Time to do it on my own

[dunnma]

SLAM Complete!

I started the SLAM on 9/5. By the morning of 9/6 part 2 was complete (CC less than .5). By the morning of 9/8 part 1 was complete (loss of less than 1 FC overnight). The problem was that now my pool while blue was not clear. After a suggestion of adding some D.E. to my filter (started on 9/8) I did my last treatment last night on 9/18. Had I know about the D.E. I could have done that in tandem (plus I was off the week of 9/4). But alas the SLAM took an extra week to do some cleaning in the evenings.

I would like to thank everyone for the help provided and I look forward to maintaining things next year on my own. On my radar for this year is learning out to close on my own, open on my own and possibly install some sort of passive solar warmer.

Below are the after pics.

 

[AftonJeeper]

That is a great improvement. What is funny is it can still get clearer. Many of the pools maintained the TFP way look like this one: TFP Clear in North Dallas - there is water in there

 

[dunnma]

That is a great improvement. What is funny is it can still get clearer. Many of the pools maintained the TFP way look like this one: TFP Clear in North Dallas - there is water in there

Oh I am sure it can and will. I am just considering this SLAM done. I figure going forward I will add a scoop of D.E. after every backwash. I think it is tough to capture accurately with a camera what you can see with your eyes. I will see if I can figure out out to get a light down there (even temporary) to see how it shapes up against that other one.

 

[kimkats]

That is so sweet to hear! Well done!

Kim

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

If you could afford it (yeah I know, tons of bleach gets expensive fast!), personally I'd keep going. That water doesn't look nearly as clear as it could be. It should be *crystal clear*. The poster a few pages back wasn't kidding when they said you should be able to tell head's/tail's on a coin in the deep end.

 

[dunnma]

If you could afford it (yeah I know, tons of bleach gets expensive fast!), personally I'd keep going. That water doesn't look nearly as clear as it could be. It should be *crystal clear*. The poster a few pages back wasn't kidding when they said you should be able to tell head's/tail's on a coin in the deep end.

It isn't the bleach/chlorine, it is the stuff in the water that the sand filter cannot get out without adding D.E. It will eventually get there, but I am considering the SLAM finished. I think the 3 steps of the SLAM process are a little misleading...because to get clear with a sand filter and cloudy water where the things in the water are too small for the sand filter to filter out technically means SLAM stops at the first two.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

Interesting, I hadn't considered that. I hope your DE treatment method keeps working; your pool definitely looks better than awhile ago!

I've got a sand filter and have never needed to add DE, but again, every pool is different. Thankfully when I inherited my pool it didn't look that bad to begin with, which probably helped. It's also about much smaller (about 20k gallons) so I'm sure that helped with how fast I was able to SLAM.

 

[dunnma]

I think the pool store had us add some stuff that killed the algae, but it left as someone said "carcasses" in the water that are just too small for the sand to filter out. Once we added some D.E. which is large enough for the sand to filter (so it stays on top) it is able to catch whatever fine stuff this is in the water.

It used to be that one treatment would be about 1.5 hours before we needed to backwash and do it again. The last time it was almost 3 hours and still wasn't at pressure. When I open in the spring I will get the rest of the particulate out of the water...but the fact that I can see the pattern in the deep end works for me for now.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

I think the pool store had us add some stuff that killed the algae, but it left as someone said "carcasses" in the water that are just too small for the sand to filter out. Once we added some D.E. which is large enough for the sand to filter (so it stays on top) it is able to catch whatever fine stuff this is in the water.

It used to be that one treatment would be about 1.5 hours before we needed to backwash and do it again. The last time it was almost 3 hours and still wasn't at pressure. When I open in the spring I will get the rest of the particulate out of the water...but the fact that I can see the pattern in the deep end works for me for now.

It's definitely a lot better than a green swamp!

 

[duraleigh]

It isn't the bleach/chlorine, it is the stuff in the water that the sand filter cannot get out without adding D.E. It will eventually get there, but I am considering the SLAM finished. I think the 3 steps of the SLAM process are a little misleading...because to get clear with a sand filter and cloudy water where the things in the water are too small for the sand filter to filter out technically means SLAM stops at the first two.

I have not followed this thread, but this statement is not correct. Thousands of us on this forum have sand filters and keep crystal clear water without the aid of ANY additives....including DE.

A sand filter filters out any VISIBLE particles. Far too much emphasis on this forum has brought about the thinking by some that DE is a necessity......It is not. Next time you visit one of the giant commercial aquariums around the country, ask them what type filters they use. The answer will most always be sand.

DE can often be a helpful additive to a sand filter but it is simply not a requirement to make your pool crystal clear.

