Today's water test:
chlorine 5.5
CYA 40
pH 7.8
TA 120
CH 200
We just recently remodeled the our pool (plaster, tile, concrete deck, added small water feature), and everything is fine except that there is, every morning, a layer of "dirt" in the pool.
I originally thought it was either sand from the old filter due to broken laterals or mustard algae because of the number of threads on this forum discussing the differences between the two. However, after investigating rather thoroughly, I am pretty sure that it is neither. First, the dirt is so fine-grained that it does immediately dissipate into the water when brushing and resettles shortly after. Which might sound like algae, except that we are not churning through chlorine (no overnight chlorine loss) and, if I move my hand very slowly (to avoid the water pushing it away) to the dirt on the steps, I can feel it and it is definitely gritty, not slimy as I understand algae would be. It is also very hard to pick up because it is so fine-grained. I can mash my thumb on some and gather just a few tiny granules. I put a sock over the returns which caught nothing, and I also opened the sand filter and took a bit out to compare. The filter sand granules are way bigger than whatever this is.
My pool contractor did recently replace the grout between the coping tiles (he used the wrong color originally), which involved cutting out the old grout and I know it was real dusty and a lot of that went straight into the water. Is that what this is? I have brushed and brushed and brushed, and I can get some of it down to the main drain and the cloud appears to be sucked into it, but I can also see in the shallow end as I brush the tiny granules just floating in the middle of the water, only to settle again 5 minutes later. The polaris net is nowhere near fine enough to catch this dust.
Am I doomed to just days of trying to brush this out over and over again, or are there any tricks that I need to learn? OR, do I need to invest in a vacuum, which I've never needed in 8 years of pool ownership!
Thanks in advance!
chlorine 5.5
CYA 40
pH 7.8
TA 120
CH 200
We just recently remodeled the our pool (plaster, tile, concrete deck, added small water feature), and everything is fine except that there is, every morning, a layer of "dirt" in the pool.
I originally thought it was either sand from the old filter due to broken laterals or mustard algae because of the number of threads on this forum discussing the differences between the two. However, after investigating rather thoroughly, I am pretty sure that it is neither. First, the dirt is so fine-grained that it does immediately dissipate into the water when brushing and resettles shortly after. Which might sound like algae, except that we are not churning through chlorine (no overnight chlorine loss) and, if I move my hand very slowly (to avoid the water pushing it away) to the dirt on the steps, I can feel it and it is definitely gritty, not slimy as I understand algae would be. It is also very hard to pick up because it is so fine-grained. I can mash my thumb on some and gather just a few tiny granules. I put a sock over the returns which caught nothing, and I also opened the sand filter and took a bit out to compare. The filter sand granules are way bigger than whatever this is.
My pool contractor did recently replace the grout between the coping tiles (he used the wrong color originally), which involved cutting out the old grout and I know it was real dusty and a lot of that went straight into the water. Is that what this is? I have brushed and brushed and brushed, and I can get some of it down to the main drain and the cloud appears to be sucked into it, but I can also see in the shallow end as I brush the tiny granules just floating in the middle of the water, only to settle again 5 minutes later. The polaris net is nowhere near fine enough to catch this dust.
Am I doomed to just days of trying to brush this out over and over again, or are there any tricks that I need to learn? OR, do I need to invest in a vacuum, which I've never needed in 8 years of pool ownership!
Thanks in advance!
