Proud new owner of an above-ground SWAMP

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I let mine run all night all the time. It ran all night last night and will run all day and night again tonight. The only thing it hurts is your electric bill.

Where is the PSI when clean? That will tell me where you need to be in regards to the pressure. Mine runs at 15 when clean, I backwash at 8 to 10 psi after that. It's gotten up to 30 before with no ill effects, but it wasn't for more than a few hours.

I tend to backwash until the water is almost clean, turn off the pump, put the valve back in wash mode, then wait 30 seconds before restarting. I've heard people (who may not know better) say to backflush for 45 seconds or so, and that's enough. I'm betting with your minute to 1.5 minutes, you are probably getting it. Either way, you need to know your baseline at clean to determine when to backflush.

If you can't afford the whole kit, go get at least the DPD chlorine test kit from tftestkits.net so you can accuratly measure over 10.
 
You should backwash until the water runs clear and then another 30 seconds. Depending on how dirty the filter is that can be several minutes sometimes. Note that the water usually runs clear for a moment, and then turns dirty. It is when it runs clear again that the 30 seconds starts.
 
I have no idea what the psi is when the pool is clean - we moved here last year, and the landlord didn't have the pool grounded at that time, so it wasn't opened. It hasn't been opened for at least 2 years, and he himself has almost no knowledge of how to clean the pool. I mean, he told us that it's always murky and that it's a battle we can't win! GAH. Before we signed our lease again, we made him agree to get the pool grounded and he did that, but other than that, we are on our own. He told us that he doesn't want the pump to blow up and how to backwash it, but that was it. When we started the process this weekend, the psi was reading at 15, but climbed to 18 and has just stayed there, until the last reading where it was at 19.

When we backwashed tonight, the water didn't look dirty.
 
Sorry, not the pool clean, but the filter clean. Backwash as Jason described, turn off the pump, wait 30 seconds, then start the pump in wash mode. Make note of the PSI when the filter is clean. When it gets 8 to 10 psi above your clean starting point, it's time to backflush again.

Mine also runs at 15, so anything around 23 to 25 and you are ready to backflush.
 
Well, my husband went out one last time to get a reading and check the pump. RAINING OUT. The strip was reading a little lighter, so he poured in another full jug. The psi was at 18 on the gauge. That's it for the night. I am not going to be surprised if we're at zero tomorrow morning.
 
Holly, you and your husband are off to a great start. Last year I found this forum because my pool was also a swamp with a huge amount of leaves. I was following the pool store's recommendations and all that was accomplishing was depleting my pocketbook. Once I found TFP, read Pool School, ordered online the TF 100 Test Kit, got it, posted my numbers, and started following the advice that I was given the pool cleared. It took a couple of weeks, but once I got it clear and followed the BBB method it became the best looking pool in the neighborhood and still is. I guarantee if you follow the advice you get here you will be swimming soon.

A few comments that I hope will help clarify some of your questions. As you already discovered liquid chlorine is bleach. I prefer Clorox over store brands because it seems to work better for me. I get mine at a big box discount store and it is really cheap. Much cheaper than the shock and chlorine sold for pools. As you have been told the chlorine level has to be kept at shock level. What happens is you add bleach until you get to the shock level and then wait awhile, as soon as a couple of hours if you can, and test again and add enough bleach to bring it back to shock. With a good test kit, this is easy to do. Without a good test kit you just have to guess or wait until the free chlorine drops within your test kit range. The reason your free chlorine level keeps going down is it is being used up killing the organics in the pool. Now as to backwashing. The reason you backwash the filter is to clean it. If you do not backwash neither the filter nor the pump are going to blow up. The filter is just not as efficient when it is real dirty and it will take longer to clear the pool. Of course when you backwash you will need to replace the water so the pump does not run dry. Running the pump 24/7 will not hurt the pump and in fact that is what I did when I was trying to clear up my swamp. So my advice is let the pump run tonight and in the morning test the water and put the number in the pool calculator and follow it's recommendations. Keep testing during the day and keep adding bleach. It will be a good idea to post all your test results and if you are in doubt about what the pool calculator is telling you one of us can double check for you. And most of all keep asking questions. You will be very happy in a short time and the family will be enjoying your pool.
 
