Issues getting water clear

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Dana0724

0
Jun 4, 2018
24
Concord, NC
Good evening everyone. I am new to TFP. I found this site a couple days ago and have been hooked on it. I have been having issues starting up my pool this year. Before I found this site I'll admit to being "Pool-Stored". But not anymore. I ordered and received today a Taylor K-2006 testing kit(due to recommendations on this site). I just tested my water and wanted some help. Here are my readings:

FC 10.2
CC 0.8
pH 7.4
TA 260
CH 150
CYA 35


I'm a little questionable on the TA because it says I should be between 50-90 but I followed directions in the kit to the letter. My water is blue but milky. At night when i shine my light into it there appears to be white "stuff" floating in the pool. I did have algae and used algaecide to kill it(most of it anyways. Pool went from green to blue and milky colored). I did not know about SLAMing until the past couple days so I did not do that. I added DE to my sand filter which brought the pressure from 13 to 16(went 1/4c too far) but the pressure has not budged from 16 in over 24 hours now. I was hoping the DE would start clearing up the pool better but it still looks the same as before I put in the DE. I also did a deep sand filter cleaning yesterday(before adding DE)

I am going to take another sample in the morning to compare. I am assuming the answer to clearing up my pool is a SLAM but any other advice please let me know. Thank you all in advance for your help.
 
Welcome! :wave:

Yes, SLAM. Round CYA up to 40 and use 16 as the FC target.

A tip: use a 10 ml sample and only one scoop of powder for the chlorine test. Each drop then counts as .5. It's plenty accurate. You don;t need to check anything else until the water starts looking clear. Then you worry about CC. Only after you pass all three criteria to end the SLAM and the FC drops down below 10 again do you worry about any other adjustments.
 
welcome to tfp
all of your numbers look good, dont worry about ta for now it will gradually come down as you adjust your ph
algaecide is a preventative it does not kill existing algae, and depending on which one you used can cause more problems than good. please check which one you used
slam away
 
Thanks! I took just FC, CC and CYA this morning. 10.0, 0.5 or less(used 10ml this time), and about 30 for cya. CYA is tough for me because i think i can barely see the dot still so i keep going. Added some conditioner using sock method. Planning to SLAM this weekend when i can keep track of readings hourly or better. Thanks again for the help so far. Hope I'm not far off. Kids have been aching to swim and I'm ready for a TFP!
 
810821021661.jpg

This is the algaecide I used
 
The active ingredients in that are listed as:

Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl-C12-16-alkyldimethyl, chlorides

I don't see anything there that would be a lingering problem in your pool like copper, which many algaecides contain. This has ammonia, which we don't want, but your chlorine has long since burned that away.
 
Just started my SLAM about 45 mins ago now. Looking forward to seeing the results soon hopefully. I didn't lose any FC during the day today(still at 10). My pool only gets sun a couple hours a day because it's in my backyard and the neighbors' trees block out the sun from about noon on or so. The only fear I have is bringing the FC back down after the SLAM due to not a lot of direct sun to burn it off. On the up side, I probably won't have to add much more bleach during the SLAM:cool:. C'mon clear water!!!:kim:
 
Dana0724 said:
The only fear I have is bringing the FC back down after the SLAM due to not a lot of direct sun to burn it off.
Click to expand...

Don't sweat that, it's plenty safe to swim in up to SLAM level, so just use it normally and it'll come back down when it comes back down. Got any kids? They are great at burning off FC.
 

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Started SLAM at 445p today. Have been testing every hour since. Just did a test at 845p. FC has not budged from 17. I think I am a little high on FC even for my calculated 40 CYA. Going to perform OCLT tonight which I expect to pass with flying colors :cheers: Then just to wait until pool clears. Get in tomorrow and start scrubbing and vacuuming daily until everything clears up. Looking better than I was thinking just a couple days ago. Love this site!
 
Your issue now is filtration. Continue to run the pump 24/7. The filter is just a little small so the filtration may take longer than you would like.

As long as your psi stays at 17 or thereabouts, there is no real reason to backwash.

Do all the things that help your filter get your water clean. Brush, vacuum, keep the water stirred up so your filter can do it's job.

You can swim anytime you like as long as you can see the bottom (for safety)

Your OCLT was a little premature. I would suggest you wait until your water is clear, do one more OCLT, and then your SLAM will be finished.

As others have said, FC will come down very nicely.....no worries
 
After posting in another forum to get information on if my pump and filter combo are correct for my pool(I understand now that was a mistake and I should have just asked that question in this forum).

I think my filter is part of the problem. After driving myself crazy doing research my filter is a 35gpm filter. If I calculated correctly for my pool it needs a 23gpm pump to turn over entire volume in 8 hours. My pump that I have has a max flow rate of 75gpm. I am going to call doheny's to try to get the pump curve because I can't find the manual that came with the pump. But it says the maximum pump head on the pump is 38ft. Again doing research on this site if my pressure is 16 that means my head is 37.92ft so basically 38ft. Clean my filter is at 12-13 but when I add DE it comes up to about 15 and then shortly goes to 16.

Seems like something is fishy with my pump and filter combination and I wonder if that is why it takes so long for my pool to clear up. It seems I may be putting too much load on filter and it just can't handle it.

My FC is not changing overnight and my CC is close to 0.0(very faint pink and only takes one drop to clear a 10ml sample). So I am just waiting for my pool to clear up for the SLAM to be complete but it does not seem to be clearing noticeably from day to day.
 
Just called Doheny's and even though it is a Doheny's brand pump the supervisor says they don't have access to that information:confused:. My thought, unless someone has another suggestion, is to suffer through this year and then get a new pump/filter combination that is properly sized for my pool next year before I start up.
 
I would suggest keeping an eye out on Craigslist for a filter. Your pump and filter are separate, correct?

A used filter is a pretty good idea since there is really nothing to wear out and you can often pick one up inexpensively. a 20-22" filter would be a good fit for your existing pump, I believe. (or a gpm rating around 80+)
 
Yes the pump and filter are separate. That is a good idea about craig's list, etc for that. Thanks again for your help.


Just found out that my pool was supposed to come with a 19" filter instead of a 16" filter. Leslie's will not replace or send new one because it has been over a year. On one hand I understand the timeframe and I probably should have done research prior to buying a pool or checked it as soon as it came in to ensure it was correct. On the other hand if I should have received something and didn't they should make up for that mistake. Either way looks like I need to get a bigger filter to solve my issue.
 
Another thought I had was what if I bought another sand filter could I set them up in series or in parallel and get the same result as one bigger filter? The only reason I ask is getting a 2nd smaller filter is cheaper than a larger one and then I wouldn't have to sell my 2nd one.
 
I just got my hands on a Hayward Pro Series S180T 18" sand filter. It only cost me $50 plus $30 for sand. I hooked it up yesterday and let it run all night. After about 12 hours of running I can already see about 8-12" deeper than I could before. I have been maintaining my FC at 17 per the SLAM method and water just hadn't cleared with my old 16" filter. I am really hoping it clears up and I can bring my FC level back down to normal.

The filter isn't as big as I wanted to get but for an $80 investment it was worth the try for me.
 

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