Undissolved Chemicals

[Nexxceleb]

So I have a problem with my pool. It's been almost a week and my pool is extremely cloudy. My father usually takes care of the pool but since I was having a party coming up and my father was too lazy to do it, I decided to take care of the pool myself. The pool was opened a month ago and no chemicals were added except shock since the pool was opened. So I knew something needed to be added so I took a water sample to my local pool store and have them help me with what my pool needed, which was basically everything.

The pool store told me I needed almost everything. They told me what to add and how much to add. They said to add a new chemical every 45 min from each other to prevent cloudiness. My filter was running the entire time. Based on the questions I was asking, they should have known I was new to this and should have told me that all the chemicals needed to be stirred in a bucket of water. All they told me was to put everything directly into the pool. So that's what I did. I even read the directions and still didn't see that it need to be diluted.

So now I need help with my stupid mistake. I put the chemicals directly into the pool without diluting it. First I added 50 lbs of calcium. Forty five min later, I added 5 lbs of pH, an hour later 8lbs of stabilizer, then the next morning 18 lbs of alkalinity. Because it started to look cloudy I added 4 gallons of liquid shock like they told me then I backwashed the pool. It was still cloudy so the next day, I backwashed the pool again like they said then added 1lb of powder shock(without diluting it) because the instructions said DO NOT ADD WATER.

Its been almost a week and the pool is still cloudy. I couldn't use the pool during the party and something fell in the pool so I had to take the net to get it out. I cannot see the bottom so I had to fish for it. That is when I noticed tons of chemicals at the bottom and moving it around made it even more cloudier. I put my robot in there and it has been picking up alot of the chemicals at the bottom but I know for sure there's more. Today I tried to take the net and pick some up but now its rough and seems like it is stuck to the pool. I just got this pool liner last summer and I know it is discolored for sure which is pretty upsetting.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make sure I covered the basics of what actually happened. I cannot see the bottom so I am not sure how much is still down there. BTW I have a 30k gallon pool and it is 9 feet deep. I cannot drain it because it vinyl. What should I do?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

Sorry about your problem, but you've came to the right place. Start by reading Pool School.

What does the chemical look and feel like that you can get up. It's most likely calcium. I know you didn't know it, but you don't need calcium in a vinyl pool.

Has the pump been running 24 hour per day? If not it should be.
Can you aim an eyeball into the deep end?
Do you have a main drain that you can increase the suction from?

 

[Nexxceleb]

The chemical is white grains and some looks grayish. The reason why I put 50lbs of calcium is because they told me there was absolutely none in the test. So I bought two buckets and they told me to put everything. They did ask me if it was vinyl. Now I'm a little upset I didn't need it in the first place.

The pump has been running non stop except when Im backwashing. I tried looking into the deep end and can't see anything. The water is blue at the top but 5inches in its all white. I do not have a main drain just the skimmers.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Try aiming the eyeball down and it may help if you manually vacuumed it.

What type and size filter do you have?
Same for the pump?

 

[Nexxceleb]

hayward sand filter. Im not sure of the size. I didnt want to vacuum it because I was afraid of all the chemicals going into the filter and ruining it. That is why I used the robot.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Since it's a sand filter I'd vacuum it to the filter and leave the pump running. It'll dissolve it faster than anything else you can do.

 

[Nexxceleb]

ok thanks that sounds good. Hope its not too stuck and the vacuum picks it up

 

[Bama Rambler]

Whatever it doesn't pick up we'll work on.

You'll do yourself a huge favor by ordering a good test kit and spend the time waiting on it reading Pool School here.

In order to get this cleared up, the next thing we're going to need is a full set of test results. And once you start reading you'll see how bad pool store results usually are. And strips are even worse.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

Looks like I get to break out this cartoon again. But I'm sure you've figured it out already, since you found us.

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[Nexxceleb]

I did a liquid test and here it is
Chlorine 0
pH 7.8
Alk 120

 

[Bama Rambler]

You need to get some chlorine in there if you haven't already.

 

[harleysilo]

Welcome! Sorry about the party.

When people say read pool school they mean read everything here pool-school/

It's a lot to read and comprehend, and is best read several times. I'm going to point out a few things you should make sure and read.

They only chemicals you need to add to your pool are talked about here pool-school/recommended_pool_chemicals

There is a relationship between your Free Chlorine level and your CYA (stablizer) level, the chart that shows what each should be is here pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

We use an online calculator to figure out how much of any chemical to add to the pool, it is here http://www.poolcalculator.com/

You are going to need your own test kit, they cost some money, just curious who paid for the pool store trip? You can read about them here pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

And finally, to develop an understanding of what you are actually testing, and why read pool-school/pool_water_chemistry

Please, forget the pool store, take charge of the testing and chemical additions on your own, you'll save money, save time, and have a clean, sanitized sparkling pool.

You only need to backwash that sand filter when it rises 20% of it's clean pressure reading. Does the gauge on it work? In other words does it fall to 0 when pump is off? I'm mentioning this because you may want to backwash before you vaccum all the chems into the filter, as you might backwash them out of the filter, so better to start with a "clean" filter and new reading.

 

[Nexxceleb]

So, its been 9 days and still extremely cloudy. The robot has been picking up chemicals and now lots of sand. I decided to open the filter and see if there was any dissolved chemicals that the filter couldn't handle. When we opened it, it was filled with water with a white layer over the sand. Once we got past that, the sand looks exactly like what the robot is picking up. I have attached a pic of it.

 

[Matt Ush]

Dunno if this will cause sand to pass through or not but you have a huge crack in your sand filter tube. The water comes up that tube and trinkles down so it shouldnt matter as long as the bottom is in tact.



The TDS discussion has been moved to the Deep End.
Have your tds level checked as well. Taylor makes a nice kit or you could have a store test it. If your tds is very high chlorine wont do much to clear that water you'd have to replace with fresh water.

 

[Nexxceleb]

I've had the crack for quite a while now. About a couple of years now. My concern is the condition of the sand and all the white substance. I wanted to know if its normal so I can rule that out

 

[Butterfly]

Sand returning to the pool could mean the sand is channeled. You can do a deep cleaning on the filter while you are there:

my-sand-is-channeled-how-to-fix-it-t7626.html

 

[Nexxceleb]

Sounds good ill try it. Thanks

 

[Nexxceleb]

So finally my pool is Crystal clear. I can see the bottom perfectly so thanks for your help with that. The water is nice and blue. However, there is a bunch of sand at the bottom. I put my robot in and it picks up nothing. I tried vacuuming it but its not picking up. When you touch it with something it just moves around in the water. I tried brushing it but it made the pool cloudy again for a few days then when it cleared, it was still there. What to do?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Are you sure it's sand?
Are you saying that it won't vacuum up, or that it comes right back.
If you can move it around it will vacuum up.
What type vacuum are you using?

 

[Nexxceleb]

It looks like sand. Its brownish. What else could it be? I was using a power vac. I just bought a blue torrent 1hp pump to vacuum with so I don't go thru the filter. Its just not picking up.