New Owner, Old VERY Neglected Pool

[Chrissykr]

Sand filters are notoriously slow. Keep up with the DE you will see a big difference.

 

[TurbineTester]

...why is your backwashing going into the pool? I’m misunderstanding something.

The backwashing is not going into the pool. The filter was backwashing while I took that photo, but the picture and the backwashing are unrelated.

 

[DorsalSpine]

It is incremental and sand filters are slow once you get to the final filtering. On the other hand, you started with a swamp not a dirty pool. You need to think of the upside. You know your pool, the equipment and the chemistry probably way better than you wanted to. Taking care of it from here on out should be easy.

You also didn't have to purchase a new liner. In hindsight the quick route would have been to empty the pool, clean it and start with fresh water. Of course if the liner failed along the way you just traded your time for $5,000 - $7,000 in cash.

You just need to hang in there. When it's clean you will look back on this as a job well done. If you need a reminder compare your first photo to the way it looks now.

 

[IceShadow]

The backwashing is not going into the pool. The filter was backwashing while I took that photo, but the picture and the backwashing are unrelated.

Ah! Got it. I was confused there.

 

[TurbineTester]

It is incremental and sand filters are slow once you get to the final filtering. On the other hand, you started with a swamp not a dirty pool. You need to think of the upside. You know your pool, the equipment and the chemistry probably way better than you wanted to. Taking care of it from here on out should be easy.

You also didn't have to purchase a new liner. In hindsight the quick route would have been to empty the pool, clean it and start with fresh water. Of course if the liner failed along the way you just traded your time for $5,000 - $7,000 in cash.

You just need to hang in there. When it's clean you will look back on this as a job well done. If you need a reminder compare your first photo to the way it looks now.

All true!

 

[TurbineTester]

I didn't put any DE in the filter last night, just backwashed and turned on the Polaris and put in 2.5g of bleach. I was resigned to come to the pool this morning or at lunch expecting to be disappointed as usual. I couldn't get to the pool before work so I had to wait, which was ok as I was in no rush to be heartbroken yet again.

I walked in and checked the filter first and it was only around 16.5 psi which is 2psi elevated over normal, but there was barely any flow. So I turned off the pump and Polaris and started a backwash anyway. The backwash looked exceptionally gross. Then I walked over to the pool and I'll be darned... It's WAY clearer. In fact I can't see any floating debris at all! It's markedly less green than it was yesterday too! I can clearly see the Polaris at the bottom of the shallow end and there was barely anything in the skimmer.

I was also running low on CYA and FC liquid reagents so I ordered the size that made sense on a per ounce basis, and I ordered the spinning thing. God I hate myself for not buying the automatic stirrer earlier in this process.

Test results

CYA-40
FC-24.5
CC-1.0
pH-7.6

For the first time in memory I didn't feel the need to add any extra chlorine! I just added some DE to the filter.

 

[TurbineTester]

Here are the afternoon test results and pictures. I backwashed the filter as the issue was up at 27psi due to the DE I added earlier today. It's getting better by the hour, and I can even kind of see the Polaris at the bottom of the deep end now ?

FC -14.5
CC-.5

Pool Math said to add 1.5 quarts so I put in a half gallon to get ahead a little bit.

 

[jtpipkin]

Happy Days Bud! Looks like you've turned the corner! Been waiting for this update all day. Bet the wife won't turn her nose up at your pool on the next trip

 

[TurbineTester]

Happy Days Bud! Looks like you've turned the corner! Been waiting for this update all day. Bet the wife won't turn her nose up at your pool on the next trip

Haha I hope she wont! I think I'll need to figure a way to cool off the water though, it's got to be at least 80+ degrees in the pool now.

 

[jtpipkin]

Haha I hope she wont! I think I'll need to figure a way to cool off the water though, it's got to be at least 80+ degrees in the pool now.

good ol' south georgia sun - mine's high 80s right now. You can try to shade it (cantilever umbrella from lowes) or aerate the water with a fountain and run the pump at night once you get it all dialed in - will make a huge difference if you want cooler water.

 

[DorsalSpine]

Congratulations. Pretty soon you will be able to throw a quarter in the shallow end and read the date on it.

 

[TurbineTester]

Congratulations. Pretty soon you will be able to throw a quarter in the shallow end and read the date on it.

Soon like tomorrow or soon like next Monday? ?

 

[TurbineTester]

Afternoon test was
FC -15
Filter preasure was 21psi

Added 2g of bleach as it will be 4-5 hours before I can come back and I ended up having to refill a bunch of water because I had to backwash again before I left. The DE really causes the filter to move up pressure very quickly. I left off the DE this time around.

 

[mknauss]

Overshooting your SLAM level FC is not advised. It can harm your liner. And is a waste of liquid chlorine.

FC below SLAM level is still killing algae, etc. Just not as quickly.

 

[jtpipkin]

think of DE as polishing - you're still in the scrubbing stages. give it some time before using it again

 

[borjis]

Definitely looking more blue than green now. Excellent!

 

[TurbineTester]

Overshooting your SLAM level FC is not advised. It can harm your liner. And is a waste of liquid chlorine.

FC below SLAM level is still killing algae, etc. Just not as quickly.

I'm sorry, I just keep forgetting this and falling back into "more is better/faster" thinking. I'm going to try really hard not to overshoot the slam from now on. Promise.

 

[mguzzy]

YES! its happening!
I bet it will be a shade of blue tomorrow.. looks like getting that filter cleaned out made a huge difference

 

[TurbineTester]

YES! its happening!
I bet it will be a shade of blue tomorrow.. looks like getting that filter cleaned out made a huge difference

I honestly wish that was the first thing I did, or at least right after vaccuuming the whole bottom to waste and diving in to clear the main drain.

 

[TurbineTester]

Overshooting your SLAM level FC is not advised. It can harm your liner. And is a waste of liquid chlorine.

FC below SLAM level is still killing algae, etc. Just not as quickly.

I did it. I checked the pool, tested the water and didn't add any chlorine. ?