Also, how often should I be testing. Tomorrow I can only test/add before work and then the evening.
Sand all over bottom of pool?
- Thread starter Jamie A 14
- Start date
Testing twice daily is fine......it's what you can do. 24/7 on the pump run is important. Anything less will slow your recovery time. Each time you test bring the FC back up to SLAM value (16 ppm with a 40 CYA test result), There is no reason to do an OCLT until that dead algae is removed from your pool. Be consistent and you will win.
Tough love! He’s not the one doing the maintenance...
I am trusting all you experts here, but it still looks like sand to me. Yes it clouds when I move it, but looking closely near the edges I swear I can see little granules. At what point of 24/7 pump and SLAM do I give ? I know I’m impatient, lol.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,689
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
If it is sand, vacuum it up. It will pick right up and stay in your sand filter.
Give up? NEVER!! No one wins a war by giving up. Either you win or the algae wins, which would you prefer?
I just mean if indeed it is sand that keeps coming in, and NOT algae. Sorry, I’ve just been dealing with seeing this junk on the bottom of my pool for 2 years. I want whatever it is GONE!??
- Jun 13, 2017
- 450
- Pool Size
- 9600
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
I was fighting a similar battle. I'm still not 100% convinced it wasn't algae. However, it all disappeared after I kept at SLAM level and also tore apart my sand filter to check the laterals for cracks. The sand in the filter seemed to be small (or very fine) like what I was seeing on the bottom of the pool. It was caked into the fins of the laterals. I bought a new bag of pool sand which I put in before topping off with sand that had been in my filter.
2 years? In fairness TFP has only had 3 days and we are not there to eyeball your issue. You list a frog in your signature.....do you still have that operational?Sorry, I’ve just been dealing with seeing this junk on the bottom of my pool for 2 years. I want whatever it is GONE!??
We have taken sand out twice over last two years, and this year took everything out to check laterals etc, which looked fine. Also checked and lubed the spider gasket...so not sure how sand would be coming in if it is.
We are about 5 days in, the debris appears to be lessening, running pump round the clock. We have vacuumed approximately once every couple of days. I am only able to test in the morning and after work/evening and so the chlorine is at/above slam in the morning but by the time I check in the afternoon it’s under quite a bit (yesterday 10). Is this good enough to do the job? And, then do I just continue to stay the course with this? Also, after backwashes, I have noticed some water accumulation in the waste hose. Not sure if this is a concern of a leak somewhere? Just looking for reassurance as I HOPE I am nearing an end to this. I honestly can’t remember a day before there was always dark junk scattered in the bottom of our pool, so it would be awesome if I could actually get rid of it once and for all! Thanks for ALL your help!
JoeSelf
Gold Supporter
Its just going to take a bit longer. Test more often and raise at night. After work, after dinner and before bed. Now its just a waiting game. I get water in the clear tube after backwashing too.
Make sure your last chlorine addition is at night when it's dark. That way the chlorine wont be competing with the sun and killing the algae instead.
When I first started asking for advice here many years ago I had the same problem and was sure it was sand. Nope. I followed the TFP method and found it was algae and I was wrong. When we had a paver deck built, we started to see what looked like sand from the deck in the pool. Yep. It was sand.
So, as the other posters have said, there is a distinct difference between algae that clouds up when you brush and settles several minutes later, and sand that when you push it, it moves and does not cloud up. Keep up the fight with the SLAM and your hard work will give you a beautifully sparkly pool like you've never seen before.
So, as the other posters have said, there is a distinct difference between algae that clouds up when you brush and settles several minutes later, and sand that when you push it, it moves and does not cloud up. Keep up the fight with the SLAM and your hard work will give you a beautifully sparkly pool like you've never seen before.
Thanks so much for this. This morning I went out and checked the pool and still it is there after a week of SLAM, etc. It gets to be disheartening, but I will keep with it?When I first started asking for advice here many years ago I had the same problem and was sure it was sand. Nope. I followed the TFP method and found it was algae and I was wrong. When we had a paver deck built, we started to see what looked like sand from the deck in the pool. Yep. It was sand.
So, as the other posters have said, there is a distinct difference between algae that clouds up when you brush and settles several minutes later, and sand that when you push it, it moves and does not cloud up. Keep up the fight with the SLAM and your hard work will give you a beautifully sparkly pool like you've never seen before.
Remember that it took time to go so green.
There is no instant fix short of emptying and replacing water, and still you'd have to deal with the dirty water in the pipes and bottom of the pool.
There is no instant fix short of emptying and replacing water, and still you'd have to deal with the dirty water in the pipes and bottom of the pool.
The weird thing is we don’t cover the pool in the winter (in Michigan, tons of wind all the time, and our deck butts right up to pool 3/4 way around—tried everything and nothing stays), and the pool water was looking good and clear aside from minor leaf debris. Up until it didn’t. Turned green it seemed over night (though I know that isn’t the way it happens). So then we started the SLAM and water cleared quickly to the eye, except for the debris on the bottom which like I said before has been there the two years prior also. Just confusing, we never had this issue till recent years. I do know last year we must have had a low grade algae issue all along especially around our steps, and those pesky little swimmer bugs were there all along too. I am going to keep on keepin on. Not sure if I should go higher with chlorine level? I am maintaining pretty closely 16-18 level.