Just opened Continuing algae or dirt problem?

[poolbljn]

Okay - just openend pool on 5/22 as the weather has turned from rainy and 50's to 80's seemingly overnight...

I noticed this last summer but could not seem to overcome it despite shocking, brushing, vacuuming, etc. There is a tannish-colored dirt or algae or sand on the bottom of the pool. when I brush it it forms a cloud. I have tried vacuuming and things look good until a couple hours later and it is back. I've really noticed this increasing ever since I switched from cartridge to a sand filter (don't know if it is related). We do live on a gravel road and it is quite dusty but never noticed this when using the cartridge filter.

This year it seems some of the spots don't come up when i brush (like they are stuck on the liner). I also have two greenish stains in the corner of the pool and partially on the side.

It is 3 days since we opened it and the water looks fairly clear but really not sparkling and the bottom obviously looks dirty.

Here are my test results...

5/22 - opened and put in 2 gal. pool chlorine (10%)

5/23
FC - 13.5
CC - 0
CYA - 60
PH - 7.8
TA - 180
CH - 220
Added 1 gal chlorine

5/24
FC - 14.5
CC - 0
CYA - 35 (? accuracy)
PH - 8.2
Added 16 0z. PHDown (Sodium Bisulfate)

5/25
FC - 13
CC - 0
PH - 8
CYA - 45 - 50

It has been really sunny so I don't think the loss of choline has been that great. but I just added another gallon chlorine when I saw the greenish stain/spots on the bootm/wall. Should I add more PH Down?

Any suggestions on the how to get the dirt off the bottom and keep it off?

 

[whoozer]

I would use MA to bring your Ph down, I get leary using any pool store products now.
Keep brushing and vacuuming, maybe it is pollen or reg dirt it depends on the conditions around your pool.
Was the 1.5 loss over night? If so then you need to shock still but if it was a day loss, you may want to do an overnight FC loss to be sure you aren't losing FC still.

 

[JasonLion]

You want to keep your PH between 7.2 and 7.8. Try not to let it get up to 8.0 if you can help it. Your TA is fairly high, which is probably what is causing the PH to get high (high TA tends to lead to high PH). If you lower your PH to 7.2 each time it gets to 7.8, that will slowly lower your TA over time and eventually the PH won't rise as quickly.

 

[geekgranny]

Welcome.

The brown that won't brush off could be staining from metals. All kinds of dust, sand, and silt constantly blows into my pool. My fill water has virtually 0 iron content but my staining comes from the iron content of sand, silt, dust blown in and carried in by the dogs.

I have to keep a sequestrating agent in my pool all the time to keep the staining down. I did an AA treatment for iron stains last fall. It helped a lot but I, personally, wouldn't want to do it now, if everyone was chomping at the bit to use the pool. That is something you can think about doing after you get everything else all balanced.

It is very chalky/dusty out here with lots of wind. DE filters are the norm for their finer filtering. Cartridge filters do filter finer than sand but you can use a filter aid to help catch smaller particles. I'll let people with more experience with sand filters advise you on that. There are two very common media that are used for sand filter aid. One is DE, the other cellulose (DE alternative). They are used in small quantities in a sand filter.

I'm probably one of the more experienced persons here with dust issues, sorry to say. I've battled it for going on 24 years. What I get in my pool in a week is probably more than many people get in a season. It also doesn't help that we too have a long gravel drive but at least we don't travel in and out a lot. It's been so long since we added gravel I think most of the dust and silt have made it to the back yard where the very active doggies keep it stirred up, with a lot of help from the wind.

Lot's of people here to assist you.

gg=alice

 

[geekgranny]

I don't have a cover for my pool. Lots of reason why. But I am considering a solar cover to put on at night when the doggies are brought in for the night. They have access in and out of the house all day so I can't use a solar cover, for safety reasons, until night. The solar cover should help to keep a lot of dust out, or so it seems, and is the cheapest of all the covers.

I, also, keep, my pump running 23/7. Since I recently put a variable flow pump in and a new big filter, and took a bunch of old plumbing out near the pumping station, and replaced what I could with 2" pipe (all above ground plumbing) my electric bill was over $100 less this past month, actually $147 less, at last years rate, compared to last year, all other things being equal, running my one speed Challenger 2.23 SFHP. I stopped using my booster pump, and Polaris, a couple of days ago and started using my vac cleaner. The pump does rev up more to get the good suction but not as high as the old pump ran at constantly and the Intelliflo VF has a much higher efficiency than my old pump.

For the number of hours I ran my booster pump for the Polaris, even with the new pump increasing rpm for several hours to run the vac cleaner, I'm figuring I'll save close to $200 a month in addition to the saving already observed. This will put my electric bill more in range with my neighbors, many who have much larger houses, most with pools and many with automatic covers. Most have far less blowing debris as they don't have herds of large and GIANT dogs constantly beating down the grass and stirring every thing up. And they are a few feet higher up the hill than we are. My property is one of the main runoffs for the hill, with one side of the property dropping down drastically towards the lake. So I get a lot of the silt that runs off of my neighbors properties. Aren't I lucky.

gg=alice

 

[poolbljn]

I vacuumed the entire pool and it looked great, put the solar cover on and next day the floor of the pool is covered again with these sandy looking spots. If the cover was on the whole time it seems unlikely that it is dust. Any ideas?

 

[Melt In The Sun]

If it's fine dust that your sand filter is letting through (possible), you could try adding some DE to your filter, as explained here in Pool School.