Another Green/Cloudy Intex...

[UnderWaterVanya]

A friend of my daughter has an Intex Pool - it's cloudy and green. The dad is a faboulously talented artist, mechanic, jack of all trades. He has maintained pools with traditional methods without problems for years - but this is the 2nd year with his Intex and he had no idea what a toy filter it was. The dad has his CPO and seemed a little reluctant to move to BBB but I've talked him into at least letting me test the water and help him figure out how bad things are.

What I need are ideas on how to improve filtration for this pool without switching filter systems. He has a sand filter and pump but they are moving to another house and until they move he does not want to drag that stuff out for the 1 month or so of swimming left in the season.

He's a firm beliver in flock and he's tried it - but when he does it the stuff goes back into the pool; the filter just can't stop it. So we discussed ways to do it and vacuum to waste - one of which was to disconnect the return during vacuuming. After that's done I'm going to help him with FC levels for a while trying to show him the BBB method of shocking. Since it's not my pool and he's a CPO he may fight along the way. We shall see - he admitted that he's never had a pool this hard to deal with.

Stats: 5500 gallons roughly, Intex Cartridge A combined filter/pump. Pool pale green - very cloudy.
Chlorination - pucks and "shock bags" (not sure if dichlor or trichlor or cal hypo yet). Hang over the side skimmer, plunger valves. No measurements yet - but I'll get some posted as soon as I can test the water with him.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If he's used floc, then vacuuming to waste is required. Even more so with the Intex filter. Disconnecting the return is a good way to do it.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

If he's used floc, then vacuuming to waste is required. Even more so with the Intex filter. Disconnecting the return is a good way to do it.

Thank you.

I appreciate any and all input. I'll be posting some measurements tonight after I get by there.

I remember some threads that gave tips on how to improve filtering but when I searched I was hitting too many to dig through. If anyone has specific tips on how to help him get better filtration I'm all ears. I think I recall someone wrapping their filter cartridge in paper towels? Someone else put a slime bag or something like that on the return and the skimmer if I recall correctly - at the time these didn't stick too deeply since I didn't have one of these to fix!

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Tested the water...

FC 10.5
CC 1.0
pH 7.8 (over 10ppm FC I know)
TA 625 (25 drops in 10ml sample!)
CH 0 (tested 3 times!)
CYA 70? (Overcast I stopped early)

He had been using pucks and trichlor shock.
He apparently also had falling pH due to the trichlor.
He has put several lbs of baking soda in trying to raise pH in the past.
Filled a year plus ago. Tap has 40ppm CH.
"Lots" of copper algaecide he said.

I advised him to shock to between 20 - 35ppm given his schedule.
This will take 3 96oz jugs to start things...

 

[connie]

If he's used floc, then vacuuming to waste is required. Even more so with the Intex filter. Disconnecting the return is a good way to do it.

Thank you.

I appreciate any and all input. I'll be posting some measurements tonight after I get by there.

I remember some threads that gave tips on how to improve filtering but when I searched I was hitting too many to dig through. If anyone has specific tips on how to help him get better filtration I'm all ears. I think I recall someone wrapping their filter cartridge in paper towels? Someone else put a slime bag or something like that on the return and the skimmer if I recall correctly - at the time these didn't stick too deeply since I didn't have one of these to fix!

I too have an pool similar to the Intex with the filter paper cartridges. I also did the floc, shock, and filter. I used the socks over t6he return jet to keep as much of the the grunge out as possible and I used old white towels (hand size) wrapped around the filter before vacuuming. I KNOW it helped substantially as the towels and socks were filled quickly with the iron deposits and the green grunge. I took them off once I saw them dirty and used new ones on a clean filter. I kept reusing the filters I had after hosing them down. It is a lot of work but so wirth it when I was able to get back into the pool again. Make sure you rubber band tightly the sock on the return hose so it does not come off into the water defeating the purrpose. I also used old pillow fiberfill stuffing in the sock and in the filter hole stuffed tightly. BELIVE me it is gross to look at afterwards but makes you feel great when done. I do not have the option of draining or letting water go to ground when cleaning as we are on a well and it is expensive to have the water trucks come out. Also we are on water restrictions so a pool is not a priority for the trucks. I hope this helps and if any other questions please let me know.
ps- on the return hose I disengaged from the wall and hung over the side of the pool so as to get the sock on secure and so I could monitor the color change on the sock.

