Still dealing with dirt....

[gtnos]

I posted awhile back about dirt in my pool. I thought it was sand, i dont think it is, even though my water (62 degrees) will not permit me to get in and get a sample to see 100% for sure. (Well, I could, but im not gonna, and I couldnt talk either of my sons into doing it either)

I thought it had a broken lateral, one call to intex yielded me all new laterals under warranty, and now I feel bad as when I took apart the sandfilter and examined all the laterals, not a one had any indication of cracks. I replaced them anyway. While I had the sand out, I took a little bit of it and dropped it in my pool (whats another spoonfull to vac up?) to see if it looked like the dirt that was in it, it didnt, it was more gritty than the dirt that was in it.

After reassembly, I vaccumed to waste. Since I had not vacuumed the dirt in about a week, it took some time and cost me 1/3rd of my perfectly balanced water.

I then backwashed the filter for 5 minutes, rinsed for 2, and shut the filter off before turning it back to filtration that way it had no chance to shoot any sand in pool.

A few hours later, I had very little dirt in my pool, which I vacuumed to waste the next day. I still have some dirt depositing on the pool floor, but its windy every day and the lot on the other side of the pond where they just finished a new house is dirt (wish they would hurry up and sod that sucker)

I keep vacuuming to filter, and I cant tell at this point if its just dirt in the air or if my filter is not catching it.

Should I at this point, put some DE in my filter to improve filtration to make sure this dirt im vacuuming every day is getting filtered out?

I cant keep vacuuming to waste every time, my water bill is already going to be through the roof this month.

 

[BoDarville]

...but its windy every day and the lot on the other side of the pond where they just finished a new house is dirt...

I think this is the source of your dirt. Here in DFW (and I would suspect in OK as well), late winter / early spring is "wind-season". Every year we get this fine film of silt-like dirt, and we have no construction nearby. The dirt can be blown in from quite a distance. According to our weather forecasters, when it gets windy enough some of this dirt can originate from West Texas - hundreds of miles away. Most of the time, it is so fine you do not notice it in the air. Dirt can also get washed out of the atmosphere and into your pool from a heavy rain.

So, the answer to your question is yes, this is a case where you can add some DE (or cellulose fiber) to your filter to help capture & remove this dirt more quickly. I use the cellulose fiber (some brand-names include ZeoFiber and FiberClear) instead of DE simply because it is safer to handle and does not have the breathing hazards that DE dust can pose. Be sure to brush the pool while the filter is running to help keep the dirt in suspension so it gets routed into the filter instead of settling on the floor.

Be sure to review this article before adding DE or cellulose fiber to your filter Add DE to a Sand Filter. Keep an eye on your filter pressure. It will rise quicker than it normally does due to the finer filtration.

 

[Tanner M]

I posted awhile back about dirt in my pool. I thought it was sand, i dont think it is, even though my water (62 degrees) will not permit me to get in and get a sample to see 100% for sure. (Well, I could, but im not gonna, and I couldnt talk either of my sons into doing it either)

I thought it had a broken lateral, one call to intex yielded me all new laterals under warranty, and now I feel bad as when I took apart the sandfilter and examined all the laterals, not a one had any indication of cracks. I replaced them anyway. While I had the sand out, I took a little bit of it and dropped it in my pool (whats another spoonfull to vac up?) to see if it looked like the dirt that was in it, it didnt, it was more gritty than the dirt that was in it.

After reassembly, I vaccumed to waste. Since I had not vacuumed the dirt in about a week, it took some time and cost me 1/3rd of my perfectly balanced water.

I then backwashed the filter for 5 minutes, rinsed for 2, and shut the filter off before turning it back to filtration that way it had no chance to shoot any sand in pool.

A few hours later, I had very little dirt in my pool, which I vacuumed to waste the next day. I still have some dirt depositing on the pool floor, but its windy every day and the lot on the other side of the pond where they just finished a new house is dirt (wish they would hurry up and sod that sucker)

I keep vacuuming to filter, and I cant tell at this point if its just dirt in the air or if my filter is not catching it.

Should I at this point, put some DE in my filter to improve filtration to make sure this dirt im vacuuming every day is getting filtered out?

I cant keep vacuuming to waste every time, my water bill is already going to be through the roof this month.

Oklahoma wind. I have been having the same problem here in OKC.