Stubborn Cloudiness - SLAM 15 days - Need Help

[HBrittan]

Good Evening,
Looking for some help. Getting Discouraged after so many bumps along the road. We started to SLAM on Wednesday May 27., after the pool being closed for more than a year. We replaced the pump and above ground piping/valves, and water is flowing great. We are circulating from the skimmer, main drain, and have been running the vacuum. We have also been doing regular brushing. We have had a couple of hiccups. The biggest being that we somehow miss calculated and drove our CYA way up. Last week we had to exchange 1/2 the water, and are now at a CYA of 50.

We completed the exchange and started to SLAM again last Friday after losing a couple of days to the exchange. The water was almost blue at that point but still very cloudy. We could barely see the third step at the shallow end. I shared the pictures below in another post last week about the exchange, but here is where we started and what it looked like last Saturday.

It’s been six days since the exchange, and there has been very little progress on the cloudiness. Total, we are 15 days in. I continue to test and keep it at slam level. At night there is no chlorine loss. During the day it has been reallly sunny and hot, and we are loosing chlorine. I continue to clean the skimmer basket and clean the cartridge filer at least every other day (I was doing it a couple of times per day for a while). The first couple of days after my restart, I kept telling my self the cloudiness was getting better, but it seems to have stalled the past 4 days.

I feel like I am following the instructions. What should I do different? It is that I have just know waited long enough? I thought I would at least see incremental progress.

Thanks for your help.
Harry

 

[Msch99]

Just verifying slam level. You have been maintaining 20 ppm FC consistently? How many times a day do you check and add?

Things go quicker if you can do it every couple hours, particularly early on when FC consumed rather quickly.

Any areas like niches, lights, ladder supports etc. that could have hidden algae?

If so, be patient, you are gaining! Some get it done in a couple days, others it seems take a week or more.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I'm looking at your poolmath logs and I see a lot of FC numbers below your SLAM target of 20.

It looks like you hit it a day ago, but 2 days ago you were at 11, at under 10 earlier today. I would test and add chlorine as often as you can, likely multiple times a day so you can ensure your FC stays at the SLAM level. It sounds like a PITA, but keeping it at the SLAM level is what is recommended to kill everything in the quickest way possible.

 

[HBrittan]

Early on, I was having to add chlorine every few hours. When it looked like Shreck’s swamp it was eating chlorine like crazy. I have not been needing to add in the morning. It is usually at 20 In the morning, then I have to add in the evening, cause it drops a lot during the day. I’ll try and get after it more frequently. Seems to be taking forever. Thanks. H

 

[mknauss]

Be sure to clean your filter when your pressure rises by 25% over clean pressure. You have a very small filter for your pool size so you need to keep an eye on that.

Take a picture at the steps each day about the same time of day. That might help to see improvement.

Once you see that you do not need to clean your filter for a couple days in a row, then we can discuss another step.

 

[HBrittan]

I cleaned the filter Tuesday evening. The clean pressure stays about 3-5psi. I did not look at presssure today, but the jets and waterfall were flowing fast. In the past, you could see the waterfall slow down if the filter was getting dirty (20 psi or more), so I was not worried about it.. I’ll check it and clean it good in the morning, but it does not seem to be getting really dirty very fast. Early on, it was a constant cleaning.

Will take some more pictures too.

Thanks for your thoughts.
H

 

[mknauss]

If clean pressure is 5 psi, you need to clean it at 7 psi.

 

[HBrittan]

I’ll check the pressure when I clean in the morning and start to track my psi. That said I do t think it was above 6 when I cleaned it a couple of days ago. I’ll share the numbers in the morning. Thanks.

 

[HBrittan]

Brushed, Cleaned the Filter, and have added chlorine 3 times today as of about 2:30. Not huge drops in FC, but making sure I am keeping it up at 20ppm.. Filter was at 7psi, when I cleaned it, and it stayed at that level when I put it back in. That is about what it was when I cleaned it on Tuesday.. It was not real dirty, but I gave it a good rinse. I included a picture below. . Water is flowing good, have not seen anY slow down. I put the vacuum in the bottom and have been circulating that as well )Kreepy Krawly). I have not done the vacuum through the skimmer in a while but was thinking I might do that too over the weekend.

Started at 20 last night
FC Tests today.
830am FC 18
1130am FC 15
230pm. FC 12
I topped up the Chlorine each time using the recommended amount to get back up to 20.

I will take pictures tonight at 6pm to set a base line and we can start monitoring changes in the pictures.
Filter pic did not upload for some reason. I’ll try again later.

I’ll keep you posted on progress.

Thanks for everyone’s input.
H

 

[JJ_Tex]

Started at 20 last night
FC Tests today.
830am FC 18
1130am FC 15
230pm. FC 12
I topped up the Chlorine each time using the recommended amount to get back up to 20.

Good job. Are you saying at 11:30 you added enough chlorine to get it back to 20, then 3 hours later it lost 8 FC and was down to a FC of 12? If so, wow.

 

[mknauss]

Great.
If things do not clear in the next couple days, we can discuss a clarifier. But you want a quality one, not a cheap one from Walmart or a pool store. SeaKlear has a quality one.

 

[HBrittan]

JJ_Tex - That is correct. Upped it to 20ppm each time. I will check it again in a bit and adjust as needed.
Going into he weekend, I should be able to check it every few hours. During the week, it is hard to check it more than early morning and evening.

I will keep up status reports, and see what happens by Sunday evening. Marty, that should be three days. We can look at it then and then make a decision on clarifier. Where do you buy SeaKlear?

Thanks.
H

 

[mknauss]

Only place I have seen it is online. It is based on oyster shells so does not gum up your filter.

Would like to see your FC drop lessen.

 

[HBrittan]

Is It SeaKear Chitosan Clarifier? They have several products. It says one quart does 192000 gallons. That must be pretty intense stuff. It takes few days to ship it, so I might go ahead and order it. At least I will have it on hand when we are ready. I tried to attach a picture but it would not load for some reason.
Thanks.
H

 

[mknauss]

That is the one. One quart will work. I believe you will use 4 oz per 10000 gallons. You use more for cloudy water.

Do not use if your FC is still being consumed. The clarifier is not a substitute for a SLAM. It is for those times (primarily after a full on swamp) that it is taking a long time to clear the pool even though the pool passes the OCLT multiple times.

 

[HBrittan]

I ordered it last night. It should arrive by the middle of next week. That will give me a few days to keep the SLAM levels up, and see if we can get the drops smaller.

Leveled at FC20 about 7 last night. Checked this morning at 630 it it was 18ppm. Here is a pic from last night.



Thanks for the help. I’ll keep you posted.
Harry

 

[HBrittan]

Good Morning Everyone.
Quick update on progress over the weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we tried to keep an eye on FC and keep it at SLAM Level. I did miss the mid afternoon check on Sunday, so we saw a pretty big drop from 1130 to 7 pm. That said, Saturday and Sunday night we saw no drop in FC over night. This morning FC was at 20 and CC 1.5. Here is a pic from this morning (Monday at 645am.





Starting to see the bottom step more clearly. I did cool off in the pool yesterday after doing yard work. Even though you can see it, the bottom is clean, with only a couple of areas with some small grit. I am working from home, so will continue to chech and monitor FC through out the day. I have ordered the SeaKlear and it should arrive in a couple of days.

Thanks.
Harry

 

[HBrittan]

Good Afternoon Everyone.
Marty, the SeaKlear arrived today. FC still seems to be lost during the day, but the night time losses have just about stopped. I have been checking and adding as needed (3-4xs per day). We are seeing a lot of improvement on cloudiness. Brushing the pool today, you could see the brush head on the bottom of the shallow end, which is a great improvement. Do you think I should start the SeaKlear treatment yet based on my chlorine levels? Standard treatment calls for 1oz per 10,000 gallons, and Treatment for cloudy pools says to double or triplet that. The instructions also say to run through the filter. Is that correct?

Looking for your thoughts before I start the treatment.

Thanks.
Harry

 

[splashpad]

This morning FC was at 20 and CC 1.5. Here is a pic from this morning (Monday at 645am)

So yesterday morning you had CC of 1.5 with FC of 20? My guess is you might need to up the FC slightly

 

[mknauss]

As you are still progressing through the SLAM, it is not time to use the clarifier. Only when you have passed a few OCLT and have 0.5 or less CC, would it be a consideration.