Howdy folks--
Been using this forum as a resource for two years, and had nothing but great success. This year, I've got my first major problem. And wouldn't you know, it coincides with the listing of my house for sale--I need the pool to be its usual sparkling blue for showings that could start in only two days.
The deal, in short:
Above ground pool. Swamp green (algae, I presume) when pool cover was removed--WAY more debris than usual made it through the cover for some reason.
I set up my DE bump filter as usual, and started filtering with a heavy load of shock. DE filled up with debris very quickly, the pressure went up from 14 to 22 and the flow slowed to a crawl. I bumped and continued several times, but unfortunately had to stop filtering overnight because the pressure issue seemed quite bad.
Long story short--cleared the green. Have cloudy white water, fair bit of debris still in the bottom (clearing it out with skimmer, but vacuum will be available tomorrow). I can't, for the life of me, seem to clear the water beyond this point. I've emptied the DE, taken the pump apart to hose it all out, and reloaded with DE 3 times. Today, I did it twice. Both times, it was slowing to a crawl again within two hours. I bump, then it slows again within another hour or two. The current DE has only been in there 4 hours, and I'm wondering if I can let the filter run through the night without checking it every hour.
Is this normal?!?
It's eating chlorine fast. Don't know CYA yet because I'm awaiting a refill of chemicals for my TFT kit (but it's low for sure--last year was 40 at close, and I've refilled about a foot of water). PH is 7.8.
My only guess beyond just tons of Crud to filter out: am I adding too much DE? My proper measuring scoop has gone missing--using 10-ounce coffee can because it's all I've got. I need 4 pounds. I just added 11 cans. I got there through dubious math--one-pound coffee can x8 (128 oz) should equal approximately 4 pounds. So 10 oz x 13=130 oz, which is close. I know, I know--it's a crappy measure. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Even Cafe Bustelo cans!
I'm more than a bit desperate--my wife is freaking (and she's also the realtor for our house). Any advice would be deeply appreciated. Tomorrow I should be able to obtain a proper measuring scoop and a stop-gap measure of a Wal Mart kit to measure CYA.
How do I get the filter to keep moving and get this danged water clear?
Been using this forum as a resource for two years, and had nothing but great success. This year, I've got my first major problem. And wouldn't you know, it coincides with the listing of my house for sale--I need the pool to be its usual sparkling blue for showings that could start in only two days.
The deal, in short:
Above ground pool. Swamp green (algae, I presume) when pool cover was removed--WAY more debris than usual made it through the cover for some reason.
I set up my DE bump filter as usual, and started filtering with a heavy load of shock. DE filled up with debris very quickly, the pressure went up from 14 to 22 and the flow slowed to a crawl. I bumped and continued several times, but unfortunately had to stop filtering overnight because the pressure issue seemed quite bad.
Long story short--cleared the green. Have cloudy white water, fair bit of debris still in the bottom (clearing it out with skimmer, but vacuum will be available tomorrow). I can't, for the life of me, seem to clear the water beyond this point. I've emptied the DE, taken the pump apart to hose it all out, and reloaded with DE 3 times. Today, I did it twice. Both times, it was slowing to a crawl again within two hours. I bump, then it slows again within another hour or two. The current DE has only been in there 4 hours, and I'm wondering if I can let the filter run through the night without checking it every hour.
Is this normal?!?
It's eating chlorine fast. Don't know CYA yet because I'm awaiting a refill of chemicals for my TFT kit (but it's low for sure--last year was 40 at close, and I've refilled about a foot of water). PH is 7.8.
My only guess beyond just tons of Crud to filter out: am I adding too much DE? My proper measuring scoop has gone missing--using 10-ounce coffee can because it's all I've got. I need 4 pounds. I just added 11 cans. I got there through dubious math--one-pound coffee can x8 (128 oz) should equal approximately 4 pounds. So 10 oz x 13=130 oz, which is close. I know, I know--it's a crappy measure. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Even Cafe Bustelo cans!
I'm more than a bit desperate--my wife is freaking (and she's also the realtor for our house). Any advice would be deeply appreciated. Tomorrow I should be able to obtain a proper measuring scoop and a stop-gap measure of a Wal Mart kit to measure CYA.
How do I get the filter to keep moving and get this danged water clear?
