Filter issues? Please help

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Natnem

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Jun 9, 2016
77
New Orleans La
Ok so we fought a green pool when we opened the pool and we succeeded. Now I have pollen issues. However I had that under control for a while then we had rain and were expecting more rain so I vacuumed the pollen off the bottom to waste to get water level down and to get ahead of possible issues the rain brings. So the pool was clean I then turned pump off got the chlorine measured and turned the filter on and boom before my eyes green cloudy water took over half the pool! I thought I was seeing shadows hurried up and turned off the pump got on the ladder and I saw half a yucky mess! I filled the water with the hose and backwashed and turned the pump on high with hope of filtering what I could. Now every time I have the pump on my pool gets worse. I have been fighting for days and I’m ready to throw the towel in because I don’t know what I need to do to troubleshoot! I just vacuumed to waste backwashed again and it was still cloudy because I’m fighting this cycle for days but I just looked at the pool after telling my little one we were good to swim and it’s worse than the rest of the days! I tried using a little DE the other day and that helped but I vacuumed and backwashed and now it is horrible.
FC 4
CC 0
PH 7.5
TA 70
CYA was 50 but I have had to pump so much out I’m not sure where it is right now and was trying to figure out the problem before testing again. I’ve been using 40 but today I’m thinking about saying it is 30 and adding up to the high end of chlorine allowed.
Please help me with troubleshooting and getting my filter and water clear again!
the attached picture is right now and it was a little tinted before putting the pump back on!
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
 

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So the picture was taken about 45-60 minutes after I turned it back on because I was searching for help trying not to make a post. What is green is the pollen and it’s mostly sitting on the bottom I tried to vacuum again after my post and it is coming up, but I’m not sure if it’s coming right back in because the overall appearance is greenish from it flowing in earlier.
The water was not green before this!
We opened the pool in March and have had pretty water up until Sunday when this 1st happened.
I hope that answers the question.
 
I don’t understand how it would be algae? I have good numbers and it get the green from the tree. Along with everything else around when you wipe a surface it’s green. The water is clear until I vacuum. My backwash was not green and then I turned the filter on and the green comes out into the pool. I don’t vacuum to waste every time due to chemical loss but I have a few times and everything seems fine until I vacuum regularly and then I turn the pump off to disconnect the vacuum and when I turn it back on the pool slowly turns back to cloudy in mins. The first time this happened I am trying my hardest to remember if I just did the waste setting and then turned it back on and it took over the whole pool or if I vacuumed but I had clear water and good numbers.
I have read how to tell if it’s algae or pollen and I feel like it’s pollen because it just fluffs into a cloud when disturbed.
Am I thinking about this wrong? I don’t lose chlorine either like I did when I was dealing with algae. Which is why I was thinking it’s the pump/filter.
 
So I had a 3Fc ppm yesterday morning I added 14oz of liquid chlorine to raise it to 5. Early this morning I had a reading of 4. I just retested the water and it’s 3ppm. That’s after a few hours of sun and backwashing and adding water to the pool with the thought I’d need to vacuum to waste if the water came back in from the filter again which it did… that might have been something I should have mentioned earlier.
if I do need to do a deep cleaning of the sand is there a specific cleaner that I should look for to use or just use water? This is when you have to take the top off the filter right?
 
Below is the link for deep cleaning the sand. No special tools required. Your FC has been on the edge of the minimum range, and with temps increasing it could cause problems. I would increase the FC to about 7-8 today and through this evening. The OCLT will tell you for sure.

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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I'm a beekeeper and I keep a close eye on what is blooming and where pollen and nectar is coming from for my bees. In your area, I would be very surprised if there is any tree pollen around. Maybe some grass pollen. https://weather.com/forecast/allergy/

If I were you, I would treat this like an algae outbreak and begin a SLAM. Even if it is pollen, pollen is organic and the chlorine will destroy it also. You can not go wrong with a slam any time you have water quality issues.
 
