Water still cloudy - filter problem?

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C

cwmoody

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Jun 28, 2011
35
Mississippi
I started shocking our pool a little over six weeks ago. When I started, it was black and full of leaves. In about three days it had turned from black to milky white.

I continued shocking for about two weeks. The water improved for about the first week and then hit a stand still at the "can barely see bottom of shallow end" point. Since I had been shocking for almost three weeks and used well over 100 jugs of bleach at this point I was sure all the algae was dead and the filter (sand filter) just needed to continue doing its thing.

I performed an overnight FC loss test and it was less than 1 ppm and my CC level was virtually 0, so I let the chlorine level fall below shock level, but have been keeping it high (8 to 12ppm) ever since.

Getting impatient, I did a floc treatment about two weeks ago and then vacuumed to waste. This seemed to help some, but not much. The water is still very cloudy and stuck at the "can barely see the bottom of the shallow end" point.

All the time I have been brushing, running the Aquabot, and occasionally vacuuming to waste. Of course, I am running the filter around the clock.

Any suggestions on how to get over this hump? My pool seems to have decent circulation. There are two return jets in the shallow end. One blows harder than the other, but you can see the water rippling in front of both.

I am beginning to think that there may be a problem with my filter. Should I try cleaning my sand by taking the top off, putting in a hose, and letting it overflow?

In the mean time, I have taken the chlorine level back up to shock level and am continuing to brush and run the Aquabot.

Here are my test results from last night:

FC: 18
CC: 0.5
CYA: 40
TA: 140
pH: between 7.5 and 7.8

My pool is roughly 20 by 40. 3 ft in shallow, 12 ft in deep. Sand filter.
 
Last time I checked the CH (about 2 weeks ago) it was 220. 45,000 gallons. Plaster. Not sure of filter size, but will check tonight and post. It was keeping up last year when I had the water crystal clear, but I do remember having trouble getting it clear.

Also, the pressure typically runs at about 32. I backwash when it approaches 40. The water in the sight glass is very cloudy when I backwash and clears up fairly quickly. After backwashing the pressure is always back to the 32.

Thanks for the link regarding cleaning the filter. I will probably try that this weekend if the extra week of shocking doesn't help.
 
Have you done an overnight FC loss test? That will tell you if you have killed all the algae yet or not.

One thing you could try is adding a little DE to the filter. There are instructions in Pool School. That will help you catch smaller particles.
 
OK. Here's the additional info. The pump is a Hayward 1 HP. The filter is a Hayward Pro Series Sand Filter 300# Any advice on whether these are sufficient for 45,000 gallons is appreciated. We bought the house/pool last year and I remember it being a struggle to get the water clear then too.

Jason - I did do an overnight FC loss test before I first decided to let the chlorine level fall below shock level (after about three weeks of shock level). The overnight loss then was 0.5 with CC very near 0. I did another overnight FC loss test last night/this morning with 3.0 loss, so it looks like I still have algae/organics. I will keep shocking, but am fairly confident there is another contributing issue, because of how long the filter is taking to remove the dead algae. Thanks for the advice on adding DE to the filter. I will try that this weekend. May also try the hose clean out method.

I did lightly bang on the outside of the filter as one member suggested on the thread. The pressure went up a pound or two and the returns spit out large white clouds (sand, dead algae?). Is this normal?

Here are my full test results from this morning:

FC 22.5
CC 1.0
CYA 30
TA 130
pH 7.5 to 7.8
CH 220

overnight drop 3.0
 
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