Dirty Pool! HELP!

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Great post, thank you!

Two things for right now, then I'm gone for a while:

This time of year it is especially hard to know if evaporation or leak is at play, so please try the bucket test as explained here in pool school:
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/150-leak-detection
and your FC testing sounds correct to me.

As far as the DE goes, I generally wait to suggest it until we achieve a very cloudy blue, with no green left, since filtering will only help dead algae removal, not active bloom. Adding DE won't hurt anything necessarily, but will make you backwash more frequently, which will just cause you to add more well water with FC 0, that you'll have to bring up to shock FC, instead of just topping off the water you have in there, so that's why I don't suggest DE until after blue is locked down. Up to you though, I just generally suggest the thriftiest option not knowing how people are in the $ department at any given time.

I will be so pleased when we get you to TFP maintenance and end this SLAM. Could you post FC and CC for all tests for a day or two please, with times and additions. This will actually tell us a lot about how your FC demand is behaving. Brush your heart out too, paying special attention to corners, steps, and the deep end. Let's go all in for keeping FC at shock, brushing, and recording results for a day or two and see if we can bust this into blue freedom. Then we'll blast that cloudiness with some DE/CF. Then we'll be done. Also, if you can do OCLT one night, that'd be great, just to check how it's going.
 
i'm wondering if the bleach is old and degraded..... ? Are you buying fresh bleach frequently or using up old jugs of bleach you had around?

Have you tested your FC level 30 minutes past putting in your dose to confirm it got your FC up to the desired level? I'd try that to see if your bleach is up to snuff.

I'd also try to get out there hourly whenever you can.

Maddie :flower:
 
Something may be wrong with your filter. You said the water looked cloudier the day after adding DE. The DE might have gone right through the sand & ended up in the water. I'd open up the filter & take a look inside. Perhaps even remove the sand from the filter & inspect the laterals. With all the sand out of the filter you might want to go ahead & replace it. HTH pool sand gets good recommendations & is usually available at Ace hardware. We had a member or two use Quikrete pool sand & found the sand was so fine that it made its way into the pool.
 
Mike1162 could indeed be correct, but I'm not in agreement at this time. Even with a completely messed up filter, your water is still circulating and if proper CYA reading has been done and proper shock FC is diligently maintained, water can only stay green due to two reason - algae/bacteria and metals. Given that you were able to go from green to blue while at shock fc, this strongly suggests the issue is algae and not metals. Losing ground and water going both greener and cloudier is even further supportive of algae in my mind, as metals would not cloud, just green tint to clear water. So I conclude this is an algae bloom and proper sanitation will be the only way to conquer it. [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. SLAM Process. PoolMath.

If anyone else sees any issues with the logic I explained, please let me know because it is very important to getting JamieMartin the correct advice.

Once all algae is dead, a properly working filter or any type can easily polish the water sparkling crystal clear, but no filter can clear water with an active algae bloom. This is why a trustworthy CYA reading and FAS-DPD reading are so vital. This is why we urge people to brush and top off bleach as often as possible, so that the sanitizing is as efficient as possible, and complete as possible, or could just go on for ever and ever and ever. We can only provide the knowledge; Pool Owners must do the actual work. I can see JamieMartin is trying hard, perhaps just a little harder is what it will take to achieve and keep solid blue.

If you do elect to inspect the filter, please research it thoroughly. Damaging laterals/cartridges/degrids is common for people who don't do their research first, and is a costly avoidable mistake.
 
BattleOfYakima said:
Mike1162 could indeed be correct, but I'm not in agreement at this time. Even with a completely messed up filter, your water is still circulating and if proper CYA reading has been done and proper shock FC is diligently maintained, water can only stay green due to two reason - algae/bacteria and metals. Given that you were able to go from green to blue while at shock fc, this strongly suggests the issue is algae and not metals. Losing ground and water going both greener and cloudier is even further supportive of algae in my mind, as metals would not cloud, just green tint to clear water. So I conclude this is an algae bloom and proper sanitation will be the only way to conquer it. [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. SLAM Process. PoolMath.

If anyone else sees any issues with the logic I explained, please let me know because it is very important to getting JamieMartin the correct advice.

Once all algae is dead, a properly working filter or any type can easily polish the water sparkling crystal clear, but no filter can clear water with an active algae bloom. This is why a trustworthy CYA reading and FAS-DPD reading are so vital. This is why we urge people to brush and top off bleach as often as possible, so that the sanitizing is as efficient as possible, and complete as possible, or could just go on for ever and ever and ever. We can only provide the knowledge; Pool Owners must do the actual work. I can see JamieMartin is trying hard, perhaps just a little harder is what it will take to achieve and keep solid blue.

