Is my sand filter messed up?

[jmcnyc]

I have an in ground 25,000 gallon vynyl pool. In the beginning of the season it was clear and clean. I have a Hayward sand filter. I changed the internals of the sand filter this year and replaced the sand. After I did this the pool was great. I went on vacation and came back and the pool was turning green. I had the filter running 8 hours a day but it was very hot and I don't think I had enough chlorine. I shocked it the past 4 days and didn't get the chlorine to stay up. I added liquid chlorine yesterday and pumped it for 24 hours.

The chlorine is very high. Sorry everyone I only have test strips so I cant give you exact measurements but it has been high chlorine fr 2 days. I had the water tested twice this week and both say everything looks good.

So yesterday with the chlorine high for a day and the filter pumping for 24 hours I back washed. The clear viewer showed no green. The pool is pea soup green and after a day of filtering no green in the viewer. I opened it up and the pipe down into the sand was all connected. I suspect it is not chemicals but is the sand filter and such.

Should I continue to investigate the chemicals? Or should I take the sand filter apart? Not sure what it could be in the sand filter unit. Basic stuff. Anyone have experience with this?

Edit. It is a Hayward S244T. With new sand and new internals. Also a new pump.

 

[Piolin]

Slam, slam get the recommended test kit, go to pool school and read in the meantime, you are at the right place

 

[jmcnyc]

Thanks Poilin. I have studied pool school. Just want to see if someone sees something obvious that I am missing.

 

[Piolin]

Follow the slam procedure to the T, I think your filter is fine, dump one gallon of bleach every night until you can post results from your recommended test kit

one more thing remember after backwash to rinse for at least 30 seconds

 

[domct203]

Welcome.

Your filter does not sanitize (kill algae) your pool, chlorine does. Your pump & filter's primary job is to remove particulates (dirt) from the water and provide circulation.

You really need to invest in one of the recommended test kits, either the Taylor K2006 or the TF100

Seeing that your pool is green, you are going to need a lot of reagents to properly maintain your levels during the SLAM, I recommend the TF100 with the XL option, or the Taylor K2006-C. Price wise the TF100 with XL option is the better value.

As mentioned, in the mean time add one gallon of bleach (liquid chlorine) daily until your test kit arrives to keep the green monster at bay. When you get your kit post a complete set of results including FC, CC, CYA, pH, TA & CH.

Also, please add your pool details to your signature to help us help you.

Dom

 

[duraleigh]

Confirming what domct203 said, you have a chemistry issue, not filtration.

Assuming it is assembled correctly and water is flowing through it, a sand filter ONLY catches debris......it has no affect on live algae in your pool.

read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School then read "SLAM" in the "How To" section up in Pool School

 

[jmcnyc]

Thanks for the advice - I will begin to Slam. I did a water test this AM - here are my results:

Total Chlorine: 4.9
Free Chlorine: 4.7
pH: 7.4
Total Alk: 50
Calcium Hardness: 50
Stabilizer: 30

I ran the filter overnight and when I backwashed I didnt see any green in the spyglass. I then hooked up the vacuum and scrubbed the bottom (which I cant see) and then backwashed and did see green. So it looks like I have some tough algee that will need some scrubbing. I will follow the SLAM and report back.

 

[Piolin]

Congratulations, take pictures of all the process and post here we love to see a successful story...

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Invest in the test kit soon, rather than attempting this with strips. You'll be frustrated when it doesn't clear and not understand why it's taking so long.