W00t! Got up at 5 am this morning and looked out my window - the pool looked clear! Ran downstairs and went outside to check - nah, still murky. Much less so though - and a lot less film on the top. The test strips say the FC level is still over 10! So excited about that! The mechanics were still running, lots of seed pods in the basket, but the visual particulate level in the pool has gone down by a TON. There used to be all these itty bitty leaf pieces, but they seemed to have been cleared out. I used the brush to scrub the bottom of the pool, and then dumped in another jug of bleach, just to be sure. Of the 8 big bottles we bought, we now are down to one. I'm going to shower, drive my husband to work and then head out to Sam's Club to see if we can get some larger bottles of bleach.

I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad that the day is completely overcast. Looks like it is going to pour any minute. I still need to brush down the walls of the pool, and that will have to wait til I get back home.
 
Ok, back home and I dumped in my last bottle. Waiting for Sam's Club to open. I got all the walls scrubbed down. Definitely more particulate in the water now than this morning - must have all settled to the bottom and I stirred it up by scrubbing earlier. That's a good thing though, I guess!
 

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ha! I will take some more when I get back from the store!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped me so far - I feel HOPEFUL.

I have another question - so far I haven't done any vacuuming because the pool is still cloudy. Should I be trying to use it, even though I can't really see? I've never used one, but apparently we have two in the shed. I'm willing to try if it speeds this process along!
 
oh my! I have questions! I started vacuuming and I am confused.

After my first couple of swipes along the bottom, a huge dark cloud of particulate started forming in the water. My grey-blue is now grey-black. I'm guessing this is from all the dead leaves that disintegrated and were sitting on the bottom? Nothing large was coming to the top, just this cloud of gross.

Also, I am having trouble understanding how this vacuum is actually working. I don't feel any suction at all when it is out of the water. However, the tube coming off of it is getting water in it. But where is the vacuumed up stuff is actually going? I set the filter to "waste" (that's what my hubby said to do) and at first we had a steady stream of regular looking water coming out the same blue hose that the "backwash" setting uses. Then, next to nothing - just a slow trickle. Do I have a clog or is this normal? I pulled the end out of the basket part - strong suction holding it in - and the end part of the hose was clear. Where should this black nasty stuff be exiting the system? I don't see it.

Edited to add that the pressure is down to 15 on the gauge while I am vacuuming. Not sure if that is important or not.
 
Oh, and the water level in the pool has dropped a bit, so I'm currently adding more. I'm assuming this is going to mess with my numbers, but I gotta get some more in there. Should I adjust the CYA preemptively, or just let it be until my next scheduled dip stick?
 
Once you pull the vacuum out of the water the pump loses prime and you won't get any suction. You really shouldn't pull the vacuum hose out of the water with the pump running. In fact you should fill the hose with water before hooking it to the skimmer. You do have a vacuum plate don't you?

Sounds like you have something clogged up. Check the skimmer basket and the pump strainer basket.
 
Water should continue coming out the backwash hose the entire time. If it stops you either have a clog somewhere, or you have lost prime.

You may have accidentally let air into the pump, which would cause it to lose prime. If so, refill the pump strainer basket with water a re-prime the pump with the vacuum disconnected. While you are at it, check the pump strainer basket for debris and clear out anything you find there.
 
Yes! I KNOW that is what happened, even without looking, now that you have explained it. When I felt like it wasn't working, I shut everything off and then switched it back to filtering. Nothing was coming out of the return. I looked at the pump and saw that there was no water in it. There was a sentence on it saying - fill with water before using. So, I took the cover off. You can imagine what happened!

Yeah, it immediately filled with water and overflowed everywhere. I stepped back in surprise and then immediately turned it off, and then moved the filter handle to close. Then I took out the pump filter and rinsed it out - it wasn't bad - and put it all back together. Turned it back on, and then everything worked again.

I haven't gone back out to vacuum - but I am certain that I must have lost suction, because that is what caused the pump to drain out.

This is certainly a learn-as-you go thing. I hope I haven't damaged anything. I feel good that everything seems to still be working, other than the vacuum. I will try again - and this time NOT lift it up out of the water to see if it is sucking water. I am so stupid - but I can be reformed, I swear! :)

Thank you both!
 

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