Another Baq to Chlorine conversion with DE Questions

[Guest]

I recently purchased a house that has a pool. I lurked here for a while, and started my conversion on Saturday. Two weeks prior I'd taken a sample to the pool store; they said the BAQ level was 30. However, when the pool store opened and shocked the pool on Saturday, it turned a cloudy gray. The guys said it probably had little BAQ remaining as it would have turned tan. It quickly went to cloudy green, then cloudy blue. By Sunday noon (after repeatedly testing and adding chlorine from Aldi), I could see the bottom. It held 15 FC last night but dissipated today (very hot, sunny day). I added more chlorine. Current readings are 7.2 PH, 15 FC and 10 CC and can see all the way to the bottom. Water was pretty clear, so I'm doing great.

I brushed the sides today, so now there's a lot of dirt in the water and there's a lot of crud on the bottom. I netted the stuff that was floating. I've bumped the filter twice and it's back to 10 psi (it didn't move from 10 psi until I brushed the sides). What can I do to get rid of all that crud on the bottom? I have a Hayward Perflex filter EC65. If I vacuum, even if I open the valve on the rear, apparently it will go into the filter and clog it up. The former owner said to take the fingers out and vacuum without them but it's supposed to be a pain to put them back in. The guy from the pool store said that there's something I can attach to my garden hose with a leaf trap. Any other ideas?

BTW, thanks for the idea of the Skim Vac -- I'll purchase one of those tomorrow. The former owner screwed the vac hose directly into the skimmer. He also told me that if I used chlorine I'd ruin the pool liner but I didn't like what I read about BAQ. He used to partially drain the pool a lot apparently, so didn't have much mold, and ran the DE filter a lot.

 

[Casey]

So I hear DE filters can catch much, much more than a sand filter anyday and I'm guessing it's the downside to them because they do it so well, it needs mantenced/cleaned out more often.

I have a DE and love it but I'm guessing yours is gonna be a PITA til you're done. Your CC is at 10 so you still have a ways to go.

Keep adding bleach bringing up to 15ppm and brushing the walls.

The DE is just doing it's job. 8)

 

[Guest]

Actually, the DE filter hasn't been a problem at all so far. I didn't even have to bump it until after I swept the walls.

The problem with the DE filter is that there is no "clean to waste" option -- there's just normal pool opening stuff down there. Any idea how I can bypass the filter to get the stuff off the bottom?

 

[JasonLion]

If you don't have a waste setting you could remove the grids and run it on backwash to vacuum to waste. That would be a bit of a project, but it would work.

 

[Guest]

I'll try to load photos - Saturday, day 1 of conversion after pool guys added chlorine (gray color):

 

[Guest]

can't see bottom at 11 AM Sunday

added bleach about every half-hour or hour (testing to keep at 15)

2 PM - see the bottom! and I have some skimming and vacuuming to do tomorrow

Dissipation slowed down at this point, so added bleach every 2-4 hours until bed time

 

[Guest]

water clearing again after I swept walls Tuesday

Tuesday, I used leaf rake to remove what gunk I could. I bought a skim vac so was able to vacuum the rest of the gunk from the deep end. Had to change the skimmer basket numerous times, and bump filter. Since it's partly above-ground, I was running back and forth for what seemed like forever! Had to tie the vacuum wand to the fence like one would a horse.

Forgot to take photos Wed, but it was great - clear! CF was holding, and CC was about 3. So it's looked like this for Wed, Thur and today:

return water jets out into clear pool!

pool overlooking dead-end, garden, and park on Friday

Not bad for a pool that I was going to take down when I bought the house!
(it was a yucky swamp that hadn't been opened for 2 years and was really awful looking until I painted the pool exterior with Rustoleum, pulled out some shrubs that were overgrown and on their way into the pool, and pulled out a lot of trees and generally cleaned up the yard -- unfortunately, the interior of the house was in the same condition! but it's wonderful now)

 

[Guest]

Remaining issues -
There are maybe 10 spots of algae? stains? on the sloping walls near the deep end (8'). Thursday, I dove down and hand rubbed the liner to remove some of them. They do not come off easily with a brush, and were persistant when I rubbed them. They are greenish-yellow. We're in NJ but it's been very hot and sunny. I pushed the CF back up to about 20 late this morning - readings are:
FC 18
CC 8
pH 7.2+
TA 60
CYA 0 but have been adding it through the skimmer since yesterday

Any help would be appreciated, but we're coming along great!
Sue


little spots of yellow-green algae or stains to left of net (6'+ deep)

little stains or spots of yellowish-green algae to right of net (6'+ deep) Friday

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Looking good!

Re: your spots... I will not try to diagnose, but I see you have 8ppm CC... you need to shock to 10ppm FC (maybe a bit higher with your CYA addition) and keep it there until you have 0 cc's

 

[JasonLion]

Your substantial CC number means you aren't done with the conversion yet. Raise your FC level up to 15, higher when the CYA dissolves, several times each evening until FC remains the same overnight and CC is 0.5 or lower.

 

[Guest]

Thanks!

I did backwash the DE filter and added more DE once. Only bumped once since then.

I will add a picture of filter & pump -- is this set up right? It's a real pain to remove stuff from pump basket as water is gushing. Also, the bottom of the pump basket is wet most of the time. Very slow leak somewhere. Any ideas? Thanks.

Sue

 

[Guest]

I am still having 2 issues -
1) little patches of yellow-green algae appear on the sloping sides near the deep end. Yesterday, I took a wash cloth and hand-rubbed them so that they disappear. There's maybe 6 of them today. They don't come off with vacuuming or brushing.

2) slow leak at pump per above pictures.

Would appreciate any suggestions. Otherwise, pool looks great and sparkly.

Sue

 

[JasonLion]

What are your current water test numbers?

On the leak, you need to see if you can figure out where the water is coming from. If you can pinpoint the location there is usually a straight forward fix.

 

[Guest]

Sorry I never responded to your post, Jason. Didn't see it until tonight. Since it was a while ago, CC did go down to 0 to .5 and everything's been great. Still get the rare algae spot but CC remains low. Thanks for your help.