I have been trying to clear my pool water for two months!

[Llamecker]

Over the winter the pool was admittedly neglected. By early springtime it turned into a pond complete with frogs and a few snakes and an unholy amount of debris in the bottom. We have a large elm tree that hangs right over the deep end, and every fall it dumps a ton of leaves and seed pods into the pool. It feels almost impossible to stay on top of it. We do not have a cover and we don’t winterize it.

I began the process of cleaning it up at the beginning of May. I have made progress as it is now blue but the water is still cloudy. I have been running the pump 24/7 since the beginning of the process. I have been regularly backwashing the filter. I have kept the chemicals in balance. I have flocced it and vacuumed to waste three separate times (and refilled and rebalanced chemicals each time). I have tried three separate clarifiers including the natural chemistry pool first aid (spaced out of course and used at the recommended dosages). This weekend I tried the jack’s magic filter fiber stuff. I keep my robot running multiple times a day. It is admittedly slowly getting better but it is still cloudy enough that I can’t see the bottom of the deep end. I am desperate! It’s been two months and my family and I have yet to be able to swim. We have a pool party that’s been on our schedule for a while now coming up in a couple of weeks and I don’t know what else to do!

One other detail is that after we had cleaned and balanced it, we converted it to a salt water pool. That was about two weeks ago, and everything is working well with the SWCG so far. But still cloudy. What am I missing?

The first two pics are from the beginning and middle of the process. The last three are from today after cleaning out all the floc and also running the jack’s magic in the filter for 24 hours and backwashing.

25,650 gallons vinyl In ground pool
Test using the Taylor K-2006-SALT
FC 8
CC 0.5
pH 7.4
TA 80
CH 220
CYA was 55 before I vacuumed to waste and refilled this weekend. I don’t have any more of the reagent but I’m going to order more soon.
Salt 3600 we have the CircuPool Core 55

 

[Mdragger88]

We don’t really recommend any of those things you mentioned to clear your pool as they all have unwanted side effects.
Instead we recommend the SLAM Process with liquid chlorine.

For a successful SLAM Process
you need to continue to MAINTAIN Slam level fc for your cya
FC/CYA Levels
as often as possible (multiple times per day is best) until you meet ALL 3 end of slam criteria-

You are done when:

CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
AND
the water is clear.
(Crystal Clear w/no algae dead or alive)

*Check & scrub every nook & cranny where algae may hide (light niches, steps, drain covers, ladder handrails, skimmer throats/weirs, abandoned lines, autofill, overflow drains, etc.)
*If water can go there, algae can thrive there.
*Run slam level water through all water features & lines for at least a couple hours a day during the SLAM Process.
*Brush & or vac daily (this breaks up biofilms that algae uses to protect itself from chlorine)
*Backwash/clean filter when pressure rises 25%over clean pressure.

 

[Llamecker]

I am aware that trouble free pool doesn’t recommend those things, but it’s not clearing on its own. I completed the SLAM process with liquid chlorine at the very beginning and have since been trying to get the cloudiness to clear. The other things I tried out of desperation. And I measured the exact recommended dose for each product I added and followed the directions to a tee. Is there something I’m missing? Also We replaced the sand in our filter with zeosand last season.

 

[Llamecker]

As I went back and reread your response, I see that the very fact that it is cloudy means I have not completed the slam process? Is that correct? So the answer is to just keep adding liquid chlorine to maintain slam levels? Honestly I was starting to wonder if this was a filtration issue…

 

[mknauss]

Have you passed multiple Overnight Chlorine Loss Test?
We prefer one stays at SLAM level until crystal clear. Should not take much extra chlorine if you have no algae consuming it.

 

[Llamecker]

Thank you for your reply. Admittedly I did not do an OCLT. When the water turned blue I assumed I was done. I suppose I had forgotten about the purpose of the OCLT. I will try that.

 

[Mdragger88]

You ended slam too early.
Once passing the
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test at slam level you would then look into filtration problems.
I realize you have replaced your filter media in the past but since then you have used alot of things that can gum it up.
You may need to do a deep clean of your zeo if it has gotten clumped up. I didn't have a good experience with zeo nor did it cleanup well for me so I opted to replace it with sand. Ymmv.

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

After confirming your filter media is in good shape you can try adding a dab of de to catch the finer stuff

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.

www.troublefreepool.com

This is all while maintaining slam level fc.

 

[Llamecker]

You ended slam too early.
Once passing the
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test at slam level you would then look into filtration problems.
I realize you have replaced your filter media in the past but since then you have used alot of things that can gum it up.
You may need to do a deep clean of your zeo if it has gotten clumped up. I didn't have a good experience with zeo nor did it cleanup well for me so I opted to replace it with sand. Ymmv.

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

After confirming your filter media is in good shape you can try adding a dab of de to catch the finer stuff

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.

www.troublefreepool.com

This is all while maintaining slam level fc.

Thank you for your reply. I will try to do the OCLT tonight.

I am starting to suspect that the filter may need a deep clean so I’ll take a look at that link you added and act depending on what the OCLT shows.

I was originally going to put some DE in the filter but kept reading sources saying it is toxic when I was researching it. This is why I opted for the cellulose fiber in jack’s magic. I also saw that when you backwash your filter, the cellulose (and the DE for that matter) gets washed out of your filter anyway. So I figured it couldn’t hurt to try if I could just wash it out. Maybe some DE will be the next step for me anyway if the prior two things don’t help.

 

[Mdragger88]

Hopefully the deep cleaning does the trick for you. The filter fiber is ok - but really it or de shouldn’t be needed with zeo although it won’t hurt to try it. It just sits on top & is gone after the next backwash.
Just Don’t breathe in the de dust (or any powdered substance’s dust) & there’s no health hazard to be concerned with.
My experience with zeo was that it gets clogged up - mine looked like old used grey kitty litter when I removed it after 2 seasons. It was white & fluffy when it started. I never had any major algae issue during this time (pool was always clear with adequate fc) & I always deeply backwashed when pressure rose 25% over clean pressure. That wasn’t really my reason for dumping it though- I kept getting it back into the pool. I have a single speed 1.5hp pump which is apparently not as conducive to good results with zeo. Most people who love it/have no issues are those with 2speed pumps or vsp’s who can run them at lower rpms which doesn’t result in the “blow back” as often. YMMV. This was just my experience. Switching to sand solved my issue.

 

[Llamecker]

I performed the OCLT last night and only lost 0.5 ppm. Went from 7 to 6.5. So I guess maybe a deep clean on the filter is in order. Thanks for everyone’s help! I appreciate it!

 

[Llamecker]

I do have one more question. Is the pool safe to swim in even though it’s cloudy since it passed the OCLT?

 

[Mdragger88]

I do have one more question. Is the pool safe to swim in even though it’s cloudy since it passed the OCLT?

It is safe to swim with fc anywhere between minimum & slam level for your cya
FC/CYA Levels
So long as you can see the bottom of the deep end of the pool for swimmer safety.

 

[unit335]

I do have one more question. Is the pool safe to swim in even though it’s cloudy since it passed the OCLT?

I'm starting a SLAM and I also have a sand filter. Did the sand filter deep clean work for you in terms of cleaning up cloudiness?

 

[Llamecker]

I honestly have not had time to get to it yet, but I will say that my pool ended up clearing on it’s own. I just kept running my robot and backwashing my filter when needed. So …. I’m sure I do still need to deep clean it but maybe I’ll wait to do that.