 

[MoreSparkle]

Similar measures as Connie :-D

Was desperate to do something immediate post vacation, And I knew it would have to be a mechanical filtration fix.....

I also did a cotton sock with a rubber band around the return, a wool boot sock, and a support hose knee high ..thick kind... Each separately, and last two together (it was a week of experimentation ).

They all helped, but kept coming off, so I moved on to making my own slime bag from allergen pillowcase... Didn't want to wait on ordering something.... Cut it in half lengthwise and sewed it up. I would do diff next time would be to taper the neck to fit the hose I attached it to for better fit and less to zip tie around.

I used a pillowcase that was breatheable so I knew water would go through, zip tied it to a cuffed hose. The hose will pressure fit in the return, so bag could be in pool, also tried hanging it over the side wall, using the outside hose, but but thought leaving it in the pool worked better.

Here's a pix of the bag and hose separately. The hose was in the pool section at ace hardware. I put duct tape around the end I pushed into the return outlet, just to make it more snug, it stayed on pretty well.

This is it in use, because the fabric really holds the water making it heavy, the bag laid on the steps for support

This is what was trapped inside it...

fwiw, I think the felt biodiesel bags may work better at catching stuff, haven't gotten around to ordering one (planning on not having ~any future problems~ cross fingers and maintain chlorine!! But I still want one to play with!)

I also bought and cut up a HEPA hvac filter, unpleated it and cut circles that I could layer and stuff in the vac body that fits in the skimmer... Similar to the paper towels, and they turned green, so i know they helped..And was able to rinse them clean and reuse. Careful taking the filter apart, metal edges are sharp.

also cut circles out of the magic eraser sponges to go into the "neck" of the vac body to see if that would stop stuff... It helped but the HEPA material worked better, kept rinsing it... Thought it might drag the pump, but didn't, water kept moving through all that stuff just fine.. Use knee high inside the vac housing to keep the m.e. "plug" from going ino the hose

And prob most radically of all.... We knew the intex filters were **** when we saw dirty water blowing right back into the pool... Dh has cellulose filter material at work, he tore it into small pieces, made a slurry with it in the blender and poured it into the skimmer

It coated the intex filters enough cellulse fiber to gunk up with green...

Before the fiber, they just stayed clean... Weren't stopping a thing...

don't know what the diff would be between what we used (which is commercial food grade filter media) and paper toweling or paper maiche media.... I would just exp with a little bit and very slowly.... We stopped using it after 3 days bc I was concerned some of it might be getting back into the pool and adding to the last remnants of floaties... Nothing wrong with ruining a few intex filters if it helps, IMO

Best of all was an old filter I had from 2 years ago, that for the life of me, I cannot find the manuf of now, that actually would stop the crud..... It actually got dirty and I was able to keep rinsing and reusing.

If you can find this kind with this "weave" pattern, you will be able to make some progress. If anyone knows the brand or where to get them, please let me know.

About midway through I did not want to vac to waste bc pool was already low on water. When we did get rain from Debby during this whole process, I did a s-l-o-w siphon to waste, using my vac head since it had a nice long pole, but taped over half the opening with duct tape to slow the rate of water... Suction was still strong enough to get the crud off the bottom... Also, I turned off the pump at night so it would settle and be ready to vac in the am... Did this 3 or 4 x

I also removed the brushes at the front of the vac head so the crud would "v" into the hole better instead of getting stirred up...

