Correct order to backwash sand filter and empty that basket? ( + green taking over!)

[VinylDelight]

So I am told to backwash at least once a week, but I am not sure if there is a correct order to the emptying of that basket right near the filter. I am told I need to backwash for 10 to 20 seconds, rinse for 30 to 60 seconds, and then turn back on the filter. But I see leaves in that basket and when is the right/best time to empty those out please?



Also, question 2, for the in-line chlorine dial, does the filter need to be off for me to change the dial? I'm not sure if that matters but I wanted to lower the chlorine since it is definitely high.

Thank you.

 

[Mdragger88]

You should backwash whenever pressure rises 25% over clean pressure- whenever that occurs. Sand filters actually filter better when they are a little dirty so backwashing too frequently isn’t helpful.
You should backwash until the water in the sight glass becomes clear- however long that takes. Then rinse until there’s no sand (maybe only a grain or two left) in the sight glass- however long that takes.
For reference, I have roughly the same size pool as you & a 250# sand filter & I have backwashed about 3 times since opening in early April.

The pump basket cleaning frequency depends upon how much debris you have. If you see leaves its time to empty it. You don’t want to starve your pump.
Right now it’s starting to be “leafy” out so I am having to check the skimmer & pump basket pretty much daily. During periods with few bugs & leaves I may dump the pump basket once a week.

As far as the chlorinator goes it should be adjustable whether the pump is off or on.
But Using trichlor pucks for daily chlorination will get you into trouble quickly. They add cya along with chlorine. The chlorine gets consumed daily but the cya remains in the water. As your cya increases so does the necessary minimum fc requirement FC/CYA Levels. The only way to lower cya is to exchange water.
Pucks are also acidic so they lower ph & subsequently Ta so you must monitor all those parameters closely.

How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Before chlorinating your pool, you should know these simple tips. Learn the best way to add chlorine to your pool.

www.google.com

If you don’t already have one, you definitely need a proper test kit (taylor k2006 or tf100/pro) to manage your pool chemistry properly.
Test Kits Compared

Here’s a link to all the good info above in one place + more to help you care for your pool
Pool Care Basics

 

[VinylDelight]

I recently did get the recommended test kit but only was able to do the Cl and pH tests since I've had so little time. The Chlorine test was orange, so exceedingly high, and the pH was 7.2 or low normal.

The pool water is getting exceedingly cloudy now with what I believe is tree dust, pollen, or something like that. It doesn't "seem" like algae, but I also am new to pools.

 

[Mdragger88]

The yellow oto test is just more of a “do I have any chlorine or not” kind of test. It is not very accurate & It only tests Total Chlorine - it doesn’t differentiate between free chlorine (good stuff ) & combined chlorine (bad stuff). It is also limited to 5ppm which is often below or barely at target level for most cya levels.
Your total chlorine is higher than the test reads but your fc may not actually be that high depending upon your cya level & how much of that is cc’s.
Maintaining fc above minimum for your cya is imperative to having a sanitary pool & keeping nasties at bay.
Do all the tests & report your results like this
.
Fc
Cc
Ph
Ta
Ch
Cya

They each only take a minute or so to do. Just do one test at a time following the corresponding instructions on the card & record the result.
The most important one’s to confirm right now are Fc, cc & cya
Any ph in 7’s is fine so you’re good there
Cloudy water is often a sign of algae. So lets see what the test results say to determine the next steps.

 

[VinylDelight]

Ok, did a late night test, first timer... to the best of my understanding right now my numbers are this:
FC 10.5
CC .5
CYA 90 to 95

A month ago the pool was crystal clear blue... without really doing anything substantial the pool is suddenly looking like Darn blue-green in the deep end and it's almost crept all the way to the shallow end now over the last week! But really, it "seems" like the problem is debris from the environment rather than algae, but I am a newb so I could be way off. It all seems to sit on the floor of the pool and with a brush I can easily push it around (tried pushing toward the skimmers); I also do not see algae clumps floating at the surface.

