What the......???

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cherylandco

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May 7, 2009
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I am really fighting the pool this year, and have more questions!!!

My pool is always pretty clear, but it's sometimes "hazy" - especially when I vaccuum. Now the haziness is typically only seen from underwater. I can see all the way across the pool underwater, but it's not crisp clear. You can tell looking at the pool from the deck, but only if you are a pool owner to where you've seen the pool at all stages and know the difference, KWIM?

I get stuff on the bottome too - I THINK it's not algae. Perhaps you all can tell me otherwise. It's brown, and is along seams, in divots on the bottom. Not on the walls and it's not just "all over". Sometimes it's "stringy", sometimes "sandy". My readings have been good all along - CC is usually 0, occasionally .5.

I had a lot of people staying this weekend, and by the end, the pool was cloudy. So, I've been shocking. My CYA is 25 - so I think I"m losing a lot during the day from the sun - but I don't want to put in stabilizer now b/c then I can't backwash - which I'm needing to do!! I brought it up to mustard shock over night last night, thinking that maybe that gunk is mustard algae. But then during the day today, left it at just shock level. By the time I got home from work, it was at 8, so I hopped in to vaccuum. First I backwashed. Then I stopped and backwashed 2 more time while vaccuuming. But by the end, when the sun was shining on the return, I could SEE the particles coming back in from the filter!!!!!!! I think I should have replaced the sand in my filter this spring, but I didn't. Could that be that problem? Because there was NO way there was too much gunk in the filter. That was within a few minutes of backwashing and rinsing.

Another thing, I kept thinking I was smelling something in the water tonight. Maybe a chemically plasticy smell? Nothing I've ever smelled before. Now, I do live in the country, so it's possible a farmer was spraying his field and I was smelling it when I was in the pool? Or is there something you all can think of that would be that smell?

I just did all my readings again - they're pretty normal for my pool. I have never had to mess with the ph or the alkalinity that I can remember .

fc 7
CC 0
TC 7
PH 7.5
T/A 90
CYA 25

Pool temp is WARM - 86 or above.

Any ideas or suggestions for me? I'm planning on bringing it back up to shock level again - not mustard shock level though. To see how I do on the overnight loss.. UNLESS someone has some words of advice for me! :)
 
I'd be adding 10-15ppm of CYA, and shocking wouldn't hurt either. At 25ppm CYA your shock level is only about 11ppm. Just put your CYA in an old sock in the skimmer and you can backwash when you need to.
 
If it is not algae, the brown stuff you are seeing may very well be broken down sand getting through the laterals in your filter.

To clear pool I'd try either a floc or clarifier. The floc will take 24-48 hours to work and then you would need to vac to waste. The clarifier would make the smaller particles bigger and allow your filter to catch them.
 
I wouldn't bother with floc or clarifier, they are extra work (lots of extra work for floc) and expense and provide at best a temporary solution.

It is definitely a good idea to do an overnight FC loss test, just to rule out the possibility of algae.

Raising your CYA level a little will make it easier to maintain a stable FC level, which is very important.

There is no need to replace the sand unless it is badly clumped. You should try cleaning and resettling the sand bed as described in this post. After you do that, try adding a little DE to the sand filter as described here.
 
Ok, I will do that - I did the overnight FC loss test and it went from
FC 14.5
CC 0
TC 14.5

to FC 13.5
CC .5
TC 14.0

Does that mean I DO have algae because of the CC .5?

How do I keep the water from back flowing out of the return while I work on the filter? I can stop it from the skimmer side, but I don't have any way to stop it from the return side.
 
cherylandco said:
How do I keep the water from back flowing out of the return while I work on the filter? I can stop it from the skimmer side, but I don't have any way to stop it from the return side.
Click to expand...

Many people install a valve in the return line for just that reason. You can pull the eyeball fitting and put a winter plug in, or get a rubber stopper that fits in the fitting as is.
 
I was just out at the pump looking at the setup and another way that will work is to unhook the return line from the filter and plop it right back into the pool. That should work, right?! :)
 
Just a thought but is your filter correctly sized for the pool? An undersized sand filter doesn't filter small particles very well because the water pressure pushes them right through. I don't know enough about filter sizing to tell from your sig if you've got the right size filter for your pump (s), but 2 HP sounds like a lot of pump. Maybe someone more knowledgable will come along and advise.
 
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