Cloudy nightmare.

[Lili]

Hi, I'm new, to the forum but not to a pool. This is my 21st year of pool ownership and I'm just stumped.
We opened in April, live in PA, and I noticed it was really filtering slime through the filter. It was time so I had the multi port valve and sand changed as well as a new clorinator, on June 7th. I had gotten clean enough, but Cloudy, by adding cellulose fiber, on a suggestion of Leslie's pool. First off I never go onto Leslie pool but I had used Omni filter aid in the past and they no longer make it. So I thought ok.
It appears as though came right back in the pool.
So I vacuumed to waste a half dozen times to get the most of whatever it is out of the pool
I then had the valve head sand and chlorinator
made sure each three days the water was tested and spot on.
No luck.
emptied the pool of just above the returns three times.
Added clarifier ran Day and night and vacuumed to waste
no luck.
dumped more water to just above the returns
Got a slime bag they are out of stock so I got only one.
Three days of full running
Looks exactly the same,
vacuum to waste three more times
add more water
today. Looks exactly the same. It's a cloud that sits on the bottom.
Ive actually run the filter with the vac on flipped over so it would bottom feed since I have no main drain.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I did ask for new laterals but they said they were in great shape so we didn't replace them.
No Sand in pool so I assume they are right.
Thank you for any other suggestions I did order two diesel bags from a post long ago to make my own 1 micron bag since they are out of stock at slime-bag. I'd get all new water but I'm afraid I'd have to wipe the entire pool bottom first! And that's pretty drastic. I'm older so I sure don't want to do that.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!

What are you testing your pool with? Likely you have a chemistry problem and not a filter problem. I recommend you review the slam process that we teach.

 

[Lili]

I use test strips and take it to my local pool store every three days. But I'll go read up on it. This is a visible cloud when disturbed from the bottom it poofs up thank you for your guidance.

 

[jblizzle]

Well unfortunately we don't trust Pool Store testing nor do we trust test strips. So I think step one would be investing in one of the recommended test kits. The puffing up sounds a lot like dead algae that is accumulating on the floor. You need to follow the slam process to make sure all of the algae is killed.

 

[domct203]

Hi, I'm new, to the forum but not to a pool. This is my 21st year of pool ownership and I'm just stumped.
We opened in April, live in PA, and I noticed it was really filtering slime through the filter. It was time so I had the multi port valve and sand changed as well as a new clorinator, on June 7th. I had gotten clean enough, but Cloudy, by adding cellulose fiber, on a suggestion of Leslie's pool. First off I never go onto Leslie pool but I had used Omni filter aid in the past and they no longer make it. So I thought ok.
It appears as though came right back in the pool.
So I vacuumed to waste a half dozen times to get the most of whatever it is out of the pool
I then had the valve head sand and chlorinator
made sure each three days the water was tested and spot on.
No luck.
emptied the pool of just above the returns three times.
Added clarifier ran Day and night and vacuumed to waste
no luck.
dumped more water to just above the returns
Got a slime bag they are out of stock so I got only one.
Three days of full running
Looks exactly the same,
vacuum to waste three more times
add more water
today. Looks exactly the same. It's a cloud that sits on the bottom.
Ive actually run the filter with the vac on flipped over so it would bottom feed since I have no main drain.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I did ask for new laterals but they said they were in great shape so we didn't replace them.
No Sand in pool so I assume they are right.
Thank you for any other suggestions I did order two diesel bags from a post long ago to make my own 1 micron bag since they are out of stock at slime-bag. I'd get all new water but I'm afraid I'd have to wipe the entire pool bottom first! And that's pretty drastic. I'm older so I sure don't want to do that.

Welcome to the forum.

That's quite a long post, but within it all I don't see you once mention your sanitizer level (FC), or how you sanitize. Are you using a SWG, floating tablets, using bleach, etc?

 

[Lili]

Welcome to the forum.

That's quite a long post, but within it all I don't see you once mention your sanitizer level (FC), or how you sanitize. Are you using a SWG, floating tablets, using bleach, etc?

I applogize for the length, And that I didn't read all of what trouble free pool is all about, testing wise.

So I will need to read up on all of your methods. I use 3" Omni tablets in a Hayward chlorinator. I don't have my free chlorine reading, other than the test strips. I will say I've had a crystal clear pool for 20 of my 21 years doing it my way. But then this is the year that counts. Since this is the year I'm struggling. Its a 2 year old liner, most of everything else is new this year, which leads me to suspect it's that cellulous fiber, since it's the only thing I've done different. I will look into your testers and try to get on board within the next few days.

 

[domct203]

I applogize for the length, And that I didn't read all of what trouble free pool is all about, testing wise.

So I will need to read up on all of your methods. I use 3" Omni tablets in a Hayward chlorinator. I don't have my free chlorine reading, other than the test strips. I will say I've had a crystal clear pool for 20 of my 21 years doing it my way. But then this is the year that counts. Since this is the year I'm struggling. Its a 2 year old liner, most of everything else is new this year, which leads me to suspect it's that cellulous fiber, since it's the only thing I've done different. I will look into your testers and try to get on board within the next few days.

You are most likely on the algae bloom rollercoaster. I doubt it is the cellulose, many members here use DE (or cellulose) in their sand filters.

I highly recommend you do get that proper test kit, and take control of your pool.

There is really no need to ever change your sand, in fact a good deep cleaning every season will keep it in tip top shape for something that is millions of years old anyways

What was wrong with the multi-port that you needed to change the entire unit? Most MPV's can be refreshed with a new spider gasket and some o-ring lube.

Those 3" tablets are not doing you any favors, for every 1ppm of FC, they also add 0.6ppm of CYA (stabilizer). While the FC get consumed from sunlight and organics, the CYA continues to build until it is so high that it over-buffers the FC, requiring higher levels of FC to keep the pool sanitary, which adds even more CYA, requiring even more FC, etc, etc.

Have a read through these articles while you wait on delivery of your test kit, and ask any questions you may have right here in this thread.

ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Chlorine CYA Chart

Test Kit Comparison

SLAM Process

Defeating Algae