I have a problem where I was told to add flock to our pool to "help" settle the dead algae. The same day, we got 4 inches of rain. We have been fighting both algae and thedanged flock since the end of May. To exacerbate the problem, we have had 104 degree heat every day for almost 2 weeks. I have about defeated the algae, but the flock seems to never go away. We run our filter and pump 24/7 (cheaper that way), and use the pool everyday. Our chlorine level is fine about 5 (not.5) ppm and altho it is a bit high, with all of the sunshine and heat it seems to me to be necessary. My question is this: Does the Diatamaceous Earth go through the pump, and will it hurt it or does it go straight to the filter? We live in the country so everything is easily acessable.
Does the Diatamaceous Earth go through the pump
- Thread starter APS
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
When you add DE to the skimmer it goes throughout the pump without causing any problems and from there directly into the filter.
When you add DE to the skimmer it goes throughout the pump without causing any problems and from there directly into the filter.
Welcome to tfp, APS 
Keep an eye on your filter pressure, it can go up pretty fast once the DE is catching stuff. Speaking of catching stuff, sounds like your water my be showing signs of algae (if it is cloudy)?
Keep an eye on your filter pressure, it can go up pretty fast once the DE is catching stuff. Speaking of catching stuff, sounds like your water my be showing signs of algae (if it is cloudy)?
Thanks to all of you. This is THE BEST site I have found for dealing with pool issues with very little BS. I truly appreciate being a member, and have been thoroughly impressed with th caliber of the messages. I also like how those members who are pool companies or poo stores have been a bit more forthcoming than the folks I have toi deal with. My CYA when checked was at 55ppm. The pool store company here also uses strips. I have a Walmart HTH kit which covers about 6 tests. When I get a water sample, I take it at about 6 feet, mid pool. A lot of the discussions about gpm, horsepower rate of flow etc, are quite frankly above my head as I am no engineer. I appreciate any help y'all can give me.
How is your water looking?
What does your HTH (I assume it is the drop based kit) give you for cya?
If the pool store is right (this is one test they mess up the most and strips are almost usless for cya), your 55 ppm cya means you never want your FC to get below 4 per poolcalculator.com. There is also a table that list fc per cya level here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
All this good stuff and more is in the pool school, link at upper right hand corner of each page.
What does your HTH (I assume it is the drop based kit) give you for cya?
If the pool store is right (this is one test they mess up the most and strips are almost usless for cya), your 55 ppm cya means you never want your FC to get below 4 per poolcalculator.com. There is also a table that list fc per cya level here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
All this good stuff and more is in the pool school, link at upper right hand corner of each page.