Clean Salt Muddy pool (suggestion seeking)

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cris66

Member
Sep 14, 2021
6
scarsdale
The storm left this mass for us recently.
This is a saltwater pool with a cartridge filter, and I am a new pool owner.
So please let me know if I am making any mistakes. ANY suggestion will be appreciated! :swim:

What I did:
  • Add 1-gallon clarifier with 4 days gap.
  • Cleaned the filter with water spray every day for 2 days, and every time I could remove a whole layer of mud from those 4 cartridges. I think what I am doing is helpful, but it makes me feel quite helpless based on the result.
  • Cleaned auto cleaner every day and keep it run with pump filter for 24/7 now
Plans:
  • Add flocculant and pump the water out by turn the machine to "drain-only." But I never try this before, so not sure if I am going to lose water too fast (since the pump is quite strong); or I could remove the cartridge from the filter and make 1/2 go waste, and another 1/2 pass through the empty filter without damage machine (this is only my theory haha); or I should try manual vacuum with pipe
  • DIY a polyfill filter like those YouTubers, and I still need a limitation that only 1/2 water passes by this DIY filter since the bottleneck could be the problem
  • OR I could mix 2 previous plans.
Thank you!
 

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Welcome to TFP :)

Please do not use any clarifiers or flocculant as it can mess up your filters...

The plan is to continue doing exactly what you are doing (except clarifier).. Clean the filters when the pressure rises 25% from the clean pressure... I know it is painful to do it so often but that is the best way to get it done... Your filters will clean the water just fine, it just takes time.. You may have to clean the filters 4 or 5 times a day, the more the better as it is getting all the junk out of the water...

If your clean pressure is 16 psi you will clean your filters when the pressure gets to 20 psi... 16x25%=20 If that takes 30 minutes then you clean the filters at 30 minutes..

How are you testing for free chlorine, what test kit do you have?

You can get this done I promise :)
 
Cris,

I would vacuum to waste, if you have that option.. Most cartridge filters do not....

I would vacuum to waste, add fill water, vacuum to waste, add fill water, over and over until I had the pool mostly clear..

If you have a valve that says "Drain only" then I like your idea of removing the cartridges and using that. It will lower your water level pretty quickly, so you will have to constantly be adding water, but I think that is your best option...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
cowboycasey said:
Welcome to TFP :)

Please do not use any clarifiers or flocculant as it can mess up your filters...

The plan is to continue doing exactly what you are doing (except clarifier).. Clean the filters when the pressure rises 25% from the clean pressure... I know it is painful to do it so often but that is the best way to get it done... Your filters will clean the water just fine, it just takes time.. You may have to clean the filters 4 or 5 times a day, the more the better as it is getting all the junk out of the water...

If your clean pressure is 16 psi you will clean your filters when the pressure gets to 20 psi... 16x25%=20 If that takes 30 minutes then you clean the filters at 30 minutes..

How are you testing for free chlorine, what test kit do you have?

You can get this done I promise :)
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your reply!

I added the clarifier based on some other posts and staff from the pool supply store, and ideas about flocculant were from google. So never expect them it will damage my filter until you tell me :cry: . And that's the reason I assume to let the filter run without a cartridge, but water goes through polyfill will be a possible solution.

I am not sure if my manometer is broken, but it looks like it always shows 10 psi no matter whether I opened the filter or closed it. So I just cleaned it daily as default, and it could still get tons of mud from the cartridge.

About chlorine, I planned to test it after that water getting cleaner, maybe 10 days later. Is it necessary to test it before getting close to "clean water" and adding any chemicals? Or should it be the synchronous process?

Thank you again!
 
Jimrahbe said:
Cris,

I would vacuum to waste, if you have that option.. Most cartridge filters do not....

I would vacuum to waste, add fill water, vacuum to waste, add fill water, over and over until I had the pool mostly clear..

If you have a valve that says "Drain only" then I like your idea of removing the cartridges and using that. It will lower your water level pretty quickly, so you will have to constantly be adding water, but I think that is your best option...

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks for those suggestions!
Maybe I will try it this weekend after flocculant kicks in and I DIYed my polyfill filter.
 
cris66 said:
Thank you so much for your reply!

I added the clarifier based on some other posts and staff from the pool supply store, and ideas about flocculant were from google. So never expect them it will damage my filter until you tell me :cry: . And that's the reason I assume to let the filter run without a cartridge, but water goes through polyfill will be a possible solution.

I am not sure if my manometer is broken, but it looks like it always shows 10 psi no matter whether I opened the filter or closed it. So I just cleaned it daily as default, and it could still get tons of mud from the cartridge.

About chlorine, I planned to test it after that water getting cleaner, maybe 10 days later. Is it necessary to test it before getting close to "clean water" and adding any chemicals? Or should it be the synchronous process?

Thank you again!
Click to expand...
You need proper fc levels at all times
FC/CYA Levels
- this is especially true with all the extra organics that are in the pool. Otherwise u will go from a mud problem to an algae & mud problem.
Keeping to SLAM Process level in this instance is good insurance. To do this you need an accurate test kit in your possession that u can use often.
Test Kits Compared
 
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Mdragger88 said:
You need proper fc levels at all times
FC/CYA Levels
- this is especially true with all the extra organics that are in the pool. Otherwise u will go from a mud problem to an algae & mud problem.
Keeping to SLAM Process level in this instance is good insurance. To do this you need an accurate test kit in your possession that u can use often.
Test Kits Compared
Click to expand...
Uhh, guess I am going to fix this problem asap. Thank you.
 
Did you bleed the air out of the filter after cleaning? If not, the psi may not register correctly. Or - on my set-up if I run my pump on low it will show 0. If I kick it up to 2500 or so then I will see it start to show some pressure.
 
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