Serious help needed

[richardc]

Are you saying that adding 3/4 cup of DE raised the pressure from 15 to 16 & then after filtering awhile it went to 22?
If you haven't already done so then backwash & add some more DE.

When first using the DE I followed the instructions which were to add 1/4 cup at a time, and to continue to do so until the PSI was raised by 1. I did that and got the 1 PSI raise after (3) 1/4 cup trials. Hence I used the 3/4 cup mark as my guidline for adding DE. However, doing that caused too much drag on my system. So, this morning, after not using the DE for a while, I decided to try a small amount to see what would happen. So I used 1/4 cup diluted. That raised my PSI to about 22. Later, I added anothet 1/4 cup and that further raised the PSI to over 25. So I backwashed at that point, and got fairly dirty water. After rinsing, I added another diluted 1/4 cup to the skimmer, and am now in a holding pattern to see what happens. My take on this is that the DE helps but there is a point wherein it will be counterproductive requiring too frequent backwashing. I think the key is to find a "happy medium" where I can add a bit, without requiring frequent backwashing. Make sense??

 

[pooldv]

Yes, nice work. I like it.

 

[richardc]

Test at 4 PM CST

FC 16

 

[richardc]

Test at 6 pm July 8th

FC 14.5

I'M ADDING

 

[richardc]

Test at 800PM July 8th

FC 18.5

 

[richardc]

Test at 730 AM July 9th

FC 14

Added per Pool Math

 

[richardc]

PSI holding at around 19 with DE added last evening, no backwashing necessary this AM. I will add additional DE to test results.

 

[Mike1162]

I'm a bit surprised you're still losing that much FC overnight. What's the CC level at? Have you rechecked CYA in the last few days?

 

[richardc]

I'm a bit surprised you're still losing that much FC overnight. What's the CC level at? Have you rechecked CYA in the last few days?

I will recheck CYA , and CC at my next test in one hour. This morning there were lots of catepillar type bugs caught in my hairnets. If that is any indication of the remaining organics in the pool....I don't know. Also still quite a bit of residue and pine needles in the nets. I have added additional diluted DE to the skimmer

 

[richardc]

CYA about 28 at 845AM July 9th

 

[richardc]

I'm a bit surprised you're still losing that much FC overnight. What's the CC level at? Have you rechecked CYA in the last few days?

CYA about 28 at 845AM July 9th

 

[richardc]

Test at 930AM July 9th

FC 15.5
CC 2.0


adding per pool math

 

[richardc]

July 9th 845

 

[richardc]

July 9th 845 AM

 

[Pool Amateur]

Well it is sometimes hard to tell from the day to day pictures (although it looks better to me than yesterday) you are definitely moving in the right direction. The fact that you are consuming quite a bit of chlorine overnight is telling you there are still organics you need to kill, so you are not done yet, but are definitely moving forward. So that should be encouraging.

A few comments to think about, I see when you added CYA to target 30 ppm, you actually got 40 ppm, and now down to 28 (which is read as 30 ppm). And since you have done a lot of vacuuming to waste and backwashing it makes sense that you dropped from 40 to 30 because of all the water replacement. All which is good. But if you were targeting 30 using pool math and overshot, I would tend to think your pool volume is a little lower than 30,000 gals. When you are adding chlorine how close are you getting to your target? If you want to zero in on that pool volume while you are doing all the testing, to do that accurately test about 15-30 min after addition to get your actual rise, as in a few hours some of the chlorine will be consumed. This is not a big thing to worry about just something so in the future you can nail all your targets dead on, if too much right now forget about it.

 

[richardc]

Well it is sometimes hard to tell from the day to day pictures (although it looks better to me than yesterday) you are definitely moving in the right direction. The fact that you are consuming quite a bit of chlorine overnight is telling you there are still organics you need to kill, so you are not done yet, but are definitely moving forward. So that should be encouraging.

A few comments to think about, I see when you added CYA to target 30 ppm, you actually got 40 ppm, and now down to 28 (which is read as 30 ppm). And since you have done a lot of vacuuming to waste and backwashing it makes sense that you dropped from 40 to 30 because of all the water replacement. All which is good. But if you were targeting 30 using pool math and overshot, I would tend to think your pool volume is a little lower than 30,000 gals. When you are adding chlorine how close are you getting to your target? If you want to zero in on that pool volume while you are doing all the testing, to do that accurately test about 15-30 min after addition to get your actual rise, as in a few hours some of the chlorine will be consumed. This is not a big thing to worry about just something so in the future you can nail all your targets dead on, if too much right now forget about it.

I think you are right about the total number of gallons. I really dont know for certain. I am estimating at 32000. I am trying to "overshoot" a bit on chlorine so to be sure to have enough in. I think, however, you are on the right track. Your suggestion will be taken up later.

I think looking at daily pictures is not going to cut it. Better off looking at every 5 days or so. The fact this morning my skimmer was loaded with catepillar type critters is indicative of organics still in the pool. I am plugging away, and thank you for your support and input.

 

[pabeader]

Just a quick note: That last picture is showing a bit of blue. I swear it is!

 

[richardc]

Test results nat 1130 AM, July 9th

FC 17
CC 1.5

 

[Richman]

This is getting frustrating and it isn't even my pool.
Are we sure the valve on the sand pump is working, so that when you set to filter you are actually on filter ?

 

[Pool Amateur]

3-4 ppm is a good overshoot for that IMHO. I know some disagree with this and good points on either side. But I like a little overshoot just not all the way up to Mustard algae level.