New pool owner and it’s very cloudy 🥹

[Caseyb1983]

Hello!

I just purchased a home with a pool. During the home buying process I visited the home 3 times and the pool was clear and beautiful.

The last 2 weeks I did not visit and when we closed on the house and Got the keys the pool was green. We added chlorine and the pool is now very cloudy. I called 2 pool guys and was told we need a new filter without them even coming to check.

The previous owners told me that the sand in the triton TR100 is only 2 years old. They had turned the pump off a couple weeks before we closed on the house.

I don’t want to go buy a new filter if that’s not the issue. The filter is probably pretty old to be honest, but I was really hoping to get another year out of it if possible. A new filter would really hit me hard right now.

How can I tell if it’s my filter that needs to be replaced? How can I tell if I can just change the sand? Both pool guys were just straight to “new filter” as soon as I told them it was a sand filter.

What we did….

Added liquid chlorine. 4 gallons at 10% 2 nights in a roll. Brushed the pool. It went from green to cloudy. Then we added a clarifier which it did nothing. The pool has 5 chlorine tablets.

The test kit shows all chemicals are good. Nothing is reading above or below.

Thank you!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
You need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 or Taylor K2006C. A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.

While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.

I suggest you read through Pool School - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool

 

[V___25]

Hi and welcome!

Can you tell us a little more about your pool? Maybe some pics of the equipment? Unless you have broken laterals in your sand filter or a non-functional multiport valve, you may not need a new filter. If the sand was gummed up with a flocculant then you'd probably have to replace the sand but otherwise, sand will last a very, very long time. Are you seeing sand being blown into the pool from the returns?

Usually when it goes from green to cloudy that's a sign of algae being killed. Until you get a good test kit, add liquid chlorine as Marty suggested. Remove the tabs because you have no idea what your CYA level is yet - the tabs could be making it worse. Just use LC. Don't add any more clarifiers, flocs or algaecides. If you stick with TFP, you'll never need them.

Keep brushing and vacuuming every day if possible. Stay out of the pool store and away from the pool companies for now - they exist only to make money.

Also, sand filters are the slowest filters at clearing pools so it will take some time. Be patient with it. While you're waiting on the test kit, read through the links Marty provided. And yes, the test kit is absolutely worth the money. Compared to what the pool guys will have you spend and still not solve the problem, it's a valuable investment.

 

[PoolGate]

Pool care is a continuous thing. Chlorine is a consumable. You'll be adding chlorine every couple of days if not every day during pool season. Follow the above advice you'll do great.

 

[kul]

A new filter after 2 years is kind of ridiculous unless it broke somehow. Too bad they stopped the pump before moving! What a way to usher in a new homeowner. good news is that you already have some great pointers above and should be back to a TFP clear pool real soon!

 

[Saturn94]

The importance of using the proper test kits as recommended by TFP cannot be understated!

 

[Caseyb1983]

Hi and welcome!

Can you tell us a little more about your pool? Maybe some pics of the equipment? Unless you have broken laterals in your sand filter or a non-functional multiport valve, you may not need a new filter. If the sand was gummed up with a flocculant then you'd probably have to replace the sand but otherwise, sand will last a very, very long time. Are you seeing sand being blown into the pool from the returns?

Usually when it goes from green to cloudy that's a sign of algae being killed. Until you get a good test kit, add liquid chlorine as Marty suggested. Remove the tabs because you have no idea what your CYA level is yet - the tabs could be making it worse. Just use LC. Don't add any more clarifiers, flocs or algaecides. If you stick with TFP, you'll never need them.

Keep brushing and vacuuming every day if possible. Stay out of the pool store and away from the pool companies for now - they exist only to make money.

Also, sand filters are the slowest filters at clearing pools so it will take some time. Be patient with it. While you're waiting on the test kit, read through the links Marty provided. And yes, the test kit is absolutely worth the money. Compared to what the pool guys will have you spend and still not solve the problem, it's a valuable investment.

Thank you!

I can’t tell if there is sand. If I touch where water is coming out of the jets I do not feel anything but water. I will go remove the tabs tonight!

Do you know how I can find out if I have broken laterals. The multiport valve in pretty sure works. The one we have has only 3 settings. They are not labeled, though. I haven’t messed with the valve because I can’t tell which is backwash.

I will most definitely order the kit Marty linked.

Attached are pictures. The (green)picture is the day we closed on the house and received the keys. The rest of them is the pool now after I put floc in it (before I found this website) I need to go purchase a hand vacuum. All we have right now is a Polaris

 

[Caseyb1983]

Welcome to the forum!
You need to follow the SLAM Process. To do that, you need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 or Taylor K2006C. A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.

While you are waiting on your test kit, add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine / plain bleach to your pool each evening with the pump running. This will replenish the FC lost each day to the sun and also inhibit any algae in the water from growing further.

I suggest you read through Pool School - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool

Thank you! I will order the test kit now.

 

[Caseyb1983]

A new filter after 2 years is kind of ridiculous unless it broke somehow. Too bad they stopped the pump before moving! What a way to usher in a new homeowner. good news is that you already have some great pointers above and should be back to a TFP clear pool real soon!

Thank you! The filter isn’t new. The owner said the sand was replaced 2 years ago. She hasn’t been totally honest about other thing so it might have been longer. We are able to access the sand and it looks cleanish. But I also don’t know what it’s supposed to look like!

 

[V___25]

Did you use floc or clarifier? Floc has to be vacuumed to waste or it will ruin your sand.

To test for a broken lateral and sand in your water, I don’t know if this is a recommended TFP thing or not but I took an old nylon stocking (knee-high if you will) and held it over the return jet so that the water went thru but it still captured any particles. I was able to catch some sand coming out of the return which indicated we had a broken lateral.

 

[Caseyb1983]

It was floc. I ordered a handheld vacuum from Amazon that will be delivered tomorrow. I figured the Polaris would just move the stuff at the bottom around and I had read to not let the floc get into the filter.

Thank you for the nylon sock idea! We bought some for the skimmers. I will put one on a jet tonight!