 

[Mdragger88]

If cya reads “inbetween” you always round up - so for now yours counts as 100 so target fc is 11-13ppm FC/CYA Levels you should maintain that fc level with liquid chlorine as the tabs are only making the cya climb higher.
To rule out algae you should do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. If you fail the oclt you will need to do the SLAM Process to eradicate the algae- which is impractical to do at such a high cya level, so a water exchange would need to occur.
If you pass the oclt you may wish to maintain what you have now until closing & do a water exchange upon opening in the spring since you will be draining some for closing.
Since your cya reads over 90ppm you should do the diluted cya test to verify your actual cya so you know where you stand. Do the test in bright light- preferably outdoors for the most accurate results.
Step 8

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is the chemical name for what is commonly referred to as Stabilizer … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[VinylDelight]

Is it possible to test if this is some biologic vs tree debris/pollen? There are many large trees around me.

Doing the diluted CYA test, I appear to have 80 to 90 CYA (my measurements gave me 40 and 45 so round up to 90). Again, this is the first time I'm doing any testing, for whatever that is worth. It was done mid-day in full sunlight.

To stop the bleeding for now, should I go dump in some chlorine? It's probably old anyways from the prior homeowners, but really this is turning into an eye sore and I wanted to use the pool in a couple weeks. Quite disheartening to think I can become a homeowner of a new pool and ruin it within 2 months! lol but not lol.

Thank you for the help so far!

 

[Mdragger88]

The Overnight Chlorine Loss Test will confirm if it is algae & if it is the SLAM Process is the way to take care of it. Where are you at in MS? Pollen isn’t an issue here where I’m at currently. So long as you are regularly removing the leaves/ debris from the pool it shouldn’t be making the water cloudy unless the fc dropped. I have a feeling that at some point your fc was below minimum for your cya & algae has proliferated. Let’s see what the oclt says.

 

[VinylDelight]

Yea, I think you're right it's definitely something biologic because today was pretty fine weather and this thing just looks like Darn now. Will pick up some chlorine gallons asap, and try to get the OCLT tonight. I threw in a gallon of 10% because I had it on hand anyways to maybe stop the bleeding.

The pool is essentially green now and no longer a murky blue in the deep end. There is still some blue in the shallow end that will help me sleep tonight.

 

[Mdragger88]

If it is green & obviously algae you can bypass the oclt & get straight to the slam process but you will need to exchange some water first to get the cya down. Maintaining Slam level fc @ 90/100 cya is impractical & very expensive, especially at current chlorine prices.
Getting cya down to around 50/60 ppm is much more manageable, 30/40ppm is even better.
Exchanging at least 50% or more of the water will also help physically remove some of the organics which may help give a little leg up for the slam too.
To reduce cya by 50% you will need to exchange 50% of the water - its a 1:1 ratio.
Here’s some info on how to accomplish the water exchange

Draining - Further Reading

www.google.com

 

[VinylDelight]

I'm so new to pool ownership. I'm scared to drain this sucker. The prior owner basically said never pull that lever to drain the pool - it will empty in 6 hours! They made it sound like I would never need to and I just should not, lol.

 

[Mdragger88]

You want to use a submersible pump to drain/exchange water. They can be rented at Home Depot etc. or u can buy one somewhere like harbor freight. They are a valuable tool for a pool owner anyway.
please read the link posted above to get a better understanding of how to drain or exchange water safely based on your type of pool & local water table. The no drain water exchange is the safest option if you’re unsure. What is your water source? Well or municipal water?

