I'm not sure if it's proper etiquette to continue posting for my pool on the same thread, or if I should start a different thread for different topics on the same pool. I figure for the sake of reading the whole history in one place, I'll just continue on this thread.
Everything has been going great on the pool so far! I'm still battling the high calcium and TA, but I'm making progress. I'm aerating using the water fall to raise the pH, but it's a very slow process. I've only had to add muratic acid once in two weeks and I've been running the waterfall 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. Current results are:
FC: 3ppm (it's low cause I ran out of bleach two days ago, going to the store right after I finish typing! :-D )
TC: 3ppm
pH: ~7.7
TA: 170
CYA: 55ish
CH: 470
I just backwashed the filter for the first time last night, and so this post is questions about that. It's a pentair DE filter 36 sqft and it says on the label to add 3.6 lbs of DE. I backwashed the filter by running backwash on the multiport till it ran clean (about 4 minutes). Then I switched to rinse for 30 seconds or so, then back to backwash till clean. I repeated this probably 10 times. Each time I would do it, I'd get a little more "snow" in the sight glass. I finished with a rinse cycle and then back to filter on the multiport.
I read alot of waste's posts on backwashing, and so I thought I'd go with adding 3.3 lbs (compromise between waste's 80% and the 100% the filter says to use). The box of DE I have was left by the previous owner and had a scoop in it. The scoop had weight measurements on the side and label that said "for use with this product only". Since I wasn't sure if the DE came with that scoop or not, I checked it and it turned out it was "calibrated" for something with 2x the density of DE. It measured out 5oz to be 10z (to clarify, the scoop reads 10oz, when it is actually holding 5oz of DE). So, given that and a scoop size of 16 oz (as labeled) I put in about 6.5 scoops (should be around 3.3 lbs). I added the DE to the closest skimmer while the pump was running. I added it by mixing 1 scoop at a time (about 1/2 lb) with 1 gallon of water and mixing till it looked like milk. Then I'd pour the slurry into the skimmer.
When we moved in, the filter read ~18 psi. It slowly crept up to around 22 psi two days ago. A couple of times it would go high, then go low again. For example, I'd check it one day at 24-25psi, then it'd be back down to 19-20 the next day. It did this once or twice in the last month. Then, we let me brothers dog in the pool on friday, and after that the filter was up to 28 psi. The dog sheds alot, and we had several people in the pool at the same time so I can't say I was too surprised. During backwashing, I noticed the filter pressure to be around 8 psi with no DE while in filter mode. After adding the DE, it's now up to 11 psi. In the manual for the pool (if you can call it that), the previous owner noted 18 psi as the "normal" pressure. Now, here is the question. Does any of this not look right?
Thanks as always to everyone for helping me help myself!
Everything has been going great on the pool so far! I'm still battling the high calcium and TA, but I'm making progress. I'm aerating using the water fall to raise the pH, but it's a very slow process. I've only had to add muratic acid once in two weeks and I've been running the waterfall 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. Current results are:
FC: 3ppm (it's low cause I ran out of bleach two days ago, going to the store right after I finish typing! :-D )
TC: 3ppm
pH: ~7.7
TA: 170
CYA: 55ish
CH: 470
I just backwashed the filter for the first time last night, and so this post is questions about that. It's a pentair DE filter 36 sqft and it says on the label to add 3.6 lbs of DE. I backwashed the filter by running backwash on the multiport till it ran clean (about 4 minutes). Then I switched to rinse for 30 seconds or so, then back to backwash till clean. I repeated this probably 10 times. Each time I would do it, I'd get a little more "snow" in the sight glass. I finished with a rinse cycle and then back to filter on the multiport.
I read alot of waste's posts on backwashing, and so I thought I'd go with adding 3.3 lbs (compromise between waste's 80% and the 100% the filter says to use). The box of DE I have was left by the previous owner and had a scoop in it. The scoop had weight measurements on the side and label that said "for use with this product only". Since I wasn't sure if the DE came with that scoop or not, I checked it and it turned out it was "calibrated" for something with 2x the density of DE. It measured out 5oz to be 10z (to clarify, the scoop reads 10oz, when it is actually holding 5oz of DE). So, given that and a scoop size of 16 oz (as labeled) I put in about 6.5 scoops (should be around 3.3 lbs). I added the DE to the closest skimmer while the pump was running. I added it by mixing 1 scoop at a time (about 1/2 lb) with 1 gallon of water and mixing till it looked like milk. Then I'd pour the slurry into the skimmer.
When we moved in, the filter read ~18 psi. It slowly crept up to around 22 psi two days ago. A couple of times it would go high, then go low again. For example, I'd check it one day at 24-25psi, then it'd be back down to 19-20 the next day. It did this once or twice in the last month. Then, we let me brothers dog in the pool on friday, and after that the filter was up to 28 psi. The dog sheds alot, and we had several people in the pool at the same time so I can't say I was too surprised. During backwashing, I noticed the filter pressure to be around 8 psi with no DE while in filter mode. After adding the DE, it's now up to 11 psi. In the manual for the pool (if you can call it that), the previous owner noted 18 psi as the "normal" pressure. Now, here is the question. Does any of this not look right?
Thanks as always to everyone for helping me help myself!
