Cloudy water and leaves in the bottom

[BigRedRam95]

I have been using bbb for the last few years. This year I never got around to covering my pool 24 round 4 foot deep. I did drain everything. I fill it all back up and started the pump and filter a week and a few days ago. I have killed all the algae but the water is still very cloudy. I know there are leaves in the middle I can see the dark ring. Should I try to clean the leaves out before I do anything else? Should I just net them out? because I can't see the bottom.
This is the third summer on the sand filter 300 or 350lb can't remember. Does the sand need replaced or cleaned? It just seems like it's not filtering the water.
I checked the water this morning with the Taylor test kit
FC 13. Held over night.
Cc 0
Ph. 7.4 also tested at work with a ph probe and it showed 7.6
Ta 80 tested at work shows 88
Tds 1540
Cya 30

 

[duraleigh]

The sand does not need replaced.

What is your psi? When did you last backwash.

I suspect you just need a little more patience. You certainly need to net out everything you can to speed up the process.

How are you chlorinating?

 

[BigRedRam95]

It starts at 5 psi clean and last time I back washed when the water almost quit moving from low return. I'm using 12.5% bleach. And have a liquidator I run to maintain.

 

[Sulteric]

You don't need to get all the leaves out to get a clear pool, trust me on that one. The guys here will fill you in on the details but in short, shock the **** out of it, leave the pump on overnight and in the morning you should have a clear pool. Once you do then you can work on getting those leaves out and then vacuum 1,234 times to get the rest of the dirt out. I'm on the vacuuming part right now and MAN is my water cold.

One important part is MAKE SURE you backwash the filter every few hours otherwise you are filtering through a dirty filter and it just won't work. I'm no expert but I know what works for me.

 

[Azgirl71]

I agree with Duraleigh. Get as much out as you can and the process will go much quicker. I usually just backwashing on the water flow from the return. When I notice it slows and I know the skimmer is clean the I backwash.

 

[BigRedRam95]

The filter has not been off for over a week. I guess I should just use a big net to get them out?

 

[Azgirl71]

Yes, use a net to scoop the out.

 

[pooldv]

Backwash your filter when the pressure rises 20-25% over clean pressure.

 

[BigRedRam95]

I may have been wrong about there being no algae in the pool. I went and got a new net today and scooped the leaves out of the pool and it turned green. Dead algae won't turn a pool great right? I just checked and added some bleach and will check and add in the morning. Im hoping to get this thing clear soon.

 

[pooldv]

That's right. Cloudiness indicates algae, green is the next step, then swamp. Time to SLAM Your Pool

Please update your signature as shown here, What we need to know to answer your questions

 

[BigRedRam95]

I tested the water this morning and the FC was 14 if I keep it at 14 that should be fine with a cya of 30-35 right?

 

[pooldv]

Yes, that is good. Test and add every 2-3 hours if you can, especially the first few days.

 

[Patrick_B]

Yes, you should get all the leaves out. Everything you leave in like that puts a load on the free Chlorine. Remove everything possible.

 

[BigRedRam95]

I wish I could test every few hr. But when I came home from work today after 8 hr and some rain it only droped a few ppm of FC

 

[pooldv]

Ok, good. Do as much as you can.

 

[BigRedRam95]

Just tested and FC is still at 12.5

 

[zea3]

The algae was probably growing in the leaves and scooping out the leaves loosened all the debris into suspension. It will take time to filter out the fine debris. Keep the FC up and filter out the debris, backwashing as needed.

 

[kimkats]

Good! You are on the right track. Do you think there are more leaves on the bottom? I bet they were hiding the algae and helping it grow.

I have a leaf glupper and is WONDERFUL at getting large amounts of leaves out. Here is a link to what one looks like.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/191345818256

Keep the SLAM up and your water will clear. Watch your filter pressure and backwash as needed. You do not need new sand but you can do a deep clean if you have time. Do a search and it should come up.

Kim

 

[BigRedRam95]

The water is getting better but still really cloudy. I am going to do the filter deep clean tomorrow after work. I have all the leaves out. I hope I can get everything cleaned up this week.

 

[BigRedRam95]

Just finished the deep clean. Sand had some sticky stuff on top of the sand. I spent an hour and a half and water was clear but not 100%.