl to raise the free chlorine to 30. Last night between 5 and 7pm FC hovered at 26. This morning at 10:30 it had dropped to 12. Added 5 more gallons and it is back up to above 30. Have been vacuuming brushing, and cleaning the filter constantly.

Problem however, I cannot get the pH to budge. I have been using sodium carbonate. I have added 18 lbs so far and can't get it to move. Test kit still shows needing 8 drops to raise the pH to 7.4

Current results:
FC: 30
CYA: 50
pH: 7
Alkalinity: 160

Should I keep going with sodium carbonate?
Progress:IMAG2360.jpg
 
Yes, you have a DE filter. :) You'll need to remove the top manifold to gain access to all the "grids" that are used to filter water. Your grids look bare as though they have no DE coating on them which is not good. You don't want to run them unprotected, so you'll want to "charge" your filter soon with DE. Here are a couple links that may help you:
Use and care for DE filters
DE Filter Cleaning Tutorial

Now for your SLAM, don't worry about anything else right now except FC. If you do a lot of backwashes (when pressure increases by 25%), then check CYA again in 2-3 days. But all the other things (CH & TA) can be looked at after the SLAM.
 

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I suspect that even without a DE coating they must be trying to pick-up algae. Just be careful because you don't want to damage a grid. They can be a bit pricy. :) DE filters are great for water clarity, but because of that trait they can clog-up really fast as well. If needed, you can run on recirculate from time to time so that the bleach can continue to kill algae, then you switch back to filer and clean/re-charge when your schedule permits.
 
That looks like a Hayward DE filter. If I remember correctly, it's just an o-ring seal on the shaft...see page 7 here:
http://www.hayward-pool.com/pdf/manuals/ProGrid-DExx20.pdf
I've let the pressure on mine get well above the recommended increase given here, for no other reason than I can't possibly be there the entire time to backwash every hour. It still only took a few days to clear swampy smelling water...Put the nut back on- that holds the element assembly together...
 
Pool is crystal clear today. Did not take a FC reading last night but don't think I lost much overnight. Will be testing tonight. Thanks for the help everyone. Took 10 days to go from black swamp to oasis.

Last Friday I did a deep clean of the DE filter - soaking in dishwasher detergent and then muriatic acid. While pressure did not drop on the filter flow was greatly improved including at higher pressures. Will probably break down again at the end of the week to completely hose out and recharge with DE to make sure the DE levels are right for the rest of the season.
 
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