I also did the minimal amt of clarifier at the very end and I believe it did help settle out more of the fines.... But, as the label said, it kept settling, and settling and settling, ESP with the rain and new junk from air/rain going into the water....

After it was fairly clean and while searching for more of the elusive mystery filter, I came across the unicel 4607 and it works pretty darn good (wish somebody at unicel would read this and send me some :-D !!! Honestly, I have no doubts one will last at least 2 seasons like the store owner I bought it from said, and I bought her last one last week, as a jic backup)

I will try to find or retake pix tomorrow, I may be off/away for a few days after that.... Lmk if you need any clarification, no pun intended

Lastly, I just want to say, it is possible to keep a pool very clean (maybe not as perfect as a sand or d e, but pretty darn good) with this set up if one stays on top of the testing and maintenance

These are the only pix I have right now from just playing around with learning how to post pix. The second one would have been better if I hadn't been shooting into the afternoon sun, also we have tall shrubs that cast a shadow on the back half of the pool... Tell your buddies not to give up hope, it can be done...

 

[MoreSparkle]

.... also used old pillow fiberfill stuffing in the sock and in the filter hole stuffed tightly. BELIVE me it is gross to look at afterwards but makes you feel great when done. I do not have the option of draining or letting water go to ground when cleaning as we are on a well and it is expensive to have the water trucks come out.

Connie, I am with you, City water, but our sewer rates are pretty punitive, and only get one discounted fill...so glad it rained when I needed extra water.. Now if it would just stop!! I am going to try the fiberfill just for grins... Did it drag on the motor at all??

Tia

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Thanks all - keep the Info, ideas and successes flowing.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Pictures or it isn't happening - right?

Talk about a lack of "Truth in Advertising":

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

BTW - does my friend get the prize for the highest TA? I have never read a post where TA was > 625ppm!

Also his CH is showing as ZERO - which is odd since the fill water has 40ppm in it. Granted he filled over a year ago but I don't think the water actually has zero CH in it. I'm skeptical.

I did try adding two drops of R0012 as indicated to help when copper is present. However he's used a LOT of copper based algaecide he says - with only 40ppm expected I am not sure what I can do to improve the accuracy of the test.

 

[MoreSparkle]

Just wanted to let you know, did not forget you, lots of wind and rain today, will try to take post pix tomorrow, any progress?

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Just wanted to let you know, did not forget you, lots of wind and rain today, will try to take post pix tomorrow, any progress?

Unknown - the family is rebuilding a damaged house they bought cheaply, and I have not been able to get together with them the past day or so.

I had an idea, the intex filter is hollow, I was thinking about adding a sock filled with cellulose de substitute media in it - thoughts?

 

[MoreSparkle]

Well, I am all up for some one else experimenting, and don't see how it would hurt.... You will know if there is too much drag on the motor, that's an interesting idea about the de sock in the center of the filter... If you put the de in a sock and it seems to leak too much, could over wrap it with knee high stocking, or two, they're like a buck for 3 prs at dollar general..

will try to get some pix up soon, have a city festival thing to attend / man tonight, so if I don't get it done soon, prob won't til tomorrow, and we have a tree to cut down from last storm...

If the de sock doesn't work, would try the fiberfill, would think it would work like aquarium floss, it's not going to be 100% obviously, heck might not even be 10%, but I was pretty happy anytime I could get green out of the pool....

Wish the sun had come out/stayed out long enough to take some better pix to share with your buds, looks like Ernesto is going to mess things up..... Anyone want to trade some rain for some long hot days????