 

[dunnma]

I have not followed this thread, but this statement is not correct. Thousands of us on this forum have sand filters and keep crystal clear water without the aid of ANY additives....including DE.

I know I am new here, but I am going to disagree. Just because I had to doesn't mean others will. The fact of the matter is that during my SLAM my water was never getting clear. The ONLY thing I did was add D.E. to my sand filter and after a week of this process I have "clear" water. The sand filter just wasn't able to filter it the stuff making the water cloudy over 3+ months (because it was too small)...and this was even two different sets of sand.

I find it hard to believe that I couldn't see my shallow end and a week later after doing the D.E. process not only could I see my shallow end but also the deep end without putting one chemical (other than D.E.) into the pool. Obviously if my filter wasn't increasing pressure as the D.E. filtered the stuff then it wasn't the D.E. fixing the problem.

So just because you haven't had to doesn't mean I didn't have to...and I didn't say that it was a requirement. It is just with the 3 components of SLAM there was NO WAY I was going to achieve the third part without D.E. and I was suggesting that maybe a note should be added that if you achieve the first 2 parts and have a sand filter and the water is not getting clear (and it isn't green), maybe try the D.E. process.

 

[JoeSelf]

Listen to Dave. Your pool is not clear. Its just better than what you are used to. Clear is clear. It doesn't take that much to maintain the SLAM level. Keep with it.

 

[dunnma]

Listen to Dave. Your pool is not clear. Its just better than what you are used to. Clear is clear. It doesn't take that much to maintain the SLAM level. Keep with it.

Joe-

We were not discussing whether clear is clear or to maintain the SLAM process. We were discussing whether my saying that in my case I needed to add D.E. might need to be something mentioned on the SLAM process page.

We noticed our pool getting cloudy earlier this year and it not getting better with the pump running 10-24 hours a day for 3+ months. It wasn't until we started adding D.E. that it got better. So in my case whatever we had in our pool was too small for the Sand to filter, but D.E. could.

tldr; without adding D.E. I never would be able to complete the 3rd of 3 tests of SLAM...but the SLAM process doesn't mention anything about D.E....just that it will be clear. No one has any way of knowing what is in someone's pool, and each are different, but telling people that SLAM alone will make clear water 100% of the time might, just might, not be accurate.

 

[duraleigh]

Here's an older pic of my pool. It has a sand filter and has NEVER had anything except the original sand for a filter medium.

Sand filters work. If they did not, they wouldn't compete in the marketplace.

 

[domct203]

Sand filters work. If they did not, they wouldn't compete in the marketplace.

Agreed. I can see DE’s usefulness (guides/experts/mods will recommend DE in a sand filter where appropriate), but it is absolutely not ‘needed’, and IMO should not be part of a standard SLAM.

Here’s a pic of my water, this was with my original Intex Sandfilter.



And here is this year with the Hayward.



I never use DE in my filters. I tried it once in my first TFP season and didn’t feel it made that much of a difference in my already clear pool.

In my few years here at TFP I’ve come to realize that 99% of pools that are cloudy are a chemistry issue.

 

[dunnma]

In my few years here at TFP I’ve come to realize that 99% of pools that are cloudy are a chemistry issue.

Guess I am in the 1% seeing as how for a week I added nothing (not even chlorine) to the pool except for DE. Now that it is clear I am not planning on adding anymore. And I am not saying everyone needs it nor that it is required. Just that in my case (and maybe the other 1%) it would have been nice to see a * next to "Clear" with an explanation that sometimes if your pool has been cloudy for a long time and you have a sand filter you might need to look at circulation or that a DE treatment might be needed.

Could have saved me an extra week (or half a week).

 

[domct203]

Guess I am in the 1% seeing as how for a week I added nothing (not even chlorine) to the pool except for DE. Now that it is clear I am not planning on adding anymore. And I am not saying everyone needs it nor that it is required. Just that in my case (and maybe the other 1%) it would have been nice to see a * next to "Clear" with an explanation that sometimes if your pool has been cloudy for a long time and you have a sand filter you might need to look at circulation or that a DE treatment might be needed.

Could have saved me an extra week (or half a week).

.........
We were not discussing whether clear is clear or to maintain the SLAM process. We were discussing whether my saying that in my case I needed to add D.E. might need to be something mentioned on the SLAM process page........

Yes, your pool was in the 1%, hardly a reason to revise the SLAM procedure for the remaining 99%.

I’m not arguing that DE helped your situation. I am simply stating that adding DE to a properly sized & working sandfilter is not necessary to complete a SLAM, and I thought that was the topic here.