Forming a Plan of Attack

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I've kept the FC over 10 for more than a week now, and checked last night at sunset and had 19 FC. This morning I tested again and have 19 FC. CC test gives the water sample a hint of red, which goes away with a single drop of the FC test. This suggests to me that all life in the pool is dead, it is simply a mater of filtering the water until clear. Clarity is still frustratingly slow at improving. That has been my experience with previous SLAMs. Not sure if my sand filter could be a bit low on sand, reducing filtering speed. I did refill it several years back with the recommended lbs of sand, but it seemed to only leave the filter roughly 1/2 full. (Added note for clarity: I refilled the filter because I replaced the lateral assembly after I opened the filter and it the downpipe to the lateralls broke. So I had a completely empty filter and added the recommended weight in sand) Seemed odd to make such a big filter housing and only call for a 1/2 fill.

I've considered adding DE in years past, to help speed things along, but I've never picked any up, and over time the water does get perfectly clear. (Can clearly see my son's fingers across a 32' pool underwater with goggles.)

I know the official advise is to keep SLAMing until water is clear, color is gone, and overnight test passes. I passed the overnight test (SWG was off last night) and I did dose roughly 2.5 lbs of CYA the other day to slow the sunlight's appetite.

TF-100 refill kit due to come in the mail tomorrow. I'm of the opinion to fill the water to the skimmer level, relax on FC, get test numbers tomorrow, and work toward getting salt and CYA levels up if everything continues to improve.
 
DirtyRat91 said:
. . . Not sure if my sand filter could be a bit low on sand, reducing filtering speed. I did refill it several years back with the recommended lbs of sand, but it seemed to only leave the filter roughly 1/2 full. (Added note for clarity: I refilled the filter because I replaced the lateral assembly after I opened the filter and it the downpipe to the lateralls broke. So I had a completely empty filter and added the recommended weight in sand) Seemed odd to make such a big filter housing and only call for a 1/2 fill . . .
Click to expand...
That seems odd to me, since almost all sand configurations I can find on a google search, show sand up to the "top" of the widest part, regardless if it's round or cylinder, and side or top entry

Obviously if there isn't enough sand, the incoming water can churn it up and it won't "filter" the water, because everything stays susspended
waterco-micron-eco-5.jpg
 
Update: I've filled the pool, kids swam a few days. I know the cautions of swimming in cloudy pools, but they couldn't wait, and the pool isn't deep enough to lose anybody.

So I've got the skimmer going, both returns are pumping, circulation should be optimal, and the pool has only gotten cloudier.

I took the multiport off the filter yesterday, and measured the sand level at least 16" down from the top of the pipe. Roughly 1/2 full of sand. I added about 175 lbs of pool sand on top of that. (3 1/2 50 lb bags) to where it is about 4" down from the top of the lateral pipe. Hopefully I'll see some improvement soon, because it is frustrating having no progress on the pool clairity. Likely I took a step back initially, as I forgot to switch the filter valve to Rinse, and I saw the pool got a hefty slug of dusty water pass through the SWG cell. So that only added to the murk. But I can make out the outline of the main drain currently, I'll see if that improves over the next 24 hrs.

CYA level currently at 40, FC is maintaining and slightly increasing with SWG at 50%. I'll wait until I know the water is perfect before bumping the CYA up to recommended salt levels.
 
Does your pool have enough water in it to run the pump? If not, it is going to take forever to do your slam if you are relying o; your vacuum to circulate water. I would fill it, conduct SLAM properly,then deal with metals.

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Oops, I didn’t see your most recent post!
 
DirtyRat91 said:
...
So I've got the skimmer going, both returns are pumping, circulation should be optimal, and the pool has only gotten cloudier.
...
Click to expand...

I would turn off the SWG go with the SLAM Process

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Those last few pictures really speak to needing a FULL SLAM Process, also (sorry if I missed it in the thread) are there metals present?
 
Pretty sure I've got pretty significant iron staining. Pics a few posts back of some vitamin C tabs clearing up rough stain on walls/floors.

Had a rusty umbrella stand fall in, undoubtedly the cause of the stains.
 
A photographer I am not, those pictures turned out like doo-doo.

Update: On the 14th I swam with the kids. While the water was clear, visibility was still cloudy with my underwater goggle test. (Saw this idea on TFP a while ago. My pool is only 4' deep, so even when I can see the bottom, I'm not seeing through much water. However the pool is 32' long. So if I'm against one wall and can see my kids on the far wall clearly when I'm underwater with goggles, then we're getting somewhere) Not sure if stuff was stirred up or what, but when underwater I could only see my kids at about 8 feet. We went to the lake that weekend, and when we came back this past Sunday the 17th the water was remarkedly clearer. I don't know how to describe it, but it comes to a point where you can see everything in the pool easily. Not sure if this is valid clairity test, but I crouch so instead of looking down on an bit on the bottom, I'm looking across the pool to it. The idea being I'm looking through much more water to see said debris. Anyhow, pool looks great now.

The pictures don't tell the tale, as they're not sharp at all, but that water stain line I mentioned earlier is pretty stark. The top 1/2 of the pool looking at one wall is blue. The bottom half is brown. It bothers me some, as I take pride in the cleanliness of my pool. (Couldn't tell that by the debris on the floor in those pics, I'm talking water balance...a little dirt never killed anyone) And currently the pool 'looks' unkept, as the water does have a uniform clear blue look. However I'm unsure if it is worth it to fight the metal. I've seen threads of people who conquer the stain initially only to have it resettle. I sounds hard to really keep at bay once metal is in the pool. I'm more considering just leaving it and replacing the liner (clean fill) next year. I plan on trying to local the water leak just as a science experiment. Not sure if I'll be successful or not, but I want to try to add dye around the pool stairs at the final drain line. I suspect a leak in that area. In theory a new liner will restore the look of the pool, get rid of the metal, and get rid of the leak at that point.

Enough rambling, there's more to be done! My PH is out of control. I'll admit I don't check it frequently enough, only once or twice a week, but every time it is red. (High PH). I gave it a nice chug of 31.45% acid this past Sunday to supposedly drop it down to 7.2, but it is up off the scale again. That acid was a year or two old, not sure if it looses any potency, it still seemed angry.

PH 8+
TA 160
FC 8
CYA 40

Go stock up on acid and keep dealing with the PH until it drops under 100? I thought I've seen folks say that SWG pools behave better with lower TA. Time to raise the CYA too? Should I attempt to deal with the metal? Or leave it? Open to opinions. Thanks.
 
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