 

[VinylDelight]

The pool has a sump pump that the prior owner informed me will drain the pool in 6 hours. There is a valve located near the pump equipment area that says basically "always leave alone" that somehow activates it. Should I avoid using this IF I decide to drain or drain and replace? I need to take it exceedingly cautiously at this point seeing as how I already ruined the new pool


Question 2: Is it really futile to try to clear this pool as is with CYA near 85 to 90? The prior owner did not cover the pool and simply let it run year-round, and that was my plan since "if it aint broke dont fix it" (but obviously I broke it )

 

[Bperry]

The pool has a sump pump that the prior owner informed me will drain the pool in 6 hours. There is a valve located near the pump equipment area that says basically "always leave alone" that somehow activates it. Should I avoid using this IF I decide to drain or drain and replace? I need to take it exceedingly cautiously at this point seeing as how I already ruined the new pool


Question 2: Is it really futile to try to clear this pool as is with CYA near 85 to 90? The prior owner did not cover the pool and simply let it run year-round, and that was my plan since "if it aint broke dont fix it" (but obviously I broke it )

You can do it but it requires more chlorine. It’ll be hard to get a good pH reading with the amount of chlorine required to keep it sanitary. Up to you.

 

[Mdragger88]

I would avoid using that valve & go with a submersible pump.
Even just Replacing 30% of the water would put you at a more manageable place with cya for the long term.
Slamming with 100ppm cya - (if it reads above 90 you count it as 100) takes ALOT of liquid chlorine & ALOT of test reagents. The lower you get cya the less the slam will cost with those things.
SLAM Process fc level for 100ppm cya is 39ppm. The slam process can take a week or more of maintaining slam level fc as often as possible so you can see how this would get costly when compared to a slam level of 20ppm if your cya was 50. With active algae the fc level drops quickly at first requiring many replenishments.

 

[Mdragger88]

but obviously I broke it

Don’t be too hard on yourself! - most pool woes have a solution & this one definitely does.
You’re certainly not the 1st who thought the tabs were “taking care of things” because that’s what they were told to do & subsequently found themselves with algae.
We’ll get it turned around

 

[VinylDelight]

Ok, here are 4 photos -- because I am a total newb, and I want to try to do my best to avoid future embarassment and loss of $$$ -- to try to ensure we are on the same page.

The first photo is the system -- i have no idea what it really does other than on and off. I've just been flicking the button to on when the filter goes off, but it is automatically run every morning for probably 8 hours or so.

The second photo is the sump pump, and the fourth is the valve.

 

[Mdragger88]

Do you have a heater, spa, or any water features? Lights etc?
Are these the only valves?
Taking a picture(s) of the entire equipment pad would help others determine all the parts of your equipment to help you understand what each thing does & so you can complete your signature.
For now, here’s some reading about pentair automation

Pentair Automation Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Lemme ring some pentair folks.
@Newdude , @Jimrahbe, @mknauss

 

[Mdragger88]

Also here’s the manual

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/automation/easytouch/manual/easytouch-control-system-8-and-4-users-guide.pdf

 

[VinylDelight]

Do you have a heater, spa, or any water features? Lights etc?
Are these the only valves?
Taking a picture(s) of the entire equipment pad would help others determine all the parts of your equipment to help you understand what each thing does & so you can complete your signature.
For now, here’s some reading about pentair automation

Pentair Automation Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Lemme ring some pentair folks.
@Newdude , @Jimrahbe, @mknauss

Thank you so much for all the info so far. I've learned quite a bit!

As far as the pentair system, it's probably way more than I need to learn about personally for now and really the only reason I bring it up is because it means a lot more to you folks right now to me. I had a beautiful clear pool a month ago and now it's a green swamp, lol... clearly I don't know what I'm working with.

I did read about draining pools though, and it sounds like something I absolutely don't want to mess up since the consequences are dire (vinyl can crease and be permanently damaged among other things). I know we only wanted to drain the pool 50%, but the drain and replace intrigues me. Could I basically "drain" my pool incredibly slow and simultaneously fill it up essentially reaching a dynamic equilibrium? I know it would take a lot longer, but I don't know if it's a terrible idea. I guess I'm just thinking... and looking for something I cannot mess up again.