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Ok so I have figured out it’s the DE blowing into the pool from adding it to sand filter. I created this monster by thinking the way to get it out is to add a little more to catch it when vacuuming. I have gotten it almost perfect with a baby bit of cloudiness by getting in the pool and vacuuming slowly and getting it all off the bottom. By the time I got out and to the pump it must hit the exact pressure that it will take with the DE, and it’s blowing back in before I get to the power switch. So I cry and start over. I vacuumed to waste yesterday and refilled twice. I have to do it in sessions because on high I lose water to fast. I’m about to go do it again after letting it settle for a few hours this morning!
I guess I at least hope I’m right!! 🤞🏻
 
rig up a siphon so you don't go through your pump and filter, it will dump the water slower and you won't have to worry about the level so much before cleaning and/or refilling.
 
I’ve siphoned too just takes so much longer than I felt like going through since I’ve been going in circles for so long now due to my own ignorance! I’m just glad I figured out it was the DE! Now I’m just waiting for another fill! Then I’ll be close to having it all out and will do the siphon method because it will be more spread out vs covering the bottom! Ill see how everything looks and what settles this evening and I’ll retest my cya and add some to get that back up since as of this moment I don’t foresee myself needing to vacuum to waste anymore! 🤞🏻
Thank you everyone! Praying for pretty water again by tomorrow!! My luck I’ll get a week of rain afterwards!
 
Natnem said:
I’ve siphoned too just takes so much longer than I felt like going through since I’ve been going in circles for so long now due to my own ignorance! I’m just glad I figured out it was the DE! Now I’m just waiting for another fill! Then I’ll be close to having it all out and will do the siphon method because it will be more spread out vs covering the bottom! Ill see how everything looks and what settles this evening and I’ll retest my cya and add some to get that back up since as of this moment I don’t foresee myself needing to vacuum to waste anymore! 🤞🏻
Thank you everyone! Praying for pretty water again by tomorrow!! My luck I’ll get a week of rain afterwards!
Click to expand...
get a "whirlpool" going (just a gentle one) and if you are lucky it will concentrate the debris more in one spot in the center of the pool. not sure this will work with super fine DE dust but it works good for stuff that settles in a few minutes. you can do it with a brush or just get in and walk in a few circles then get out and let it settle.
 
Ok so I am going to start the slam process today. I let everything settle until this morning and vacuumed but wasn’t even thinking and I just vacuumed regularly not to waste and when I was done it was horrible because everything just came back in the pool. So I backwashed just to see if I’d get any greenish tint or any cloudy water and nope. So I added water and 48oz of liquid chlorine. I called 3 different pool stores out of feeling ready to just lose my marbles because it’s officially over 2 weeks that the filter was push dirty water back to the pool. All 3 said I can try to take the top off and clean the sand and see if that helps and if it doesn’t that I should replace my 1 year old sand. Literally turned 1 June 12. Does this sound like the only real solution? One store said if rinsing and cleaning doesn’t work that I should consider and read about zep or zeolite sand because it will filter down to 4microns.
I not stressing about the slam or maintaining the water as much as I am needing to keep the filter from blowing dirty water back in the pool. My water test is as follows.
FC 6
CC 0
PH 7.8
TA
CYA 30 if rounding up it’s between 20-30 but could be lower due to all the vacuuming to waste yesterday and backwashing today. It was at 50 when I started 2 weeks ago.
I’m sorry if I seem like I’m doing something wrong after reading y’all help! I’m not trying to I feel like a broken record and hope y’all stick with me!
 
yeah, think about it. they want to sell stuff to you. sand does NOT go bad or wear out unless you have put strange pool store gunk in the pool. a small amount of DE is fine, but other things that are supposed to magically clear up a pool problem are a waste of money at best, and can cause more problems than they solve. a sand filter actually works better with a small amount of dirt in it - that is what the DE does. super clean sand doesn't filter as good as a slightly dirty sand bed. keep that in mind. you may or may not have a bit of an algae problem started. do the slam until you pass the OCLT and let your filter work. if you want to vacuum, try setting up a siphon with your vacuum hose over the side of the pool. wait until what ever the debris is actually settles to the bottom and go slowly so you don't stir it up.

you can swim if you can see the bottom and chlorine is just below SLAM level. but check the CYA so you have accurate information for your next steps.
 

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