Very. very sorry for your loss.
Not the way we like to see new members arrive, but we're very happy to have you find us. We can help you, take care of the pool equipment and water. Easier and for less money. You will have to break a few old habits and do just a bit of reading, but we'll help. So first the bad news ...
Unfortunately, that may have ruined the filter media. Since you backwashed, you must have either a sand or DE filter. Please update your signature with all of your pool info and equipment (test kit as well). See mine as an example,. If you need help, let us know. Also, the phosphate tabs do nothing to help and we almost never add anything directly to the skimmer.
Now for the better news:
- Eventually we'll help you get to the bottom of the black stuff, but for now, you need to ensure the water is clear and sanitary. To do that, test results are #1. Either from a
TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C. I recommend the TF-100. See
Test Kits Compared
- Stay out of the pool store. They will give you bad advice from marginal water testing and sell you unneeded, over-priced chemical products. Everything you need is in my signature. The money you save from staying out of the pool store alone will pay for a TF-100 test kit many times over and you'll have less work to do with the pool.
If this sounds too good to be true, it's not. Unfortunately the pool store industry makes a ton of money by giving customers generic (or bad) advice, then we go back, and back, and back again. Here at TFP we make no money by helping you. Everyone here volunteers because we've been through it and know how easy proper pool care can be.
Refer to those links in my signature, make sure you have a TF-100 test kit, and let us know how we can help you along the way.
Just to give you an idea how nice your water can look with proper testing and basic household products, see the link below.
How clear should my water be? A very common question. Here is mine on a calm morning where I could finally vacuum. Yes I know, I'm still manually vacuuming. It took me 7 years to finally get an SWG, I'm working on a robot. :) So now let's see your water clarity.
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