New to testing and adding chemicals

[Dadthepoolboy]

Easy come easy go. His pool will be green before yours, I'm sure of it. You are on the straight and narrow path.

Are you vacuuming the dust away and it's recurring? Your pump will not remove sediment on the bottom of the pool. Vacuuming is a necessary evil. Though not so evil for me since I bought a robot!

I have a Polaris P39. The sock is collecting some of the sediment. However, when I remove the cleaner from the pool you can see blooms escaping the sock.

I do not have a mulitport valve so I’m not sure how I can vacuum. I have a back wash valve that slides up and I spigot along the pvc. Can you recommend a vacuum for this type of setup?

I plan on on installing a multiport valve but probably won’t tackle that project until next pool season.

 

[bmoreswim]

If you see blooms escaping the sock when pulling it out, there is quite likely sediment passing through the whole time it is cleaning too. I don't have a recommendation on a pressure side cleaner though others might regarding one with a finer dirt collection fabric. However I would not recommend getting a new one. If there is an alternate sock for your model, that would be worth trying.

I'm guessing you are not interested in replacing it, but Dolphin robots with the fine pleated filters capture all of that very fine sediment. I had a pressure side cleaner for 4 years and always had some dust like debris on the bottom. Then I replaced mine with a Active 20 Dolphin robot last year and poof, it was gone.

 

[Dadthepoolboy]

Thanks for the advice. That’s a nice cleaner.

When we moved in, we inherited a Polaris that was beyond repair. Walked in to the pool store thinking I’d have it repaired, left with the P39 at the associates recommendation.

I didn’t do any research which is very unlike me. We had just moved in, I didn’t want to pay for pool service, and trusted the pool store.

I may try to sale it as it’s barely a year old. I really can’t complain and unless somethings changed there’s only one sock that fits. Plus, I just had my booster pump repaired.

I’ll just have to figure out how to vacuum the sediment or call a pool pro.

 

[bmoreswim]

Sure, sell both and buy a Dolphin. I sold my pressure side cleaner and am trying to sell/give away my booster again this spring.

 

[Dadthepoolboy]

Hello! Well I'm still at it. I think the sediment was spent charcoal (ash) from the neighbor. He had a bucket of ash in his backyard and its been quite windy. I'm also battling pollen and other allergens. It's that time of the year.

After vacuuming, it seemed to get better. However, in the morning, it looked like I hadn't vacuumed at all. The pool water currently looks a lot like the pictures on Page 1...so close yet so far. I just vacuumed. I have also placed paint strainers in the skimmer baskets which are catching a lot of the remaining sediment. My test results are:

7.5 FC
0-1 CC
375 CH
110 TA
50 CYA

I have a few questions:

​

Should I bring the water back up to shock level and SLAM again? After I realized the sediment wasn't dead algae, I gave up on the SLAM process. My pool pump had been running 24/7 for weeks and I had a family emergency out-of-town. It's been about a week since I've added 10% bleach and know the FC was above 20.

I've also noticed my filter pressure is still not rising. I just had a new gauge installed a few months back. Right before the installation, I deep cleaned the filter grids and added DE.

​

I'm wondering if I should crack open the filter and see what's going on? I have new grids but I was trying to get a little more life out of the current ones. I have no idea how old the currents grids are. I inherited them, last year, when we purchased our home.

Is it possible that the sediment is DE? I do not see DE coming out of the jets and would think any DE would dissolve but I'm unsure.

It's been a challenging year, dealing with this pool, but I know it will be worth it. Thanks​

 

[kimkats]

I would not bother with the SLAM since you are holding the FC so good right now. I would keep your FC at the upper end of the recommended level for your CYA since you have some much stuff getting into the pool at this time of year to keep everything under control.

I would open and break down the filter. Look close for any rips or missing areas in the grids.

I will tell you that I am in the time of year where it doe not look like I have vacuumed with all of the dirt and stuff that blows into my pool each day

Kim

 

[Dadthepoolboy]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Kim!