Is Clarifier only for cloudy water?

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Wildcat

Wildcat

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LifeTime Supporter
Jun 30, 2013
320
Tucson, AZ
For weeks I have been trying to clear my pool of a lot of particles. Pool is not cloudy, just a lot of small but not microscopic particles, some brown life leaf particles but mostly translucent ones. Have run pump a lot of extra time.

Will a clarifier help with these particles? They are not small as much as they seem so light they just float in place and never get filtered. If a clarifier is the answer, is Seaklear the one to use?

I have a cartridge filter if that is relevant
 
Clarifier will do nothing for this particular issue. Brushing the pool will by getting the particles in suspension and filtered out.
 
Brushpup said:
Just curious, how does the pressure behave on your filter?
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Not sure what you are asking but I cleaned my filter a couple of weeks ago. Though not extremely dirty as I had done it a month before that, it was picking up sand and other materials like seeds and small particles.
My filter is large for my size pool. Pressure had not moved up much, if at all in the last two weeks. I doubt filter is clogged or is being bypassed. New filter and pump a year ago. Easy to track pressure rise as it has. green indicator arrow for initial pressure and a red one to help indicate it is time to clean. Barely moved off the green one.
 
As I continue to search thru the forum for info on clarifiers and particulates I found some threads on PhosFree. Could that be my problem? I had some leftover from pre TFP method and from what I read it may not help but it couldn't hurt. The I read it could cause issues with hard to filter precipitates. If that is the case should I use a clarifier or just continue to filter until it clears over time?
 
Very few members here have any experience with clarifiers because they are typically not needed.

Most of the reports about phosfree are about it gunking up the filter, I would never use it.
 
PH 7.3
FC 12
CC 0
TA 60
CH 500
CYA 80
Water temp 84+

My TA will fluctuate between 60 and 70
PH 7.2 to 7.5 Hard to determine because of FC over 10
FC between 8-12, mostly 10-12

Keeping TA low to help CSI per suggestions on TFP

CYA was over 160 at one time, CH was almost 700 lowering slowly by water replacement as I live in the desert
 

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Richard320 said:
I'd say you gambled. It could have ended up being a lot worse than just being out ten bucks. This thread is not the first report of gummed up gooey filters that defy cleaning.
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He also poured a full dose into the skimmer instead of dispersing it over 12,000 gallons like the instructions say. And like one the answers said if the stuff does what it is supposed to do a filter cleaning may be necessary.

I post back after a week and report on any filter issues
 
Have you ran an OCLT lately? If not I recommend that you run one. Just for the peace of mind.

There have been situations where clarifier has helped, but you need to make absolutely sure that there's not something else contributing to the problem.

Use caution that you do not greatly exceed the mfg's recommended dosage.
 
If your dose of clarifyer does not have the desired results, raise your FC to the top of the recommended range, let it circulate 30 minutes, then shut off the pump for 24 hours. That should let most of the particulate drop to the pool floor. Then vacuum manually on the lowest speed setting that you can effectively use and move the vacuum very slowly as to disturb the water as little as possible.
 
Bama Rambler said:
Have you ran an OCLT lately? If not I recommend that you run one. Just for the peace of mind.

There have been situations where clarifier has helped, but you need to make absolutely sure that there's not something else contributing to the problem.

Use caution that you do not greatly exceed the mfg's recommended dosage.
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I lose 1-2 PPM daily, with pool under constant Arizona sunshine. I have checked it before 3 or 4 days in a row and see the same results.

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zea3 said:
If your dose of clarifyer does not have the desired results, raise your FC to the top of the recommended range, let it circulate 30 minutes, then shut off the pump for 24 hours. That should let most of the particulate drop to the pool floor. Then vacuum manually on the lowest speed setting that you can effectively use and move the vacuum very slowly as to disturb the water as little as possible.
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I will try that, but this stuff I have never seems to filter out thru skimmer or drop to bottom, it just seems to float in place while other heavier leaves circulate into skimmer


Pressure has risen from 10-12 over the last 3-4 weeks, even after adding clarifier this weekend
 
I will try that, but this stuff I have never seems to filter out thru skimmer or drop to bottom, it just seems to float in place while other heavier leaves circulate into skimmer
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Maybe you need to try to change the direction of the returns to get the water circling properly ....... needed for the top to skim.

You can use ping pong balls to test how the circulation is doing.

Also, do you us skimmer socks?
 
Wildcat said:
I lose 1-2 PPM daily, with pool under constant Arizona sunshine. I have checked it before 3 or 4 days in a row and see the same results.

- - - Updated - - -


I will try that, but this stuff I have never seems to filter out thru skimmer or drop to bottom, it just seems to float in place while other heavier leaves circulate into skimmer


Pressure has risen from 10-12 over the last 3-4 weeks, even after adding clarifier this weekend
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OCLT shows what you lose overnight when the sun is off the pool. If there is nothing consuming chlorine it should drop less than 1ppm from dusk to dawn. If you are losing more than 1ppm during that time period you have organics consuming the FC and need to slam. Rising pressure may also be an indicator of organics in the water. A nascent algae bloom will give water a dull, grainy appearance before it goes cloudy or full out green.

Next time you clean the filter, inspect the cartridge well. Make sure there are no small holes or tears in the pleats where debris can escape. The bands around the cartridge should be intact and in good condition as well. As Butterfly mentioned skimmer socks can also help catch fine debris in the water.
 
Butterfly said:
Maybe you need to try to change the direction of the returns to get the water circling properly ....... needed for the top to skim.

You can use ping pong balls to test how the circulation is doing.

Also, do you us skimmer socks?
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I appreciate the suggestions but I can see a good circulation pattern. Debris starts on the right side of the skimmer and circulates in a clockwise motion until it goes into the skimmer. Has worked like this for the 6 years I have had the pool.

Not sure of the purpose of a skimmer sock. The filter material is as fine or finer than the sock so why is a skimmer sock used?
 

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