Clean water, dirty pool bottom - dirt, pollen???

[Chappy]

Thanks to this forum, a lot of BBB knowledge, a ton of bleach, a few water changes, and one very large electric bill, I've managed to get my pool blue and clear in the past month. 2 weeks ago I held a shock level of 30ppm overnight and haven't looked back. The water has never looked better so thanks to all!

However, my new problem (and actually an old one) is that I'm accumulating large quantities of either dirt or pollen on a regular basis. (see photos). I can vacuum this stuff up and it will be back in 2 days. It's billowy when disturbed, but does vacuum up. This is about 5 days worth.

I've used skimmer socks, but nothing seems to accumulate on them. My sand filter is one year old, but I'm wondering if it's doing it's job? I shouldn't be getting this amount of debris kicked back every day, should I ? Is there a possibility that it's not functioning properly or I need to change the sand or something? And if this is pollen, am I stuck with daily vacuuming to keep it in check?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.... now that I can see the bottom of the pool, it would be nice to keep it clean :-D

Here are my levels: FC=12, CC=0, TC=12, PH=7.6, TA=170, CH=270, CYA=70

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

If you don't cover your pool, I'd say that's about right for 5 days of dirt/pollen/dust.

I don't know much about sand filters to know if it's time to replace sand or not. But I cover and I still get bits of dust and sand and such, the filter doesn't always get everything. It filters better when the kids are swimming alot. I get less when the cover stays on.

 

[JasonLion]

There are two things that can cause that, blown in dust/pollen, and FC levels that are just slightly too low. Your FC level looks to be a little higher than usual, so my guess is blown in dust/pollen.

There are some areas where you get that much blown in dust every day, it depends greatly on how much wind there is in your area and what sources of dust there are up wind of your pool. In my area that would be about two or three weeks of dust, but I am in a fairly low dust location.

 

[JohnT]

We need one piece of information you didn't post: How long do you run your pump daily?

 

[Chappy]

Currently I'm running the pump for 6 hours a day in the evening. After last month's $500 electric bill, I've had to cut back a bit - that was due to several 24 hours days of clearing the pool up though.

I have 3 big dogs that stay outside during the day, so I don't want to use a cover.

I'm in Austin, TX where we are WAY behind on rain, and my backyard also backs up to a park... so maybe I'm just in a dusty area and am going to have to be doing a lot of vacuuming?

 

[Butterfly]

Well, this is our third season w/our pool and it has been the absolute worst for wind blown stuff of all kinds!

The skimmer sock is doing a wonderful job, as always. More brushing has been needed to get all the small stuff off the floor and mixed in to help the filter pull it out.

So, one suggestion would perhaps be more brushing?

ETA: Chappy, that is one horrible electric bill

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Yeah, I should mention that my subdivision is surrounded by farmfields and we get a lot of wind here, so I'm used to the dusties....

 

[Swimgirl]

I live in the desert, and for me, I'm happy if I can keep the dust as low as what's in the picture! I've even tried covering, but the wind blows the solar cover up on the edges and dust gets in at the pool's edges. But I basically grew up here, so every pool I've been in has the dust problem. Of course, with the public pools, the kids keep the dust stirred up! :lol: :lol: