SLAM and backwashing

[Hlk82]

Hello! I started SLAMMING my pool last week. It was pretty green and had some leaves in…I am still working blind to get the leaves out… I got the PH in range before I started to SLAM.

I’ve kept the FC at 12 for my CYA which is at 25-30.

I have yet to have to backwash. I have a sand filter but this seems weird to me. I’ve been running the filter 24/7 and the pressure has barely gone up.

Does this seem abnormal? I feel like this might mean that nothing is being cleared out, but not sure how I would fix that.

I’m attaching pictures from when I started the SLAM and the last two days.

Thanks!

 

[IceShadow]

Sand will take some time to clean up a cloudy pool. If you want to do a backwash quick to be sure that you're not misreading anything, it wouldn't hurt except to lose a little bit of water level.

I recommend taking a photo with your pool pole in the pool (brush head on so you don't damage your liner) and compare that daily to see if there's improvement in clarity.

 

[Mr Bruce]

Does the gauge move at all when the pump is turned off? Can you stick your hand in front of a return and feel how forcefully the water is coming out?

 

[Hlk82]

I haven’t turned it off but I can see if it moves when I do.

I can stick my hand in front of the filter and it is coming out very forcefully…the only time it changed was when I was first cleaning out the leaves and they were getting stuck on the drain…then there was barely any water coming out of the return…easily fixed by cleaning up the leaves.

 

[IceShadow]

If the pool isn't showing daily improvement in clarity after a few days, we can discuss more things to try, like deep cleaning the sand filter, but it's a little early after only a couple of days to say that the pool isn't getting clearer. It will take time - we just want to make sure there's improvement.

 

[texasAUtiger]

I've found adding 1.5-2 cups of pool grade DE *really* speeds things along with clearing up my water. The first batch of DE is good for about 8 hours of filter time, then I backwash, and each subsequent batch of DE goes longer and longer. Keep backwashing though. It seems the DE catches what it can catch and then, after a while, running it longer doesn't really result in any improvement in clarity until you backwash and start with more DE to catch more stuff.

That process will get my pool HD clear in a couple of days, but that's my setup.