Proper Floc use? (I know I know...please don't kill me lol)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
X

xfilegirl

Bronze Supporter
Jun 15, 2017
55
Bellerose/NY
Ok, let me just start out by saying that if i wasn't in a dire rush to get this pool clear by the 4th of July I wouldn't even be posting this question. I totally know and agree that I should just stay the course of the SLAM process but I don't think my now cloudy pool will be clear by July 4th if I do. I'm having people over that day, AND my kids are already super bummed that they have not been in the pool yet. SEVERE mom guilt for not starting this process end of May like I normally do😔.

SUPER bad swamp when we opened up a week ago. Followed SLAM and got all the algae dead. Brushed/vacuumed/No debris. Passed OCLT the past two days.
Water is still cloudy blue and doesn't seem to be clearing. In years passed it has gone much quicker than this once the algae was dead. I have rinsed the fingers off with my hose (the water seems to drain out fine - no fingers look damaged and they get pretty white), and continuously bump, backwash, recharge my filter. At first my Hayward wouldn't keep good pressure for more than 25 minutes, but at this point in the SLAM, I've got cycles of one to two hours before I have to bump or backwash. So THAT part seems like I'm headed in the right direction, but I am seeing really no improvement in the water's clarity yet. It is totally possible I need to clean the fingers with muriatic acid overnight as my husband did run the filter without DE when he first put it together. It could also be I need more patience and it is just going to take more time. Normally I am willing to do that...BUT I'm in a bit of a time crunch. What's also slowing me down is running the filter overnight is useless once it gunks up. So I'm losing all those hours of filtration time.

I need clean clear water by July 4th :(. Should I bite the bullet and get the floc so I can let this dead algae settle and vacuum to waste? If so, I've never used it before. What is the best way to do it? Is clarifier better? Should I drain some water/refill? I'm so torn and confused as I feel like I'm committing a TFP sin 😭😱 but I'm racing against the clock here! (Filter specs in my signature)
 
Hayward EC40AC DE Filter. It has that handle you bump you shake the DE off the fingers to buy you time between backwashes. It does not have a recirculate function. When I vacuum to waste I basically just get suction on the vacuum hose through the return and then hang the other end of the hose outside the pool instead of making it go through the filter since I don't have a multiport valve.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Texas Splash
I see. Well, you know how we feel about floc. There's no guarantee it will grab everything suspended and settle, then of course you have to deal with the aftermath of getting it all out of there.

While I'm sure you would prefer to showcase a crystal clear pool, I would be more inclined to stay the course for the next few days. Avoid the Floc. Let the SLAM do its thing. Even if the water is still a bit cloudy, once everyone hops in they won't care.
 
IF all algae is dead, better to use clarifier than floc. SeaKlear or Orenda Chitosan. Clean the grids a few times after. Not just backwash.

Best is to follow what Pat said. Filter it out.
 
Can you see the bottom of the pool now?
 
Texas Splash said:
Even if the water is still a bit cloudy, once everyone hops in they won't care.
Click to expand...
Oh please, my boys would have jumped in it while it was still green if I let them! LOL.

So should I go ahead and continue on with the normal procedure sans floc, my other question is: I know I'm supposed to keep SLAM levels until my water is clear. I can't have people swimming in it at SLAM levels, correct? I also can't test PH accurately at slam level. Am I safe to let the water drift down at this point now that everything is dead? Or am I just setting myself up for algae regrowth if I do that while the water is still cloudy?
 
xfilegirl said:
Ok, let me just start out by saying that if i wasn't in a dire rush to get this pool clear by the 4th of July I wouldn't even be posting this question. I totally know and agree that I should just stay the course of the SLAM process but I don't think my now cloudy pool will be clear by July 4th if I do. I'm having people over that day, AND my kids are already super bummed that they have not been in the pool yet. SEVERE mom guilt for not starting this process end of May like I normally do😔.

