SO - This Is What A 60MPH AZ Dust Storm Does To Your Pool Water!

[sh9730]

Had one of our larger dust storms in Central AZ last night - came up on us too quickly to cover the pool, and frankly when they are this bad the dust gets in everywhere!!



Picture won't post straight - but you get the idea - BLACK AS CAN BE!!! 12 hours later - some progress - but still pretty dark. I took the robot off for a bit and ran the regular inbound flow - that cleared up the top half of the water - but of course once I hooked up the robot all the stuff from the floor blackened it right back up!

BUT, I can now see the robot outline on the bottom moving around - and though still really dirty I can tell a difference.. Backwashed 3 times so far - but surprisingly I only have to do it for about 30 seconds to clean it up. The robot on the other hand is a 10 minute job to clear out and clean....

The thing is I really can't tell how much gunk is down there yet!!! I am hoping by morning I will see some difference. Although I am happy that at least it is not so thick that the robot gets stuck. So that is a good thing.

I have thrown some chlorine in just to keep things dead.... Anyway - 5000 gallon pool - 2100 GPH pump.

Suggestions?

 

[Casey]

Keep it up. If you want, you can shut the pump down n let it settle to the bottom n put the vacuum back in tomorrow to do the floor.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

This is one of the rare circumstances where a floc and slow vacuuming to waste would be helpful since you have very fine dust particulates suspended in your water. Alternatively, you could add DE to your sand filter to help clear the water but the filter will need lots of backwashing so you're going to use up a lot of waste water either way.

Do you have a manual vacuum head and the hoses to run it with?

I'm just south of you on the east side of Tucson. That wicked storm last night hit like a tornado and added 2-1/2" of water to my pool (over 600+ gallons). I just drained it off earlier this afternoon.

 

[sh9730]

The only vacuum I have is the basic Intex one - even worth doing? Or just keep doing what I am doing?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Unfortunately a robot vacuum is not ideal for this circumstance because it causes too much agitation of the water. Slow manual vacuuming either through your filter with a clarifier or to waste after flocculation will work the best.

 

[sh9730]

OK - so given I only have the garden hose version - I just have to keep back washing and filtering right?

And you are right - that was a good one last night!!

- - - Updated - - -

Would getting my net in there and scooping up some of the larger stuff do anything to speed up the process?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

OK - so given I only have the garden hose version - I just have to keep back washing and filtering right?

And you are right - that was a good one last night!!

- - - Updated - - -

Would getting my net in there and scooping up some of the larger stuff do anything to speed up the process?

Yup. That's about it. If you can find some pool grade DE, that will help clear the water faster.

 

[sh9730]

OK - thanks - Leslie's (I hate them but) - carries the DE - but not sure if our Casa Grande store stocks it. If I do get some - just pour it in as directed and backwash frequently?

Also - should I be testing etc. as normal - or just make sure I keep some decent chlorine in there until it clears up.

Thanks as always for the help!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Test as best you can. Chances are the water in the tube will be clear enough to get a reading.

As for DE - Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter

 

[jblizzle]

Yikes you guys are scaring me. We are up near flagstaff camping right now. Hope it was not as bad up near oro valley.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Yikes you guys are scaring me. We are up near flagstaff camping right now. Hope it was not as bad up near oro valley.

Not sure how bad the rain was last night on the west side but it came down HARD for a good clip. You might need to drain when you get back. More rain tonight too but very light over here on the east side.

Camping....Tapatalk....you've found a campsite with WiFi

 

[duraleigh]

depending on the water rate. it might be easiest to drain a 5k pool

 

[sh9730]

SO - just to get an idea where I stand I turned off the pump overnight (I wasn't going to wake up in the middle of the night to backwash anyway!) and let everything settle. Its better than I thought at this point. I could pretty clearly see the bottom and there wasn't large amounts of "gunk" or anything. I am hoping another day of filter/backwash routine will be even better.

 

[sh9730]

Update - 36 hours later and I can just barely see the little squares from the pool liner on the floor - but the water itself definitely has improved. Much more of a turquoise color now (from the liner reflection) - than the black it was. I actually think the pump has only been running about 20 hours total now (on/off for the back washes and then didn't run it last night). I m thinking that is about 5 cycles through. I ve been trying to do the back washes per cycle (every 2-3 hours). Also, because of all the back washing my guess is I ve recycled about 10% of new water into the pool to replace what I lose.

I do think it is making more "visible" progress now - meaning I can notice the difference every hour - my guess is that is because the filter can be a bit more efficient without so much dirt running through - but what do I know!

Also - tested everything this morning - other than normal chlorine needs everything looked good! Except the water of course!

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[z33tec]

A manual vac head on hose would probably clear that up real quick. Might want to pick one up for the future. They're pretty cheap anyway.

 

[sh9730]

Just a quick final update to this one - after about 4 days of 12-16 hours of filter/backwash I got about 90% clear - but still a bit cloudy with the really fine stuff. Cheated and got some clarifier - I couldn't think of anything else. I did use it sparingly but it did the trick! Back to crystal clear water again.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Yeah, sand filters are not very good at filtering out fine particulates like the dust we get here in the desert. I think your use of the clarifier was appropriate (and you probably should have used it sooner ). If you happen to ever get a chance to buy some DE on the cheap from a pool store sale, get it! It can be added to a sand filter to help capture the really fine particles. Another option would be to get a SlimeBag -

The Slime Bag | The Easiest Way To Maintain Crystal Clear Pool Water.

They are very easy to hook up to the return port in your pool and they filter down to 1 micron particle size which is about 30X better than your sand filter. You can use them anytime and many members really like the "polish" they add to their pool water.