Wondering if anyone has used these

[connie]

I saw these at Walmart and was wondering if anyone has used these to add to a sand filter to clean cloudy water as opposed to DE. I read in another post for the Green Monster (ALGAE) about adding DE, a cup to a sand filter to assist in cleaning and clearing up the water.

Aqua Perl Perlite D.E. Alternative or Fiber Clear Fiber Clear: The Safe DE Alternative and All-Purpose Filter Aid

I opened my pool (ProSeries 20' x 48") with a Hayward sand filter, this week as it is warm and knew I needed a jump start as the cover blew off and left me a swampy mess. Prior to this happening I kept checking over the winter and it was crystal. I am following the BBB method which I learned last year on this lovely site and plan to stick to it. It has been 4 days of raking, leaf catching and dragging to get most of the debris out, then the filtering and backwashing to get more out including a lovely shade of green blooms. Most is gone and now the water is milky. I am on jug 10 of chlorine, I do not have a fancy tester but my readings say chlorine is at shock level (10). Ph is off too high but I am thinking maybe because the chlorine is so high. Not sure. I will be investing in a better test kit this year so I can get more accurate readings instead of the 2 I get now. I am off to Wally world to get another dozen jugs of chlorine and a HUGE box of baking soda. I also need to get Metal Out as my water after backwashing was low and I had to use well water to get back to safe filtering levels. (I learned of Metal out on here last year as well and it is a MIRACLE WORKER)!
Patience is a virtue but I am so impressed with the BBB method. Yes it is a lot of work but I sit an relax a spell now that the filtering is happening. I also am growing less "Bingo" arms (less jiggles)so that is a happy by product from the raking. leafing, skimming and pulling the vacumm around.
This is so early to open a pool in my area but I am excited to be the first kid on the block. LOL Soon the solar cover goes on and then let the swimming begin.

Happy Swimming

 

[JasonLion]

The best thing you could possibly do is to get a top quality test kit. That will more than pay for it's self very quickly. Without knowing what your levels actually are it is impossible to know what is happening and impossible to do the correct thing to fix it.

The PH test is not reliable if FC is above 10.

Either of those will work as a sand filter aid. Some people say they are not quite as good as DE, others say they are the same.

 

[connie]

Thank you Jason

I do not have a great test kit just a wally world one I have been keeping chlorine at 10 or above and my ph reads high. Water is clean but still cloudy. Do I continue to shock still. I am so excited to get this from green to milky clouds in a week and have the patience to keep working at it. It is an Intex ProSeries 20x4' pool. I have a sand filter Hayward 1hp. I have backwashed a few times but am concerned to keep doing so as the water looks clear coming back to pool. Water here is 300 bucks per truckload and I need 2 to refill. Even if I drop water a smidge to get it to filter height still costs 300 to have trucks come out. As I do not see any real rain in the near future I really do not want to drain anything as then I could not use my filter.
I will keep shocking with the chlorine and running the filter. I do turn it off at night as it makes me nervous leaving it on all night. Lots of critters in our yard at night.

 

[257WbyMag]

You shock until your pool water is clear, your CC is 0.5 or less, and your FC loses no more than 1 over night. The filter should run 24/7 until the process is finished.

Without a high quality test kit, it is hard to say what you have and hard for us to advise you on things. You're really guessing at things.

 

[BoDarville]

It has been 4 days of raking, leaf catching and dragging to get most of the debris out, then the filtering and backwashing to get more out including a lovely shade of green blooms.

Doing this is a good first step . That said, I would order a good test kit as Jason and 257WbyMag have suggested. You need that kit in order to shock properly. While you are waiting for the test kit, keep working on getting the debris out. That will make the shock process go faster.

I saw these at Walmart and was wondering if anyone has used these to add to a sand filter to clean cloudy water as opposed to DE. I read in another post for the Green Monster (ALGAE) about adding DE, a cup to a sand filter to assist in cleaning and clearing up the water.

Aqua Perl Perlite D.E. Alternative or Fiber Clear Fiber Clear: The Safe DE Alternative and All-Purpose Filter Aid

I have used FiberClear and ZeoFiber as an aid to my sand filter. Both are the same cellulose-based product. It has worked out very well for me. In your case, I would wait on adding this until you are further along in the shock process (e.g., when the green goes away and the water has a bluish tint to it but is still cloudy). Otherwise, you will be backwashing/cleaning the filters more often.