If you do elect to inspect the filter, please research it thoroughly. Damaging laterals/cartridges/degrids is common for people who don't do their research first, and is a costly avoidable mistake.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your input and patience throughout my SLAM. I am noticing some improvement in clarity, but not necessarily color. I'll update with photo this evening. For the sake of argument, if I am dealing with BOTH algae and metals, how will we clear up the metals?

I am a bit wary about inspecting the laterals. I deep cleaned my filter early this season and it took me a while to build up the courage to do that. I have used DE before without clouding the water.

I am using new bleach, by the way. I've had to buy about 25-30 gallons of bleach this season, so it's all brand spankin' new.

Recent levels:
7/15 at 8:40pm FC 28, CC 0. Brushed.
7/16 at 9:20am FC 21, CC 0. Added 128oz 10% bleach. Brushed.
7/16 at 11:05am FC 29, CC 0.5. Brushed. Put in Dolphin.
7/16 at 2:10pm FC 21, CC 0. Added 128oz 10% bleach. Brushed. Dolphin removed with no debris in filters.

I do think we have a leak. The water level from a bucket I placed on the stairs has not dropped a much today as the pool water level. We re-sealed the pool last summer and sealed the skimmer this year, so I think that leaves a leak in the pipes under the concrete (ugh). I'm sure adding in well water with FC 0 and tons of metals is not helping my overall situation.
 
Can't post more at the moment, but that kind of FC loss merits hourly testing and top off when possible to see fast results. Great job, I mean freaking great job with the testing, that's what we needed to see! Keep that FC at shock even better if you can, again up to hourly, and watch this SLAM wrap up faster. I think you'd fail an OCLT tonight, but feel free to prove me wrong. Even if metals are in there, they don't wreck FC like that, so SLAM is the answer at the moment.

I'm not a leak guy, but bucket test seems to help again!
 
Updated color and clarity photos.

Levels:
4:10pm FC 23.5, CC 0.5. Add 86oz 10%. Brush.
5:50pm FC 24.5, CC 0.5. Add 67oz 10%.
6:50pm FC 28, CC 0.5. Brush.
8:05pm FC 25.5, CC 0. Added 48oz 10%.

Surprised it's falling more frequently now. I was to the point where I would check in 4 hours and there would be no change. Maybe I stirred something up in the deep end?
 
That's the first photo that shows the third step! YES! PROGRESS!

Take that step photo each day or so and we should be able to see the progress improve if you keep topping off the FC and brushing like that!

I totally think you had hidden algae somewhere and you've got it working in better now than ever. You can see that your FC is oxidizing stuff and your CC was constantly .5 instead of zero, so you're making progress. The more diligent you are able to be in topping off FC, the faster this will go. I love that two brushings day! If there were an easier or cheaper way to clear your pool, I'd suggest it, but this works for like 99% of people for a reason - science. How well and how fast it works, only you can impact by your hard work. I know life will limit your ability to baby the pool, just do the best you can and you'll have this thing on track fast.

As for metals - they don't cloud the pool, but rather tint it a color. If you did have metal problems, it depends on the metal, but with wells, iron is most common. After the SLAM is complete, if metals were a problem, keeping PH at the correct level, never going above slam FC, and potentially filtering well water additions would all be discussed. *next sentence is general overview only, not instructions* If metal removal was unavoidable, we'd suggest the best sequestrant for the job and have you use either polyfill or paper towels in the skimmer under supervision, and/or normal filtration, potentially with CF or DE. Metals would clump/get caught/filtered out.

Metals in the water is not always a problem for well water users. Many people with well water never have staining or discolorations. It is often feared and worried about, but not always a real concern at all. If you see signs of metal issues after you have crystal clear water, share them and we'll go from there. If you don't see issues, then don't worry about it and be grateful.

No matter what, right now this algae needs to be put down for good. Stay the course, re-read SLAM Process to be sure you got this. You seem to be doing a great job today! I suspect photos will show improvement tomorrow!

Keep an eye on the PSI too. No early backwashes, 20-25% unless flow is greatly reduced before then.
 
THANK YOU! You really stepped up your testing/adding/brushing frequency and proved for all who read this thread that it does have a massive impact in your improvement curve! You're doing great! Thank you for trusting us! Don't slack! You got this! Finishing the algae killing and keeping it sanitized to the shock level will allow your filter to show off it's polishing abilities! Only dead algae can be cleared, not live. The clear water you seek is yours for the taking!
 

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Great progress so far! Hopefully you'll be swimming in it soon.

I wanna chime in about posting photos. I've had a lot of luck sharing using Google Photos. If you have an Android phone, your photos might already be automatically backed up with Google Photos, otherwise with Android or iPhone, just download their app and back up your photos with them, or manually upload your photos to their site. View the picture on the site and right click it, then click "Copy Address". In your message on TFP, type
.
 
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