i started talking about this in a discussion about floc in the b.b.b. forum. the floc discussion was done, so i figured i'd start a new topic to figure out this D.E. situation i have going. my numbers seem within reason, but i can't seem to get the water crystal clear. i floc'ed the pool, vacumed to waste and it was clear as a bell. 2 days later, it's cloudy. not green, but real cloudy. so i floc'ed again, same thing. so i was advised that perhaps my filter was to blame and i should add d.e. to my sand filter. so now we are on the topic of d.e. here are last nights numbers (i didn't have time to test this morning, as i had to get to work)-
fc-18 (i'm keeping it at shock till this cloudiness clears up)
cc-0
ph-7.3-ish (kinda in between the colors on the tester)
ta-350 (yeah-way high-and i've done this test several times to make sure i didn't screw it up)
ch-150
cya-45
through trial & error i've determined that just a little over a 1/2 cup of d.e. ups my filter pressue from 18 (where it runs when clean) to 19 in about 10 minutes, which is what i was advised to do. checked about an hour later and it was at 20 with hardly any flow coming out the return. so before bed last night i backwashed the d.e. out and repeated the d.e. process. this morning the pressure was back to 20 with little flow from the return. the water looked a little clearer. so here's the part that confuses me. usually when i backwash, the water coming out of the waste hose turns really ugly and dirty and then goes back to normal, so i know i've filtered out alot of gunk. when i backwashed this morning the waste was not as"yucky" as usual. i would have figured that, with the extra filtering the d.e. is supposed to be giving me, it would look dirtier than usual, not LESS dirty. am i doing something wrong? should the pressure creep up that fast? also...how often should i backwash doing this d.e. thing? any ideas?
thanx, oh gurus of the pool, for your help.
fc-18 (i'm keeping it at shock till this cloudiness clears up)
cc-0
ph-7.3-ish (kinda in between the colors on the tester)
ta-350 (yeah-way high-and i've done this test several times to make sure i didn't screw it up)
ch-150
cya-45
through trial & error i've determined that just a little over a 1/2 cup of d.e. ups my filter pressue from 18 (where it runs when clean) to 19 in about 10 minutes, which is what i was advised to do. checked about an hour later and it was at 20 with hardly any flow coming out the return. so before bed last night i backwashed the d.e. out and repeated the d.e. process. this morning the pressure was back to 20 with little flow from the return. the water looked a little clearer. so here's the part that confuses me. usually when i backwash, the water coming out of the waste hose turns really ugly and dirty and then goes back to normal, so i know i've filtered out alot of gunk. when i backwashed this morning the waste was not as"yucky" as usual. i would have figured that, with the extra filtering the d.e. is supposed to be giving me, it would look dirtier than usual, not LESS dirty. am i doing something wrong? should the pressure creep up that fast? also...how often should i backwash doing this d.e. thing? any ideas?
thanx, oh gurus of the pool, for your help.