Cloudy after Messed up backwash

[ajbrumm]

I have owned my pool for 2 seasons and still don't really know what I am doing.
A few weeks ago I treated for Algae. I don't recall the product name or type. I also used Metal Out after that because my daughter's hair started turning green.
Last night I vacuumed what I believed to be mustard Algae. For the first time, I used the vacuum port rather than one of the 2 skimmers. I closed both skimmers while I did this. The vacuuming went well so I decided to backwash for the first time in 2 months or so.
The way that I backwashed is as follows with all my valves returned to the open position.

1. turn off the pump. 2. switch the hayward vari-flo multi valve to backwash. 3. Turn the pump back on for 5-8 seconds. 4. Turn the pump off. 5. Return the valve position to filter. 6. Turn on the pump for 5-8 seconds.

I repeated this suquence about 20 times, until the sight glass was clear, then returned the valve to filter and turned the pump back on. (I never used the rinse settin). I walked over to the pool when I was done and the water was cloudier than ever! After reading a few instructionals on backwashing, I think I made several mistakes. I followed the instructions that my local pool guy gave me and now I regret it.

Can anyone review this, tell me what I did wrong and how I can fix it? Thanks for your help. This is my first post.

 

[Richard320]

In brief, you should have just let the thing backwash until the sight glass went clear, then rinsed. Pool School - Maintenance and Cleaning of Pool Filters

To fix the cloudiness problem, you open a large can of

That's Pool Owner Patience. Once the stuff has settled out, vacuum it up again. It shouldn't require anything special by way of chemicals; it's been in the same water it's in now, just out of sight, so it isn't algae.

 

[Thimble]

Ditto on Richard's advice. Sounds like you just stirred up the crud in your filter and pumped it right into your pool.

I'm no backwash guru, but this is my procedure:

Shut pump off.
Move handle to the backwash position
Start the pump, let it run till the sight glass is clear. This usually takes 1-2 minutes. It will start out clear, get cloudy and gradually clear again.
Shut off pump after the glass clears.
Move handle to rinse.
Start pump and let it run for 30 seconds or so.
Shut off pump.
Move handle to filter.
Start pump and run a regular filter cycle for the day. Note pressure. Backwash when pressure increases 25%.

My normal pressure is 16 psi, I backwash when it hits 19-20.