DE in Cartridge Filter -- Now pool is completely cloudy

[kimkats]

Rain------same thing here. We say "don't like the weather wait 15 mins or drive 15 miles!" LOL

Kim

 

[PoolESQ]

Joyful - the filters are seated properly. I double checked when I opened up the lid to make sure they were clean, per Kim's suggestion.

After adding the clarifier, I'm starting to see some real improvement. I'd say at least 50% improvement compared to earlier today. I'm hopeful by tomorrow morning, the water will be clear again.

Kim - as I'm sure you know, rain is pretty scarce around here, but this year we've been fortunate to receive above-average rain levels. The rain today lasted about 5-7 minutes, after a good hour of thunder and lightening. Now it's beautiful as can be outside!

 

[kimkats]

Thanks for opening the filters and making sure they were clean. LOL

I hope it is clear when you get up this morning!

Kim

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I'm confused! I just did a search for food grade DE & found a company that sells 'no grit superfine food grade DE'. It says the particles are less than 300 microns & 90% are less than 200 microns. This site has an article that says cartridge filters can filter down to 10 microns. Seems like it should be filtering it out without any problem. Same article says DE filters can filter less than 5 microns. Either one should be able to clear this up.

So just to clarify (haha, pardon the pun!), the reason why DE can filter down to 3 microns is NOT because of the size of the DE particles (shells, actually) themselves but the fact that the surface of the shells are perforated with 3-6 micron sized holes (isn't mother nature AMAZING at nano engineering!!). So, when the shells agglomerate into a larger mass, there are still holes through which water can flow but anything larger than ~3 microns can not. Check out any number of websites showing the images of DE shells and you'll see their incredible surfaces!

This fact is entirely separate from calcined versus non-calcined DE. The heat treatment process (DE is placed in a furnace with air/oxygen at 1000C) is intended to do two things. First, the heat treatment process destroys any residual organics and converts any aluminum or iron present (typically less than a few wt%) into their respective oxides so that they are immobilized and less reactive. Second, the heat treatment converts the amorphous silica material that composes the shells (opal type structure) into a denser, more rigid crystalline form. This is why food grade DE (amorphous form) can be used as a food additive but the crystalline form (which is a suspected carcinogen) can not. The densification of the crystalline silica imparts greater mechanical strength to the DE particles and improves their ability to filter fine particulates.

Hopefully that CLARIFIES instead of MUDDYING the waters.....hahahahaha

 

[kimkats]

LOL You are SO funny! hehe

Kim

 

[PoolESQ]

So - here's the update - ALL IS CLEAR!

Here is a picture of the pool after about 5 hours of circulation yesterday:



And here we are this morning:




Thanks to everyone who provided assistance! I consider this a lesson learned! Never do anything to the pool without checking here first!!

 

[kimkats]

Is it as clear as it looks??

So talk to me............is there anything on the bottom that you can vacuum out? Where did all of the stuff go??????

Is it in your filter? (oh can you add what kind (cartridge) of filter you have in your bottom siggy please)

Kim

 

[PoolESQ]

Because those pictures have lost some quality when I uploaded them, it's difficult to see just how clear the water is. It is perfect. I'm attaching another pic so you can (hopefully) see how perfect it is.



Nothing fell to the bottom because I used clarifier instead of flocculant. Presumably it's all trapped in my filter. (Pentair Clean & Clear 420). I will give the filters a good cleaning this weekend to see what all is trapped in there. This was a major disaster avoided!

 

[jblizzle]

Happy to hear that the clarifier worked .. it can be very hit and miss, but you had an odd situation

 

[kimkats]

That water looks like GLASS! WOW!

Kim

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Hey, your spa is empty, check the valves and make sure they're functioning properly

WOW.....just, WOW!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PoolESQ]

Thanks, guys - couldn't have done it without your help!! Hope I'm able to return the favor some day!