Persistent cloudy water

[electrodrew]

Are you vacuuming to waste or vacuuming to filter?

If floc is present, then you have to vacuum to waste otherwise the floc gets embedded into the filter media, degrades back into fine particulates, and then those fines are released back into the water. Floc should only ever be used when a pool has a vacuum to waste available.

Vacuuming to waste.

Unfortunately the floc was pumped through the filter for weeks prior to coming to TFP for help, but it still seemed to have some filtering ability and required regular cleanings. Now that the new filter ran overnight, the water cleared up a lot more and pressure is holding at the halfway point to the recommended cleaning point (15 psi start +10 psi). Although the picture does not show the detail, I'm able to see the pattern on the vinyl at least 4-5ft down and see where debris has settled throughout the pool, including the 8ft deep end. This is huge progress! The pump removes a lot of water very quickly when vacuuming, so being able to finally see where to focus the vacuuming effort helps tremendously. Previously, I would see dirty clouds of floc clumps get stirred up when the pump was turned back on (after filter cleaning, vacuuming, period of settling time, etc.) indicating many dirty areas I missed.

I'm prepared to replace the filter cartridge again once all visible debris is removed and there is no evidence of "floater" floc clumps in the pool.

Thanks all for the help so far!!

 

[generessler]

I did measure pH when FC was below 10, but I’m not sure the exact pH, just that it was surprisingly yellow and took 9 drops of reagent to bring it to 7.2.

Interesting. I'm over in Chapel Hill. Our OWASA water has been 7.9 the couple of times I've checked. Borderline high.

Fwiw, our weather is such that rain is very close to evaporation, so adding extra water is a rare event. Averaging for the year, my pool loses a bit more than 1/10 inch per day. Maybe 40 inches for the year. Historical rainfall is 46 inches, but of course a fraction of that makes the pool too full and must be drained. So my auto-leveler adds about twice a year. Roughly 400 gallons a pop. All that's to say that except for fills, water supply plays a small role in chemical balance. Caveat: My pool is partially shaded. Ymmv.

Otoh, the EPA says normal rain has pH 5.6. I've never tried measuring ours. That said, my issue - as many or most pools - has been pH drifting up. Expect you'll get there, too. I wouldn't stock up on soda ash. Once will probably be it.

Good luck on the SLAM. The folks here are amazing. Just keep the faith. You were definitely "pool stored" or at maybe "pool professional-ed," since the trouble was inflicted by others. But clear water is in your future.