Cloudy Super Fine Dust Bottom Of Pool

[USMChris]

So I had a green algae issue develop in my pool. First time this happened and we've had the pool for 3 years now. Just a little background, its a 17x32 above ground that is partially buried in the ground. They call them hybrids I think and it holds about 18,000 gallons of water and is filtered by a Pentair cartridge filter.

So I get this algae issue and it spreads rather quickly. I balanced the pool chemicals scrubbed and shocked the pool over the course of a couple of days killing the algae. Now the problem is that I'm left with this cloudy dust like substance that settles at the bottom of the pool. The second I go to vacuum this, it gets disturbed and forms a cloud which makes any attempt at vacuuming futile. My Polaris F9550 does nothing more than stir it up. And filter doesn't seem to be much help either. I've tried to dumping some Floc in the pool but again, the fine particles just clump together and settle at the bottom adding to the cloud.

Any ideas on how to get rid of this stuff? Pool is perfectly clear until that stuff on the bottom gets disturbed.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Chris and Welcome !! What you are seeing is dead algae. As in current algae that isn’t bad enough to see in the water. Some gets killed and settles on the bottom. Many pools can tightrope this fine line of mid-bloom for quite some time before the full blown green explosion. Your sentiments have been echoed here a million times by newbs. ‘But the #s are spot on and the water is perfect....... except for this weird dust’. Perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. Get ready to SLAM Process when you see the results.

read up onABCs of Pool Water Chemistry to learn how to stay trouble free. There is a plethora of pool folks here to help guide you until you can help others yourself. Ask away any step along the way.

 

[kellyfair]

What kind of filter do you have? I would vacuum all that floc to waste and keep it out of your filter. Then follow SLAM. Your pool WILL clear - it just takes time.

 

[USMChris]

I have a cartridge filter. Its not plumbed with a "waste" selection but there is a drain valve on the bottom that I open up when I try to vac this stuff up. The issue is, that the second there is any disturbance in the water the stuff clouds up and it becomes impossible to vacuum.

@Newdude I'll read up on those techniques and give them a shot. But I'm curious how will the remove the stuff thats already down there? Does it get dissolved or form bigger clumps? I will follow your recommendations but how do I physically remove the dead algae that is settled down there?

 

[mknauss]

Let the filter do its job. Brush / vac the material. Cartridge filters will remove down to a micron level such that you cannot see the debris in the pool water. So what you see will get caught by the filter. No need to try to use the drain to 'waste'.

 

[kellyfair]

No, the point of vacuuming to waste was to keep the floc from gumming up your sand if you had a sand filter.

 

[mknauss]

If floc was used with cartridge filters, they are trashed. They need to be replaced.

 

[Newdude]

But I'm curious how will the remove the stuff thats already down there

Slowly. As you see, quick movements stir it up. Some folks have the vac with wheels and treat it like they are vacuuming their living room. If done slow enough it gets 90% of it, The rest settles and you get it on a second pass.

The filter may also be a problem as Marty pointed out. Nice catch Marty.

 

[USMChris]

Thanks everyone for the help. I have a new cartridge filter on order. I'm gonna stop by the pool store and pick up the needed things for the recommended tests on Monday. In the meantime I guess I'll just try and vacuum some more.

 

[kellyfair]

Be careful at pool store. All you need is a decent test kit - either a Taylor K2006 or the one in my signature, which has to be ordered. Do not accept pool store test results - most likely inaccurate.

Liquid chlorine. Maybe CYA (stabilizer), but you need the test kit to determine your CYA before you try to tweak it. And maybe muriatic acid to lower pH, once you know what it is. Optimum pH for SLAM is 7.2.

Don't buy anything else, except of course a replacement cartridge.