Please help with clearing water

[whippoorwill]

Used BBB for four years now with great success. A little baffled this year.

Usually I stop adding chlorine when it gets cool about Oct./Nov. If I keep the leaves out of the pool, it stays clear until time to open in spring.

We had no winter in Georgia to speak of. With the warm temps, noticed algae in late Jan. Turned bright green but I didn't worry because I knew what to do. Began opening a little earlier (late March) because of high temps. Got rid of green and had stable chlorine readings in about a week and a half. Pump has run 24/7. Still can't get water clear-has whitish cast and visibility of about 1-1/2 feet.

Added Ecoklean to sand filter twice to try to help. When I backwash, the whitish stuff appears in the sight glass, so I know the filter is catching some of it. By the looks of the pool, I don't seem to be making any progress. Here are the latest readings:

FC - 3
CC - 0
pH - 7.5
TA - 80
CYA - 25
CH - 10

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[BigIslandPoolService]

Aloha Whippoorwill! (couldn't resist!) :lol:

Two ways to go about this...the long way--using clarifiers in an effort to "group" your dead algae so they get caught in the sand filter (don't backwash too often--it works better as it gets dirtier, until flow decreases too much). This might take a few days, getting clearer every day until it is clear again.

OR

the quick way (more work though)...

Get a flocculent to make the junk hit the bottom, and vacuum the stuff to waste.

Make sure your pool is filled high so you have more time to vacuum before the water comes down to the low part of the skimmer--maybe the top ceiling of your skimmer or higher is a good level (plug your overflow if needed). Make sure your pump will NOT turn on with the timer for a day (circuit breaker off, or remove timerbox ON tabs, etc.) and follow the directions to add the flocculent to your pool at the end of the day, mixing it up in a bucket and churning it into the pool with your bag rake net. I prefer this manual method because I have had too many customers use the RECIRCULATE position on their Sand Filter valves to mix the flocculent, and then find out that it was pumping out the backwash pipe! :grrrr:

When you wake up, all that white stuff will look like gelled milky flan clumps that someone has dumped into your pool, but the water should be crystal clear. If it's not crystal clear, let it sit quiet for another day--it WILL get crystal clear.

Then CAREFULLY prepare your vacuum hose (don't stir up the junk!), set your sand filter valve to WASTE, start the pump, and vacuum that stuff out onto the ground! When you're done, balance your chemistry, and enjoy your clear pool!

Aloha!

 

[duraleigh]

People here on the forum report very mixed results using flocs and clarifiers. Generally, the reports seem to disfavor their use rather than favor it.

It sounds to me like you may have a filtering system that is just a little small for your pool and that it will take some time to clear it up. Are you currently running the pump 24/7 and backwashing/cleaning each time the psi increases by 25%?

 

[zea3]

You may want to check your sand and make sure it is not channeled and give it a good deep cleaning if it is full of gunk. Next time you complete a backwash, open up the filter and feel the sand. If it feels hard or clumped the deep clean process will re-set the sand bed. Deep clean the sand by carefully pushing a running water hose down into the sand bed as far as you can without hitting the laterals. Let the water run a minute or two then pull the hose out slowly and insert it into an adjacent area. Repeat until you have covered the entire surface of the sand bed, then close the filter.

Something else you can try is adding a little DE filter media to the sand filter to help it catch smaller particles. Add enough through the skimmer to give a 1 pt rise in pressure.

 

[whippoorwill]

Thank you all for your advice! Will let you know what happens.