How long does SLAM take: one man's story

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Eilum said:
I will say that with Memorial Day upon us, many neighbors have been opening over the past week and I nosily asked around. Many opened to green and by visiting pool store or having a service come out, turned blue and clear within 4-7 days.
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I followed TFP's closing procedure & opened with a clear pool. I quick vacuuming to get rid of dead bugs & letting the skimmer run for a few hours is all it took. If the water had been warmer I could have been swimming within a few hours of opening.

The fact that you needed floc/clarifier may indicate that your filter needs some attention. Do you know what type of sand is in the filter? Have you tried deep cleaning?
 
What kind of cover do you have?

I had a DE filter when we bought the house and pool company swapped it out for a 300 lb sand filter last year. The sand filter cannot clear a cloudy pool after SLAM but with the clarifier (again, under $20) it did the job beautifully within hours.

Once the pool was clear, I added a little DE to the sand filter and it has been 4-5 days...I have never seen a pool so clear and sparkling. My parents have a pool since I was a child (40 years or so) and I have NEVER seen a pool this clear besides the friend who introduced me to TFP and showed his pool last year - I could not believe how clear it was, but he had a DE filter. With the DE in the sand filter (and the added bag of sand) the pool is so sparkling clear.

I will keep posting results as the season goes on. And, definitely, I need to learn how to close.
 
I think the amazing thing about TPF is friends helping friends and sharing experience and knowledge. I no longer feel I am (my wallet) a victim to the pools stores ridiculous readings and a victim to them pushing products they say I 'need." The pool was one big mystery to me before TFP.
Now can I ask:
Was one moral of the story that DE is not what one needs with a cloudy pool? Is it clarifier I should have just ran to get rather than DE?
BTW I was always under the impression that clarifier and Flocc were two different things. Both returned the same results. One (clarifier) made it so the particles would be filtered by the pump. The other (floc) made it so the particles would fall to the bottom and you could vacuum them up.

My situation is:
Pool not opened for three years (yes I am that person that ignores it in the backyard). Swamp when liplock cover was removed. 10-12 days later I have a blue pool that has decent numbers but is cloudy.
Just got home from Lowes with a huge box of DE.
Wondering now whether I should have bought clarifier.
I like to spend my money elsewhere so do not really want to buy both.
House is up for sale and I am moving home to Burbank CA (no pool at this house YIPEE)

Thanks all!
 
Eilum said:
What kind of cover do you have?
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Mine's not mesh. I'm not sure what the correct name is - poly tarp? We also have a leaf cover, which is a coarse mesh that is pulled off a couple times in the fall to remove the leaves. We get a lot of leaves. If you don't have any trouble with cloudy water as the season goes on then I'd say there's nothing wrong with the filter.
 
Mike1162 - I think the cover makes all the difference

Chanelvaps - Flocc and clarifier are different, as you described. Last year I flocced and vaccumed, this year I used clarifier. I found the clarifier to be alot easier. DE is good to have, it is helping the filter but when clearing a really dirty (cloudy) pool, I found it to be impractical because it pulls out the "dirt" but get clogged and requires frequent backwash.

The clarifier, on the other hand, clumps up the particles and the filter just removed the cloudiness right out. But I would only use clarifier as a last-step after the SLAM passes the overnight test and all we are waiting for is the dead stuff to be removed from the water. That is where the clarifier can help.

Good luck
 
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