 

[MoreSparkle]

Oops, think I misread... Thought you meant cellulose or de...yes, the cellulose should do something... That what we used primarily, but we let it run through the skimmer to coat the filter, keeping it in a sock sounds better, would keep it from blowing on through back into the pool

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Oops, think I misread... Thought you meant cellulose or de...yes, the cellulose should do something... That what we used primarily, but we let it run through the skimmer to coat the filter, keeping it in a sock sounds better, would keep it from blowing on through back into the pool

The pool owner has been out of pocket today but he assured me he'd be dumping bleach in to keep the shock level up. I'll have to check with him tomorrow. My sack of cellulose substitute de is at my father-in-laws house and a wasps nest has me unable to retrieve it for now. I need to kill those nasty critters tonight if possible...

 

[frogabog]

Those are the walmart brand filter cartridge. But it seems they aren't selling them this year. I'd suggest trying the Unicel cartridges if you want better filtration. The only filters that ever cleaned my pool while on intex cartridge filter pumps was those dotty walmart cartridges. Two of them actually. Two pumps, one pool. See my avatar and the thread in my sig.
Unicel is probably the best option now as far as I can tell. Will have to clean them frequently, so let the pool owner know to check flow. When the skimmer looses it's force, rinse the filter.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Owner is doing things his own way... no POP. No improvement that I see. Never got to do an OCLT to see if everything is dead and just cloudy because the pool filter stinks or if there is anything growing. He's happy with his cloudy pool and there's only a month left before things close down for the season for him...

<sigh>

 

[MoreSparkle]

Bummer... Oh well..... Maybe he'll figure it out when he has future problems.... His problems could have been fixed, but it would have taken some time and effort... If his water's cheap he could d & r but he may want to just shut it down for this year... Not sure a sand filter will keep the algae away if that's what he is banking on... At least it saves you some time and headache, you were good to offer to help At least your daughter knows not to swim in that pool, right??

Take care

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Water here is not very cheap. We get hit twice; water plus sewer; and they make no allowances for filling a pool. Also they have a scale where the more water you use in a month the more per unit you pay.

Still the cost is cheap compared to some alternatives.

 

[connie]

.... also used old pillow fiberfill stuffing in the sock and in the filter hole stuffed tightly. BELIVE me it is gross to look at afterwards but makes you feel great when done. I do not have the option of draining or letting water go to ground when cleaning as we are on a well and it is expensive to have the water trucks come out.

Connie, I am with you, City water, but our sewer rates are pretty punitive, and only get one discounted fill...so glad it rained when I needed extra water.. Now if it would just stop!! I am going to try the fiberfill just for grins... Did it drag on the motor at all??

Tia

Tia I did not notice a drag with the fiber stuffing in the holes of the filter until they were full. But that is what we want. There is some drag when I wrap the towel around the filters but not enough to stop the vacuum from cleaning the bottom. AND I need to do it again as all the shock, chlorine above 10, and cleaning is not getting the algae out this time using just the filter and towel wrap. I did vac to waste most of the floc on bottom as we had a good 4 in of rain so figured I could lose 3in for now. Still a pale green and cloudy. I had been gone for 5 days and came back to an UGLY pool. Thank goodness the neighbor has one I could jump in today as it got to 87 degrees out. However, brave soul that I am I ended up -S-L-O-W-L-Y getting into my pool to really get all the side walls cleaned and do some finessing with the vacuum. Tomorrow is the stockings, fiberfill, filter change, and more vacuuming. Just in time for the rains to come and for me to be gone for 4 days again. I am letting the filter run all night to really stir things up and hope I catch more gunk. Then I will let it settle for an hour and start the vacuum process again.

I did read on here that MoreSparkle used a filtrete filter cut open to filter. I am confused as to how this is done. Did you cut it into circles and stack or did you wrap your filter? I have a couple of these at home and sure would love to try that tomorrow along with the sock and stuffing at the return hose.

I just need to say thank you again for all the ideas and help I have received here. I know with my travels it is a large part of my pool problem but it is not the norm. Days away are hospital days and then I really love to come home and use the pool. I even go in Green like today as long as it is a clearish green and not the gunk of last week. Hubby is with me so he can't take care of the pool when he is not home.
Have a great day and enjoy the water.