Sand Filter needs backwashing OFTEN, could i have gunk?

[plsbcheap]

sorry guys

(PS - Big letters makes me feel like somebody is shouting at me... )

It looks like someone edited my signature for me while I was out! A little surprising to me. I would have been happy to change it my self after the PM and fear that someone would think I was shouting. :? I think there may be a little overreacting by some of the folks on the board to go in and delete a bolding or enlarged font.

I just got back home and did not mean to "offend" anyone. Joyce, David, Jason, please accept my apology for the “very distracting” bolding of my signature.

Actually I was trying to get my pool water cleared up and had really great help. I asked several questions which were never answered. I felt as though I must be asking so many questions that you guys were growing impatient and didn’t want to answer anymore. I didn’t hear ANYTHING after 7:59 this morning. My main question was how long should I keep the FC at 20. At about 3:30 I was getting ready to go to a dance recital (again tonight ) and still had no answers on the chlorine so I was simply pleading for help! Not trying to be “very distracting”. I will take off my signature now. Dave and Jason, thanks for getting back to me with an explanation. If I am trying to stabilize the FC at 20 how will I “swim these waters” or get it back down to 2 or 3 so I can swim again? Good night and thanks.

 

[Butterfly]

Re: sorry guys

(PS - Big letters makes me feel like somebody is shouting at me... )

It looks like someone edited my signature for me while I was out! A little surprising to me. I would have been happy to change it my self after the PM and fear that someone would think I was shouting. :? I think there may be a little overreacting by some of the folks on the board to go in and delete a bolding or enlarged font.

I just got back home and did not mean to "offend" anyone. Joyce, David, Jason, please accept my apology for the “very distracting” bolding of my signature.

Actually I was trying to get my pool water cleared up and had really great help. I asked several questions which were never answered. I felt as though I must be asking so many questions that you guys were growing impatient and didn’t want to answer anymore. I didn’t hear ANYTHING after 7:59 this morning. My main question was how long should I keep the FC at 20.

Maintain 20 FC until:
A. You hold FC loss to 1.0 or less overnite
B. Your CC's test .5 or less
C. Your water is sparkling

At about 3:30 I was getting ready to go to a dance recital (again tonight ) and still had no answers on the chlorine so I was simply pleading for help! Not trying to be “very distracting”. I will take off my signature now. Dave and Jason, thanks for getting back to me with an explanation. If I am trying to stabilize the FC at 20 how will I “swim these waters” or get it back down to 2 or 3 so I can swim again?

Once you reach the above criteria (A,B & C) you can just stop adding bleach and let the FC level drift back down.

ETA: Make sure your CYA is 60 to 80 (for most SWG's - consult your owner manual for specific recommended level

Good night and thanks.

 

[hodapmj]

Invest in Skimmer Socks!

plsbcheap,

From the looks of your yellow gunk in your filter you live in an area with a lot of Pine. You mentioned it was a heavy season for Pine Pollen this year. Trust me in Arkansas we have TON's of it. Purchase skimmer socks for your all your skimmer baskets and you will not have this issue next year. If you use the skimmer socks (you can use old panty hose or purchase these http://www.skimmersocks.com/ at your local pool store I bet you won't have this issue again.

 

[plsbcheap]

Re: Invest in Skimmer Socks!

plsbcheap,

From the looks of your yellow gunk in your filter you live in an area with a lot of Pine. You mentioned it was a heavy season for Pine Pollen this year. Trust me in Arkansas we have TON's of it. Purchase skimmer socks for your all your skimmer baskets and you will not have this issue next year. If you use the skimmer socks (you can use old panty hose or purchase these http://www.skimmersocks.com/ at your local pool store I bet you won't have this issue again.

That is a good tip and thanks. I did have the most yellow pine pollen I have ever seen this year. My neighbor sez he is going to cut his pine trees this fall so that will help but this should slow the debris and pollen from gunking up the filter. I will try it. I assume you just have to rinse it off each time you dump the filter basket. Next time I have stuff that won't wash out in my sand I may just replace the sand. I don't know how much filter sand costs but it might be worth it. Last summer a guy had suggest that I drain the filter and then pump in bleach to saturate the sand and let it sit for 12 hours. That made some sense to me but this round I just cholrinated up to 20 and held it for a few days. I think I am good now but waiting on the CYA levels to get up to 60. Some one had told me 30-50 but I'm adding more now to get it to 60.

Maybe my question earlier (Fri May 30, 2008 3:24 pm) should have been about the SWG difference for CYA and the recommendations for a chlorine pool without a SWG.

