Help me take the clouds out of my pool!

[Cuzziebro]

Hi all,

Well the pool is just 4 weeks old now. Unfortunately the concrete layers had a small spill of concrete into the pool water about 3 weeks ago which I have been working on clearing.

A super aggressive flocking agent and lots of vacuums later I am now getting little dust settling on the floor, but the pool is still not sparkling and has a slightly cloudy look. I can see the drain at the deep end ok and under water have about 15" visibility.

My tests are as follows:

FC 2.0
CC 0.0
pH 7.3
TA 40
CH 50
CYA 10
Salt 3200
Temp 80deg

I am lifting TA and CYA now based on these tests. But I don't suppose those being low will be contributing to the slightly cloudy water?

I am assuming that there is just fine dust still in the water that the filter cannot clear? Do I need to FLOC again to try and clear more of the fine dust or is there something else I can do?

Thanks

 

[Richard320]

I just did a little googling, and your filter is, essentially, a sand filter. They take a long time to filter out really fine stuff. Sadly, the more often you backwash, the less effective they are. They filter best when they are a little dirty.

There is a way to speed things up, though: Add Diatomaceous Earth. Or cellulose fiber replacement for DE. Consider the sand filter to be chicken wire or a barbeque grate. DE/cellulose would be like setting a window screen atop it.

 

[pwrstrk]

I would also stop using the floc as it can sometime's make matters worse. Try Richards advice and see how things go.

 

[Cuzziebro]

Thanks guys...will add the DE. Looking online here there is lots of Food Grade DE flour available. Is this what I am after?

 

[chiefwej]

No, pool DE is different. It's cheap and can be found at any pool store.

 

[Divin Dave]

what chief said.

I had a similar situation when my deck was poured, a bit of concrete in the pool. Filtering even with cartridge filter was real slow.
I eventually turned off the pump for a day and let it settle to bottom and then vacuumed it out. Had to do this a few times, but I finaly got it all.

 

[MarianParoo]

I have a sand filter and use DE and replace it after each backwash. You can buy it at Lowe's, Home Depot, (or whatever large hardware store you have in your area) for very cheap. It works a treat.

I would be cautious about cellulose. I have used it and it caused my sand to get kind of sticky and well, just weird.

 

[Patrick_B]

Just make sure you get pool DE, not food grade or gardening varieties. Your cloudiness my be a direct result of using the floc. Hard to say, but it's very likely. I would discourage using any more.

 

[Cuzziebro]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. My PB has just told me that the filter is a glass filter, not sand. Will the DE still work?

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. My PB has just told me that the filter is a glass filter, not sand. Will the DE still work?

It's a sand filter but filled with glass granules. Should be no problem. http://www.astralpool.com.au/products/filters/rxpoolandspamediafilter

 

[Patrick_B]

It's the same principal, slightly different media. After all, sand is almost glass. :lol:

It will work just as well as it would with sand in the filter, no worries.

 

[CUTiger78]

Hey, Cuzziebro - Please report back and tell us how well adding DE worked. A friend of mine has a new setup like yours - a sand filter w/ glass media. He's complained about how long it takes to clear water and I'd like to share your results w/ him.

Cheers!

 

[Cuzziebro]

Hey, Cuzziebro - Please report back and tell us how well adding DE worked. A friend of mine has a new setup like yours - a sand filter w/ glass media. He's complained about how long it takes to clear water and I'd like to share your results w/ him.

Cheers!

Sure Thing, I have just picked up the powder this afternoon so will add it tonight and let you know.

Fingers crossed.....I so want a sparkling pool!

 

[Cuzziebro]

I just did a little googling, and your filter is, essentially, a sand filter. They take a long time to filter out really fine stuff. Sadly, the more often you backwash, the less effective they are. They filter best when they are a little dirty.

There is a way to speed things up, though: Add Diatomaceous Earth. Or cellulose fiber replacement for DE. Consider the sand filter to be chicken wire or a barbeque grate. DE/cellulose would be like setting a window screen atop it.

Righteo.....about 3 cups of DE added so far. The PSI on the filter started at 11....and hasn't moved. Do I keep adding?

The pool school link says 1-2 cups should do it. So if 3 cups hasn't moved the needle it would tell me that the filter isn't catching it?

 

[Richard320]

Righteo.....about 3 cups of DE added so far. The PSI on the filter started at 11....and hasn't moved. Do I keep adding?

The pool school link says 1-2 cups should do it. So if 3 cups hasn't moved the needle it would tell me that the filter isn't catching it?

Don't add any more. You'll just clog things.

Be patient. We've had many reports here that the pressure climbs rapidly after a few hours.

 

[Cuzziebro]

Don't add any more. You'll just clog things.

Be patient. We've had many reports here that the pressure climbs rapidly after a few hours.

Thanks Richard....will check it again tomorrow.

 

[Cuzziebro]

Well almost 24 hours later and no pressure change and the pool still looks around the same. Reading a few posts, I see some people have had success without a pressure change.

I had the pump running on high speed, wondering if perhaps I should have added while on low speed? Only problem is the filter shows pretty much zero PSI at low speed so hard to see any PSI changes.

Do I keep adding?

 

[Richard320]

Well almost 24 hours later and no pressure change and the pool still looks around the same. Reading a few posts, I see some people have had success without a pressure change.

I had the pump running on high speed, wondering if perhaps I should have added while on low speed? Only problem is the filter shows pretty much zero PSI at low speed so hard to see any PSI changes.

Do I keep adding?

If nbo pressure change in 25 hours, I'd say yes.

 

[Cuzziebro]

Hi all, an update:

Well the pressure in the filter in fact slowly dropped after adding the DE, I had the pool around 90% clear I would say. The other day I noticed that the suction in the filter basket at the end of the pool had dropped somewhat.

I hadn't back washed the filter for around 3 weeks so figured that this must be the problem. I back washed for around 2 minutes and the sight glass stayed clear the whole time. I then rinsed the filter and that was when I got some muck in the sightglass, sort of a yellow look to the water which I am guessing was the DE. I rinsed until it went clear and then put the filter back into filter mode.

I walked up to the pool area and noticed that the return jets were letting in a massive cloud of white water!! I ran down and shut the pump off and again back washed and rinsed and all was clear. Turned the filter on again and was still getting the white clouds. I now have a cloudy pool that has probably lost around 30% more clarity

I am guessing I have somehow flushed the DE back into the pool? If so, 2 questions.....

1) What have I done incorrectly with my above routines?
2) What is my best method for clearing the DE from the pool?

Current pool vitals are:

FC 1.5
CC 0.0
pH 7.2
TA 50
CH 50
CYA 35
Salt 3200
Temp 80deg

 

[Tepelus]

I think you have to deep wash your filter. If the sand in your filter has channels, than the DE will end up in the pool. The pressure should not be zero even at low speed. If the pressure dropped after adding the DE is possible that you have another obstruction before pump (pump filter?).