(Dead?) Algae?

[charles_slc]

Hello,

I'm going on my third year of having a 3500 gal vinyl AGP. Been using the TFP test kits all three years (and yes, getting new reagents each year)

I'm having some trouble with cloudiness after opening this year. My pool is drained and stored over the winter, so it's a fresh city water fill every year.

My daily routine is to test the pool in the morning & evenings. Adding 10% bleach as needed. During the first couple of weeks, I noticed some overnight loss. But I also had a bunch of pollen on the bottom which I'd vacuum to waste.

But my water has gotten cloudier and cloudier...it's a 4ft deep pool and I can maybe see 18" down.

After reading the various cloudy water posts here, I decide to SLAM Friday-Saturday.

OFCL last night was zero. This morning numbers are
FC 14
CC 0.5
CYA 40
TA 170
PH 7.8
CH 300


I run a sand filter with Leslie's zeolite sand it it, as I do every year and it's a fresh fill for the filter every year also. The filter has been running 24/7 for a couple weeks now. Since I had been adding clear aid to help with the cloudiness.

However, it's a 20# sand filter and I'm running about 12.5# of zeolite; which should be correct. But I think it's a bit less than I've run in the past. I tried to be more careful about only using 1/2 the 25# bag rather than filling the filter "half-full".

Also, turned out that my home water softener was out of salt while I was filling my pool, so the water might have been harder than in the past couple of years.

Thoughts?

 

[mknauss]

Clear Aid is clarifier.

It needs to be filtered out.

I assume you are using liquid chlorine for chlorination of the pool water?

 

[charles_slc]

Clear Aid is clarifier.

It needs to be filtered out.

I assume you are using liquid chlorine for chlorination of the pool water?

Yes, liquid chlorine, 10%.

Do you think I should add more zeolite sand to my filter? Supposedly, it only takes half as much as regular sand. So 12.5# in a 20# filter should be ok...but I'm wondering if there's some minimum depth needed...that this year I didn't reach.

Thanks!

 

[mknauss]

I have no experience with sand filters. I do know that the forum says to use sand in sand filters. The alternative medias have lots of cons and few pros.

 

[charles_slc]

Having trouble with cloudiness, SLAM'ed late last week.

I have no trouble passing the OFCL test, and CC is 0.5.

But water is still cloudy. pulled the intakes and see this...

Is this mustard algae? I've had the cover on since the water has been cloudy and the temps cool...

CYA is 40, should I slam to MA level (24?)

Thanks!

 

[mknauss]

Follow the SLAM Process. The first criteria to pass is crystal clear water -- you did not get that.

 

[charles_slc]

Follow the SLAM Process. The first criteria to pass is crystal clear water -- you did not get that.

Technically, the third step is crystal clear water...and that's my problem. I've passed the first two.
You are done when:

• CC is 0.5 or lower;
• You pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test OCLT (ie overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less);
• And the water is clear.

SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain

We’ve all had to deal with a green pool. Clear algae from your pool with a SLAM! Read here to use shock level and maintain to clear your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

No reason to do the first two if you cannot meet the third.

 

[charles_slc]

And if the chlorine isn't being used, OFCL of less than 1 and CC of 0.5, and the pools not getting any better...then what's the point of maintaining FC of 16?

I raised it to MA level (24) this evening, and left the intake grills off...

We'll see if there's any difference in the morning...

 

[mknauss]

You have a sand filter. With the look of your water, you need to follow the SLAM process for quite a while.

Or , follow your own process, entirely up to you.

 

[IceShadow]

You have dead algae floating in the water. The filter needs to take care of it. Without keeping the FC level high, the cloudy water could invite more algae blooming. So, maintain SLAM levels and let the filter do its job.

Mustard algae levels are meant to be used after the SLAM is complete and the water clear. And then only for 24 hours.

Keep standard SLAM levels. Sand filters can take days or even weeks to filter everything out. It can help to do a deep clean of the sand if you haven’t done one in a while. Only backwash when you get to 25% over standard levels.

 

[charles_slc]

All, I've had a couple of recent posts about cloudy water, even after SLAM'ing (regular and MA) and passing the OFCL and CC tests in the morning...

Since the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing while expecting a different results...I ended up draining the pool down to a couple of inches, while brushing "something" toward the submersible pump I used to drain.

The pool's not full yet, but I wanted to vacuum the what remained on the bottom. With my sand filter set to drain, my wife noticed water coming out of the output port in addition to the drain.

That shouldn't be happening correct?

Might explain why the "something" on the bottom looked a lot like my Zeolite sand...

So anybody know anything about fixing a Bestway 58401E Sand filter value?

 

[charles_slc]

The spider gasket doesn't look bad to me...

 

[charles_slc]

We're going on our 3rd year of use of a Bestway pool and 58401E Sand filter

I think my spider gasket is bad. While vacuuming the pool to waste, we noticed water coming out the output into to the pool.

the gasket doesn't look bad to me, though it also doesn't look particularly robust either.


The multi-value part number is P61140, I found a replacement on ebay that also gives new PN of P03822 (replaces p6536/p61140/p61962). Unfortunately, the seller is in Italy.

I've not been able to find a PN for the spider gasket nor any that would seem to be the same size.
4-spoke
5 1/8 OD
1 7/8 ID

Anybody had any luck finding parts? Is the Bestway filter by chance rebranded from another MFG?

 

[charles_slc]

To close out this thread...

The filter was the problem.

And it wasn't the gasket, it was a mistake hooking it up after storing it in the garage for the winter.

To anybody else who runs across this thread... If you're passing OFCL and your CC are under 0.5 but your water isn't getting better, double and triple check your filter.

Continuing to SLAM isn't always the right answer.