Also I remember that one of the numbers (maybe CYA) was different for vinyl and gunite/plaster/pebbletech pools. Do you remember which water test is different for liner pools?

I remembered that one of the chemicals was a different level for vinyl / gunite but maybe it is the SWG/chlorine (traditional pool water) that the CYA is different. 30-50 for Chlorine pools and 60-80 for SWG. Whatever now.... I'm trying to move it up to 60 in my pool.
Thanks,

 

[JasonLion]

If you have a SWG, CYA should be between 60 and 80.

 

[plsbcheap]

Funny, not really...

Funny thing... (not really) after all the work I am pretty sure that the SWG is a bad cell after all the hard work. When the green tint to my water started almost 2 weeks ago I looked in my filter and saw the gunk and assumed that the gunk was causing the algae and that the "superchlorinate" feature was not enough to kill the algae growth. After bleaching the pool heavy (as described in this thread) the water is sparkling but even though my cell light was not on my controller diagnostic program was showing no flow on the cell (SWG). I called Pentair and they said something must be stuck in the flow switch and to remove the cell and acid wash it. I had an old cell I stuck in there and it is working fine now. I called by field service guy back (a really great guy with Pentair) and he said the cell is probably bad and the flow switch is keeping the generator from ever turning on and producing chlorine. He is sending me a new cell tonight.

So while my CYA was very low and the shocking cleared it all up, the cell not turning on was likely the culprit to the algae growth to start with. I'm learing, but what a learning curve.... :!:

Now I am likely going to replumb the SWG and put it in the correct spot and add the Pentair recommended check valve between the SWG and the heater to prevent seepage into the heater. The pool builder "Pool Depot" in Marietta made so many mistakes and is not a good builder. He put the chlorinator AFTER the actuator valve for the spa/pool. Therefore I am only getting results from the SWG when my pool is in POOL mode. When the actuator turns to spa mode no flow is going thru the SWG.

Can anyone think of a reason WHY you would put the SWG on the vertical leg to the pool return AFTER the actuator valve?
Thanks,

 

[JasonLion]

It is fairly common to put the SWG on the pool only return. If you don't have an automation system that takes care of this, it is easy for the SWG to produce way too much chlorine when in spa mode. To avoid that the SWG is put on the pool return. With this setup the spa gets sufficient chlorine from the pool water in overflow mode to be fine as long as you don't stay in spa mode for all that long, say up to an hour or two. An automation system correctly connected to a compatible SWG will adjust the SWG percentage automatically to avoid this issue.

 

[plsbcheap]

It is fairly common to put the SWG on the pool only return. If you don't have an automation system that takes care of this, it is easy for the SWG to produce way too much chlorine when in spa mode. To avoid that the SWG is put on the pool return. With this setup the spa gets sufficient chlorine from the pool water in overflow mode to be fine as long as you don't stay in spa mode for all that long, say up to an hour or two. An automation system correctly connected to a compatible SWG will adjust the SWG percentage automatically to avoid this issue.

Thanks JasonLion,
I do have EasyTouch automation by Pentair (as noted in my sign). I see in the program two choices for changing the % of output for the SWG. Pool and Spa. Actually when you raise or lower the pool it will automatically change the spa accordingly. For example when the pool is at 40% chlorination the spa may be at 2% since the body of water is so much smaller. If I move it down on the pool to 25% then the spa may go to 1% etc.

So The EasyTouch was in place from the beginning and it seems to me that it should have been before the actuator (automated) valve for the pool / spa. I understand your point IF I had no automation. The reason I want it to chlorinate the spa automatically is that to dump the spa into the pool with a mode on EasyTouch (easy to do) will cause a lot more evaporation of the pool in the heat of the summer. The spa dumps on three / four big rocks before landing in the pool. Nice for looks but it does affect the water level to do it everyday just because I am not able to chlorinate the spa.

Anyone have any other negatives to moving it? Could he have been thinking about something that I am missing?Thanks,

 

[JasonLion]

Yep, given all that you are better off with the SWG before the pool/spa split. The EasyTouch will take care of adjusting the percentage and everything will be fine.

 

[plsbcheap]

One last photo posting from when I sifted out the junk from the sand several days ago. Most of the sand looked like the sand on Daytonna Beach, super fine and went right thru my strainer but I did have some larger grains? as pictured here. Does pool sand have different size grains in the filter? Is this just larger filter material that should stay in the filter? Thanks,

 

[JasonLion]

The sand in a sand filter is very fine. All that larger stuff is contamination.