Dirt or algae after record amount of rain.. how do I know?

[Cathy9887]

In STL, we had record amounts of rain in June (nearly 14"!!), and I've been fighting for clear water ever since we originally got it clear from opening!! Our backyard slopes a bit towards the pool, and I'm quite sure there's dirt/mud being washed into the pool. Yesterday, I took the vacuum hose, and dived down into the deep where the most had collected, and it looked more brown... and when i went to suck it up, it was more of a sludgy "slide" into the hose instead of a quick "whoosh". Also, it was still there after 2 hours of 4 adults wading around, and kids doing cannonballs. I'm consistently vacuuming it up, and it seems to get better each day, but the water is still just ick. It's cloudy... but not brown/dirt cloudy.. it's more white cloudy (it's been "not crystaly" clear almost all summer!!).

*sigh* I'm just not sure what to do... do I SLAM it? Or do I just stay the course (and pray for no more rain) and it should eventually clear up... hopefully before it's time to close for the season...



If a photo of the "dirt" would be helpful, I'll be happy to get one. Same goes for the water clarity.

Thanks friends!!!
Cathy

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Cathy. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Well, you have the right idea about trying to manually remove as much of the "muck" as you can first. That helps a lot. After that, it becomes a chemical issue, and probably "yes" you will need to SLAM. But only after you get as much stuff out manually as possible. You have the best test kit out there, so no worries. You can do it.

 

[Cathy9887]

Ugh.... I was REALLY hoping you had a magic pill or phrase I could chant to make this happen a little quicker... OK, I'll keep at it.

Thanks!!!