Vacuum on low?

[Shirker]

This is my third season and my first battle with algae. Between writing a paper, work, and the weather, I let my chlorine drop and the pool turned rather green. Thanks to this site, I knew exactly how to clean it up. Water is now perfectly clear and everything is great.... Except for some super fine silt that collects in a few divots on the bottom. No matter how much I vacuum, they come back after a day or so. I'm thinking the sand filter just is not catching it. I know I can vacuum to waste but was hoping to avoid dumping so much water. I usually vacuum on high. Will vacuuming on low help? My hope is that with less pressure, it will be less likely to be pushed all the way through the filter. Has anyone else experimented with this? If this doesn't work, I will try diatomaceous earth next week.

Thanks in advance!

 

[needsajet]

Good plan to try some DE.

I don't know about your vacuuming method, but mine works fine on low speed. It travels much slower, but eventually covers the pool. Dead algae is very light in weight, and my manual vacuum sucks up light dust easily on low speed.

 

[woodyp]

Even if you "put it into the filter" by vacuuming on low......it's still gonna blow it back out when you circulate on high. Have you deep cleaned your filter?

 

[needsajet]

Good point from Woody above. This link has a thorough explanation of sand filters and how to deep-clean them, which you might find helpful: Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

 

[Shirker]

Thanks, guys. I deep cleaned the filter after my first season but not last year or this year. I think I will just try some DE for now (it came back even after vacuuming on low). Maybe I will do another deep clean this Fall.