SUPER bad swamp when we opened up a week ago. Followed SLAM and got all the algae dead. Brushed/vacuumed/No debris. Passed OCLT the past two days.
Water is still cloudy blue and doesn't seem to be clearing. In years passed it has gone much quicker than this once the algae was dead. I have rinsed the fingers off with my hose (the water seems to drain out fine - no fingers look damaged and they get pretty white), and continuously bump, backwash, recharge my filter. At first my Hayward wouldn't keep good pressure for more than 25 minutes, but at this point in the SLAM, I've got cycles of one to two hours before I have to bump or backwash. So THAT part seems like I'm headed in the right direction, but I am seeing really no improvement in the water's clarity yet. It is totally possible I need to clean the fingers with muriatic acid overnight as my husband did run the filter without DE when he first put it together. It could also be I need more patience and it is just going to take more time. Normally I am willing to do that...BUT I'm in a bit of a time crunch. What's also slowing me down is running the filter overnight is useless once it gunks up. So I'm losing all those hours of filtration time.

I need clean clear water by July 4th :(. Should I bite the bullet and get the floc so I can let this dead algae settle and vacuum to waste? If so, I've never used it before. What is the best way to do it? Is clarifier better? Should I drain some water/refill? I'm so torn and confused as I feel like I'm committing a TFP sin 😭😱 but I'm racing against the clock here! (Filter specs in my signature)
Click to expand...
Any test results you can share so we can help see if there’s something slowing the process down? You can swim with the chlorine up at SLAM level but not higher.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Bperry said:
Any test results you can share so we can help see if there’s something slowing the process down?
Click to expand...
As of now I just have my pool a bit overchlorinated so I don't accidently drop down too low in between tests:
FC 18
CC .5
CYA 30

I didn't test PH or TA yet as I didn't think they'd be accurate while my chlorine was so high and figured I would tackle those once the algae was under control.
 
How much is your FC dropping between tests?

How often do you test?

I would back off on the FC and let it drop to 12.
 
xfilegirl said:
As of now I just have my pool a bit overchlorinated so I don't accidently drop down too low in between tests:
FC 18
CC .5
CYA 30

I didn't test PH or TA yet as I didn't think they'd be accurate while my chlorine was so high and figured I would tackle those once the algae was under control.
Click to expand...
You’re wasting chlorine by doing it like that. Higher than SLAM won’t make it go faster. It’s better to test 3-4 times per day and bump it back up each time. How confident are you that the CYA is 30ppm?
 
ajw22 said:
How much is your FC dropping between tests?

How often do you test?

I would back off on the FC and let it drop to 12.
Click to expand...
I tested it about an hour after sunrise this morning (6:40ish) and it had only dropped by 1 from like 8:30pm last night. I will test it again in about an hour to see how it's holding up but I get a lot of sun in my backyard so with a CYA of 30 it tends to eat up the chlorine pretty quick. I can drop anywhere from 2 to 4 points in a day when I'm not in a SLAM. So during a slam I do tend to go overboard. But I will not be adding in any more until i need to at this point of the process.
 
Bperry said:
You’re wasting chlorine by doing it like that. Higher than SLAM won’t make it go faster. It’s better to test 3-4 times per day and bump it back up each time. How confident are you that the CYA is 30ppm?
Click to expand...
No, i know - I wasn't putting it higher to make it go faster. I was out the better part of yesterday and wasn't home to monitor it so I didn't want it to drop too low before I could add more. I'm confident about the 30...i was at 0 when I started and I put in one bottle of liquid CYA a few days ago. I've tested it two times since then and got 30. If anything, with the little bit of water replacement we did the other day it would be lower, not higher than 30.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Texas Splash
3-4ppm FC loss in full sun is normal.

With CYA 30 you should maintain a FC of around 6 with liquid chlorine.

Once your pool clears up more consider raising your CYA to 40.

Sounds like you have killed all the algae and need to let your filter do its work.

I think your husband may have damaged the grids when he ran it without DE. But you are making progress with longer cycles between DE cleaning.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply