I started SLAM'ing about 2 weeks ago. Starting out, the pool was a pond- don't ask. (broken pump at closing time and no cover- boy was this a learning experience) It has/had tons of debris in the bottom, including Pecan flowers, leaves, tadpoles etc.
I made sure my CYA was good (30), got Chlorine up to 16 and have been brushing, sweeping etc. It rapidly went from green to grey, but there it still sits. Very cloudy. Sweeping the bottom (blindly) yields nothing, but the Polaris will fill a bag within a few hours. My sand filter is running 24x7, and I backwash it when it gets to about 22-23 from it's normal 18. I've now gone through about 50 jugs of 8.25% bleach.
I'm at a loss as to how to get the rest of the muck out, since I'm sure that's why I'm still not clean. I've tried a vacuum, but it seems to lose prime easily and doesn't pull very hard. Where do I go from here? My local pool store has said they rent their portable vacuum, and I'm very tempted to floc and vacuum with that. Is it a horrible idea?
btw- I'm using pool math with 30000 gallons as my size to be sure I "overkill"- I don't really have an accurate volume. It's 20x40, with 45 degree corners, 3 step walk-in on one short side and 3 step walk-in on one corner. It's a play-pool or volleyball pool, and is about 4.5' at the sides and slopes to about 6' at the bottom. Very hard to calculate. I'm attaching a picture.
I made sure my CYA was good (30), got Chlorine up to 16 and have been brushing, sweeping etc. It rapidly went from green to grey, but there it still sits. Very cloudy. Sweeping the bottom (blindly) yields nothing, but the Polaris will fill a bag within a few hours. My sand filter is running 24x7, and I backwash it when it gets to about 22-23 from it's normal 18. I've now gone through about 50 jugs of 8.25% bleach.
I'm at a loss as to how to get the rest of the muck out, since I'm sure that's why I'm still not clean. I've tried a vacuum, but it seems to lose prime easily and doesn't pull very hard. Where do I go from here? My local pool store has said they rent their portable vacuum, and I'm very tempted to floc and vacuum with that. Is it a horrible idea?
btw- I'm using pool math with 30000 gallons as my size to be sure I "overkill"- I don't really have an accurate volume. It's 20x40, with 45 degree corners, 3 step walk-in on one short side and 3 step walk-in on one corner. It's a play-pool or volleyball pool, and is about 4.5' at the sides and slopes to about 6' at the bottom. Very hard to calculate. I'm attaching a picture.