My water is somewhat cloudy (white, not green) and my pump pressure is higher than in previous years. It’s my 3rd year with the pool. Opened the pool about 2 weeks ago, but the pump had died over the winter. It took a couple of trips back to the pump guy to get it fixed – he thought he had it running but then the impeller died after only a couple of hours.
There was a semi-permeable cover on it for the winter. Although I tried to keep leaves and pine needles off it, a few got through over the winter and / or as we removed the cover, along with some fine brownish “gunk.†Water looked pretty clear although the pool walls had some green on them, and there was the brownish gunk on the bottom. Then it sat for 4 days while the pump was being fixed.
Last fall, I cleaned the grids with acid and rinsed them and put them back in the filter and covered it. Two weeks ago, I tightened the lid (it’s the one with all those bolts that take forever to get right – and have to be very careful not to over-tighten). I put in about 6 lbs of DE in through the skimmer and ran the pump just a few hours before the impeller died. I also shocked the pool at the time. I had mustard algae both of the previous years – just a little the first year, and more persistent last year. It was 2 more days until the pump was fixed after that. So now the pump has been running for the past week but not always 24 hours a day as I forgot to over-ride it a couple of times – I’m letting it shut down so I remember to check the pump pressure. I’m brushing at least daily.
Latest readings are: FC 20
CC 0
pH 7.4
CYA 35
T/A 60
I added some borax and baking soda to get the pH up (started around 7) and CYA was minimal so added stabilizer. I’ve kept adding bleach as needed for the past week.
I’m having 2 issues:
The water is cloudy. I don’t remember that as an issue previously (except of course when I converted from BAQ). I’ve vacuumed a few times as there’s been crud in the bottom (heavy pollen year).
The pump pressure on the filter is running higher than previously. I’ve bumped it down a few times. Last year, the pump pressure was around 12 and I’d bump it down when it hit 20. This year, it’s been at least 18 every day and going higher of course when vacuuming. I drained the filter briefly after vacuuming and got a lot of crud out, but not much today after I vacuumed, although I vacuumed a fair amount of fine brown crud. I’m not getting much DE out when I open the drain on the filter – wondering if it got caked on hard as a result of stopping and starting while getting pump running properly.
Should I take the whole thing apart, or just do a more thorough job of back-washing and use a spray wand in there?
Gauge seems to be working but it’s possible that it’s shot -- how would I know?
Thanks in advance!
There was a semi-permeable cover on it for the winter. Although I tried to keep leaves and pine needles off it, a few got through over the winter and / or as we removed the cover, along with some fine brownish “gunk.†Water looked pretty clear although the pool walls had some green on them, and there was the brownish gunk on the bottom. Then it sat for 4 days while the pump was being fixed.
Last fall, I cleaned the grids with acid and rinsed them and put them back in the filter and covered it. Two weeks ago, I tightened the lid (it’s the one with all those bolts that take forever to get right – and have to be very careful not to over-tighten). I put in about 6 lbs of DE in through the skimmer and ran the pump just a few hours before the impeller died. I also shocked the pool at the time. I had mustard algae both of the previous years – just a little the first year, and more persistent last year. It was 2 more days until the pump was fixed after that. So now the pump has been running for the past week but not always 24 hours a day as I forgot to over-ride it a couple of times – I’m letting it shut down so I remember to check the pump pressure. I’m brushing at least daily.
Latest readings are: FC 20
CC 0
pH 7.4
CYA 35
T/A 60
I added some borax and baking soda to get the pH up (started around 7) and CYA was minimal so added stabilizer. I’ve kept adding bleach as needed for the past week.
I’m having 2 issues:
The water is cloudy. I don’t remember that as an issue previously (except of course when I converted from BAQ). I’ve vacuumed a few times as there’s been crud in the bottom (heavy pollen year).
The pump pressure on the filter is running higher than previously. I’ve bumped it down a few times. Last year, the pump pressure was around 12 and I’d bump it down when it hit 20. This year, it’s been at least 18 every day and going higher of course when vacuuming. I drained the filter briefly after vacuuming and got a lot of crud out, but not much today after I vacuumed, although I vacuumed a fair amount of fine brown crud. I’m not getting much DE out when I open the drain on the filter – wondering if it got caked on hard as a result of stopping and starting while getting pump running properly.
Should I take the whole thing apart, or just do a more thorough job of back-washing and use a spray wand in there?
Gauge seems to be working but it’s possible that it’s shot -- how would I know?
Thanks in advance!
