Cloudy Pool, DE Leak? Safe to Swim?

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J

jdkdonk

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Jul 19, 2012
4
Hello!

I recently bought a house with a pool and have been following all the great information available here! Last week I completed a week long shock process passing the OCLT and then bumping up to Mustard Algae shock level for 24 hours, following all the recommendations about removing lights and scrubbing etc. Pool was looking great: clear, with no algae in sight.

Then yesterday I noticed a light gray coating on the bottom of the deep end of the pool that billowed up when I brushed it. Now my water is no longer crystal clear, especially at night with the light on I can see lots of particulate matter. I'm guessing it's DE. Before shocking I disassembled my FNS Plus filter and hosed it down. I didn't see any torn areas etc, but it was unbelievably caked with DE, dirt and various plant and animal debris. Is it possible that the shocking process damaged the grids? I haven't had a chance to dump in more DE to the skimmer to see if the jets cloud up, or take the filter back apart yet. I also have not noticed any appreciable drop in filter pressure.

Is is safe for my kids to swim in the pool if there is DE in the pool?

My test numbers in case anyone is curious:
PH: 7.5
FC: 4-6
TA: 110
CH: 300
CYA: 40-50

~28,000 gallons.

I live in North Texas.

Any advice or recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeremy
 
What's the CC level? Not much DE usually gets through the grid, shouldn't be enough to see on the floor. Are you sure it's not dead algae? Algae clogs up a DE filter pretty quickly. Am I reading this as you cleaned the filter but did not recoat it with DE? I hope not because you should never run a DE filter without it being coated. The grid will get clogged which means some serious cleaning ahead.
 
CC: 1ppm or less.

I don't see how it can be dead algae as the pools been clear for over a week. I did add the required 6pounds of DE after cleaning, and the filter has been working just fine until yesterday.

The pressure on the DE filter gauge has only gone up from 14 to 16 since I washed the grids.

I did notice that the pressure reading only went up a small amount after adding the DE to the skimmer, vs running over the clean rinsed grids. How much does the pressure usually increase from the clean baseline?
 
Since my pool has been clear from opening shocking, my pressure stays pretty level for weeks unless I vacuum. I see the level pressure as a good thing, meaning no junk in the pool to clog it. BTW, your CC should be under .5ppm or you need to shock per pool school shocking directions. As for the dust, it could be organics that the chlorine killed. It seems to settle in spots with little water movement.
One more thing, welcome to TFP!
 
Pulled my equipment apart today. I looked the filter grids over pretty throughly, I found a few small holes that appear to be a results of the grids rubbing on the organizer plate. This is one of the biggest holes:

mk2nD.jpg


I have similar holes on 4 of the 7 grids. These holes are really small, and have a plastic peg in front of them and plastic grid rib behind them. It seems unlikely they could be the source of the DE leak. Am I wrong? This is the only problem I could find in the filter. No cracks in the manifold, and I replaced the manifold o-ring 2 weeks ago when I first hosed the grids.

I also decided to take the backwash valve apart. I have push pull type and nearly broke my arm yanking mine out. Seem like it hasn't been pulled or lubed in many years. I found that one of the main o-rings has a large chunk missing. Is it possible this is allowing the DE to blow by into the pool?

enicA.jpg


Once again I started working too late and missed the closing time for the pool store, so I have to wait until tomorrow to get some new o-rings for the back wash valve.

I'm thinking about trying to patch the small holes with some water-proof epoxy putty stuff. It seems like a waste to buy a $300 stack of grids for only these small holes. BTY, I sanded down the rough spots on the grid organizer plate, so it shouldn't cause anymore damage.

Any opinions on this? Will going the cheap route and replacing a few o-rings and patching the grids work for a while or do I need to bite the bullet and buy new grids and a new back wash valve guts for $80?
 
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