Should i add DE to my sand filter

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wsop33

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Aug 27, 2012
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My pool is a blueish color, and holding chlorine very well but still very cloudy. I have been brushing as much as possible and was wondering if i should add some DE to my filter? it seems it has been about the same for about 3-4 days and i know sand filters take a little longer, but wanted to ask you guys on what i should do.

tests from earlier this evening after adding some bleach

ph-7.5
fc-21
cc-1.5
tc-22.5
ta-290 (um...ouch)
cya-40
 
With a cc result of 1.5 ppm, you have not finished shocking the pool and need to keep your chlorine up until your cc's go to .5 ppm or zero.

The pool may be clear by then. I would wait to clear that hurdle and then add a bit of DE if the pool has not improved.
 
yesterday when testing it was .5, but yesterday evening and today i gave it a very good scrubbing, With a cya of 40 is it ok to keep my fc level over 20?

I am so glad i came to this site, i get answers quick!
 
For a cya of 40 ppm, poolcalculator.com gives me a shocking level of 15 ppm. Going just up to 20 ppm shouldn't hurt anything for shorter periods of time, but it is higher than needed for shocking.
 
i made the mistake of adding the quantity of bleach at 8% when my bleach was 12%, just wanted to make sure that much over shock level wouldn't screw anything up...rookie mistake
 

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My water is still a blueish cloudy color, and i can barely see the brush or vaccum on the bottom of the pool. I have been backwashing, scrubbing, and vacuming. I even added a little bit of ekoclean to my sand filter which raised my psi and i had to backwash more frequently. Any imputs of something else i could try? I also added some clarifier just to see if i'd get lucky.

ph-7.5
fc-17.5
cc-1.5 (maybe, barely turned a shade of very light ligh pink)
tc-19
cya- 40
ta-270 ( will bring this down once water clears)
 
Get your cc below 0.5 before doing any clarifier, etc. What you want right now is to continue the shocking process. Once you have passed the OCLT and your cc<0.5 then you can think about DE (and clarifiers...but we generally don't recommend them).
 
ok, thanks linen.

I have been at shock level for about 2 weeks now! I am being very patient, but just getting curious if evrything is going the way it should and if anything else needed to be done. I know with the sand filter it could take a little while longer as well. I just want to get past this so i can start posting other things on here...LOL Hopefully its just thank yous, and pictures of my sparkling pool.
 
How long has your pool been the bluish gray color you describe?

What did it look like before you started to shock?

What is your CH level?

How often have you backwashed during your shock process?

No pool should remain cloudy for two weeks with no change....something isn't adding up.
 
sorry i thought i posted my CH but i didnt. and cannot find my test sheet from earlier. But from 2 days ago my CH was reading 360. I have been shocking for almost 2 weeks now and before i started the water was a greenish color not too dark, but after starting to shock it turned to the blueish cloudy color. I have noticed a little improvement but not too much.

I was backwashing once a day, and i have been going a little longer the last 5-6 days because my psi has not been rising enough to.. I backwash about once every 36 hrs now.
 
I agree with Duraleigh that it's taking too long to clear the pool. The high alkalinity, combined with the calcium level could be causing some calcium carbonate clouding. Lowering the pH to 7.2 would help.

Also, if the pool is painted, then the paint might be chalking, which can cause persistently coloudy water, especially if you're brushing a lot.
 

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