Mud and Mulch in Pool

[Frome]

I've been lurking here for a while and I've learned a lot, but this is my first post. Our pool got a bunch of run off, dirt and mulch, from the leftovers of Ida on Tuesday evening. In the morning after the storm, I got the water level back down to normal, removed as much of the mulch as I could with a basket, turned up the pumps to run at a higher speed 24/7, balanced ph, and added some liquid chlorine. I cleaned the filters yesterday and I've brushed down toward the main drain a number of times. I'm not noticing much improvement in the water as of this morning, about 48 hours post-storm. It's still looking very muddy and I can only see the second step (barely). We have a Waterco Cyclone Pre-Filter, which in normal times seems to catch almost everything before it even gets to the cartridge filter, but it doesn't seem to be catching much of this dirt. The psi on the cartridge filter is getting up to a level that I'll likely need to clean it again later today.

I'm considering next steps. My first thought is using a clarifier to hopefully make some bigger particles that will be caught by the pre-filter and filter. Alternatively, I could shut the pump down and let it settle; however, I don't have a handheld vacuum and I'm not sure I have the ability to vacuum to waste, so I'd have to just push the sediment down to the main drain. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

That will take some time to clear out.. Please do not use clarifiers or just about anything to "speed" it up.. I think cleaning your filter again will help the most allowing your filter to catch more gunk... Just allowing the pump and filter to run 24/7 till it gets clear is your best bet..

What are your levels right now?

Recommended Levels

 

[Frome]

Thanks for the response. I will keep it running without the clarifier. I'm questioning whether I should have turned up the RPMs on my pump. I have it up at 2800 RPMs, but normally run it at 1500 RPM. Perhaps I should actually run it at roughly normal speed so the cartridge filters work a bit better?

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
You can run the pump at a lower speed.
Realize that the main drain typically has very little suction power. So expecting it to pick up solids from the bottom of the pool is not really possible.
Do you have any type of pool vac at all? Auto cleaner, etc?
Be sure to keep your FC at 20% of CYA during this to prevent any algae issues.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Frome]

Excellent point. I have a Polaris Quattro. When I dropped it in yesterday morning, it seemed to be getting stuck but I couldn't see what was causing it because I can't see the bottom. I just went out and put it back in and it's not getting stuck anymore. I've done a lot of brushing since the last time, so perhaps I pushed out the obstacles. It's definitely picking up a good deal of mulch that's still down there.

 

[Frome]

So update on my progress and a question. I went from a greenish brown color on Friday to a translucent green today. I can now make out the deep end and can see the shallow end very clearly. I've been running the Polaris 12 hours a day and doing lots of brushing. There is still a decent amount of red clay dust settling on the bottom. My chlorine level was 15 this morning with 40 CYA using Taylor test kit and diluting by half for the chlorine test (I dumped a bunch of liquid chlorine in on Wednesday because so much mulch had gone into the pool). Since the chlorine is so high and the pool is getting gradually more clear, I figure the greenish color is not algae. I'm guessing it could be metals from the red clay dust that went in. Should I just wait a couple more days to see if the green color works itself out, or go get some of metal sequestrant or metals test? I don't have a metal test in my test kit.

 

[mknauss]

You could put some polyfill (for pillows) into your skimmer to try and filter out some of the iron. Likely you elevated FC is bringing the iron out of solution.

 

[Frome]

My wife sews so I've got lots of polyfill. I'll give that a shot. Thanks!