I will just start by saying a few weeks ago I read through this forum to figure out how to clean up my pool. Thank you all for taking the time to help out others you saved me a lot of time and money. I installed a 20 x 40 last July. It was a mess when I started. I didn't winterize or cover the pool. I know I should have but I lost my job the day they poured the concrete around my new pool so long story short I couldn't afford it. After reading this forum I killed all the algae and the pool was basically a grey cloud. I ran the pool 24/7 for 8 days after about 4 days I added super blue because I still could not see the shallow end bottom. After 8 days I will say you could see 4 ft. I was vaccuuming once and brushing twice a day it was just taking forever to clear up. Yesterday I started adding DE to the filter. Before I only had to backwash after I ran the vac. Yesterday I literally back washed every 15 min. I would add the DE as the site recommends. Once it hit the 1 pound mark, I literally stood there and watched the gauge go up. I can't remember how many times I back washed probably 8 or 9. I had to add water to the pool. Today the pool is clear and all the chemicals are on target. I had them checked at the pool store. I guess Im disappointed in my sand filter. After 8 days I didn't expect to be able to clear up my water in 6 hours by adding a little DE to the filter. Is something wrong with my sand filter or do they normally take this long? The whole system is basically brand new. BTW when I finally gave up and took my water in, I asked for DE. The owner asked how I knew to do that. He said that's old school stuff people just don't walk in and ask for. Especially a guy who hasn't owned a pool for a year. I told him I learned it here. Haha