Can I use a water transfer pump to vacuum my pool?

[cameradude]

Hi all,
I live in Phoenix and I have very fine dust in my pool. even a silt bag on my Polaris doesn't catch it, it looks like a steam engine chugging along the bottom of the pool as a cloud of dust particles billows through the silt bag!

I have used my pool pump and vacuumed to waste, but that uses a lot of water. I don't think I need that high of a GPM flow to pick up the dust. Has anybody used a water transfer pump to vacuum instead?

 

[proavia]

Where is the fine dust coming from?

I see you have a TF-100, K-1766 and SpeedStir.
How old are the reagents?
Post a full set of test results from your test kit to PoolMath.
You "latest" results there are over 4 years old.

 

[cameradude]

Where is the fine dust coming from?

I see you have a TF-100, K-1766 and SpeedStir.
How old are the reagents?
Post a full set of test results from your test kit to PoolMath.
You "latest" results there are over 4 years old.

The reagents are a few months old (ordered during the spring sale) and I had the pool water filtered to lower my calcium hardness 7 weeks ago. I live in a desert, there is dust in the air.
I am 7 days into a SLAM because I am fighting algae in my pebble-tec, I went on vacation for a month, there was a crazy heatwave while I was gone and came home to green spots in the pool.

 

[cameradude]

The reagents are a few months old (ordered during the spring sale) and I had the pool water filtered to lower my calcium hardness 7 weeks ago. I live right up against the mountian preserve, there is a lot of dust in the air here.
I am 7 days into a SLAM because I am fighting algae in my pebble-tec, I went on vacation for a month, there was a crazy heatwave while I was gone and came home to green spots in the pool.

 

[proavia]

I live in the same desert with the same heat wave. 117 today in the East Valley.

Maybe you're in an area that got hit by a monsoon storm and deposited the dust.
However, in and of itself a monsoon storm shouldn't have given you algae.
Chances are your FC fell below minimum.

Are you maintaining FC toward the high side of the target range for your CYA?
FC/CYA Levels
And when leaving for more than a few days - especially in summer - up the SWG output 5%-10% to account for temperarure rise and our intent sun. A higher FC is much better than a low FC.

The debris can be dust or dead algae.
Do you have a regular vacuum head and hose you can vacuum with to the filter?

 

[cameradude]

For sure my FC was low, my CYA is 70, I generally try to keep FC at 7. I have been using the TFP method in my pool for the past 10 years and this is the first serious algae I have gotten. The dust has been accumulating in the pool over the past several years. I did not mean to imply that the algae and the dust were related or caused by the same thing.

Before I filtered the pool water I had high CH which sometimes caused white powder dust in the pool. I took some that had accumulated in the silt bag, dried it out and poured vinegar on it, it sizzled which I read here means it is calcium. The dust I have now is more fine and brown in color.

I have a sand filter that I backwash regularly, when I vacuum to the filter, the dust spits right back into the pool from my return jets. I have vacuumed first thing in the morning when the pool looks crystal clear before the pump and cleaner have stirred things up, and I can see the dirty water come out of the returns. I assumed it was too fine to get caught in the sand. I even added a couple of cups of DE to my filter to try to catch it but it did not seem to help.

 

[proavia]

Have you done a deep clean of the sand filter this year?
If not, you may have channeling thru the sand bed.

If your filter has a multiport valve, don't forget to rinse after the backwash. This helps reset/settle the sand.

Also, you can add DE to the filter to help trap smaller particles. It gets removed each time you backwash, so you need to add it again. A cup or so - to raise the filter presure 1 psi - is all that's needed.

After you backwash, note the filter pressure on high speed. Don't backwash again until the filter pressure rises 20%-25% above clean pressure (again, at high rpm).
A slightly dirty sand filter actually filters better than a clean sand filter.

If you have them, post the test results from right before you started the SLAM Process.

 

[cameradude]

2 years ago was the last time I did a deep clean of the sand filter. Once my SLAM is done I will do that again.

Yup, I rinse after a backwash, as I said, I tried adding DE last year and it did not help.

I should also add that the main drain in the bottom of my pool has a leak somewhere, so I have bypassed it at the skimmer. I have had a guy out who does that re-lining of cracked pipes but he said the bends in my plumbing were too tight for his tools.

Shortly after the water was RO filtered, just before the SLAM:
FC 6
ph 7.2
TA 90
CH 117
CYA 70
Salt 3000