Stubborn Cloudiness - SLAM 15 days - Need Help

[kellyfair]

You may have already done so, but I would check CYA again. Fill to one line, check for dot, fill to next line, check for dot, and so on.

 

[HBrittan]

Thanks for the feedback. CC was .5 this morning. FC was 17, but we also diluted it down. I meant to add about an inch of water last night and we forgot the hose and nearly overflowed the pool. Ugh. Anyway. I will get some more test results over the next couple days and check back. I am feeling a lot better today than I was last week. It seemed to have stalled out, but weI have really seen some improvement since then.

When we are ready for the clarifier, do I run it through the filter? Instructions say I am supposed to, but everything I have read about clarifier and floculent on TFP says you should never do that. I am assuming that this product is different.

Thanks again. H

 

[mknauss]

That product you filter out. You will have to plan on cleaning your filters two or three times in a shorter span than you are used to.

Floc you never want to use. Does nasty things to filters.

 

[Srss7601]

We had similar frustrations with green to days of cloudiness and no changes. The beginning of the SLAM I had a difficult time due to workload-adjusting FC consistently. Once I had time for checking and adjusting every two hours, we saw the bottom of the shallow end the next day. After just a couple of days of constant babysitting the FC levels stayed for longer times eventually adding 3xs a day. Sum it up I had a very inconsistent 10-12 days and about 6 days really watching, brushing and vacuuming- 24/7 filter. Pool is crystal clear-just working on overnight FC losses of 1-2. It was an almost overnight change- never been so excited to see the vacuum at the bottom of the deep end. Be patient! It works. Good luck.

 

[HBrittan]

Srss7601 - Thanks for the encouragement. I know we have come a long way, but the last part has seemed to drag and I think that probably led to me starting to get lazy about babysitting. I was brushing the pool this morning and we are starting to see the outline of the brush even at the deep end! We can see it pretty well from the shallow end already. Last night we had no FC loss and CC of .5. Still seeing losses during the day, but getting closer. I am heading out now to check it again. Haha. The pool seems to be my life right now.
Thanks again.
H

 

[HBrittan]

Hi Everyone.
Still working on the SLAM and trying to get the chlorine losses down. I have not used the clarifier yet, and now I am kind of taking it as a challenge to just work through the SLAM and NOT use the clarifier. We have seen a lot of improvement in the last week. We can now see the vacuum and the outline of the drain at the deep end. We are even seeing reflections of light and shadow on the bottom near the shallow end. It has been more than a week since my original post but I am really happy with the progress.

An important term that I have learned on TFP is POP (Pool Owner Patience). Our pool was really green and had lots of debris in it, and it is just going to take some time. Some SLAMs might be done in a few days. But really bad ones can take a while.

Now some testing experiences:
For a couple of days, I was having no chlorine loss over night, and my combined chlorine was hovering around .5. We were still having losses during the day in the range of 3-5 ppm in a few hours.
I tested by CYA and since we had added some water, I was not surprised to see it drop a few points. I then started adding chlorine based on a lesser CYA amount. It was 45 vs. 50. After a few days, progress slowed and we even started seeing FC drops over night again and the CC went back up to 1.

Today, I tested CYA again, and still got 45 but remembered that I had read we need to round that up. Today we added chlorine based on 50 CYA, and saw some major improvement in only 9 hours. Rounding up was an important thing for us. We obviously still have something organic going on, but we are closing in.

Just wanted to let everyone know how I was doing.

Y’all take care!
Thank you.
Harry

 

[goonerbilt]

Awesome news! Keep it up and be sure to post pics once you get it completed!

 

[rp219]

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
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Keep going! It took mine a while too. When it got to the milky stage, it seemed like it wasn't budging.... it took about a week of the milky stage. It finally passed ALL tests (very important to pass all), and I haven't had to touch it since... besides the weekly vacuum. You're on the right track... just have patience!

 

[JJ_Tex]

Dang, I was hoping you would be done by this weekend. Hows it looking now? Have you been checking your filter pressure to see if it is time to clean it again?

 

[HBrittan]

Dang, I was hoping you would be done by this weekend. How's it looking now? Have you been checking your filter pressure to see if it is time to clean it again?

It's looking great. Filter pressure is hovering around 4-5 psi most of the time. I noticed this morning it was at 7, and I have to clean it tonight. I just have not had time today. I cleaned it two days ago, and while the pressure was only at 6, the filter was really dirty. I was hoping to be done too, but the numbers just aren't there yet. while the pump was off this morning, you could see the drain cover and read the label on the pool vacuum on the deep in. This afternoon, about 100pm, I noticed for the first time that you could see the light reflections for ripples in the water, ON THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL!.

Like I said in the update yesterday. I have not used the clarifier yet. Looking forward to a passed OCLT and clear pool. Here are some pics from earlier today.







Brushed it and added chlorine after this picture was taken. There was some sand on the steps and down near the drain. I started the vacuum is as well. I will clean the filter this evening.

Its a long way from where we started! Here is a little reminder. UGH.




That is my son and my cousin after helping scoop out 20 or more wheelbarrows full of leaves and junk.

THANKS TFP! WERE ARE ALMOST THERE!


Harry

 

[JJ_Tex]

Looking good. Make sure you are running your waterfall some too, in case the is something living in those pipes as well.

 

[HBrittan]

Awesome news! Keep it up and be sure to post pics once you get it completed!

I uploaded some pics from this morning in a post above. Thanks. H

 

[HBrittan]

Looking good. Make sure you are running your waterfall some too, in case the is something living in those pipes as well.

We've been cycling it quite a bit. I like to turn it off overnight cause it makes some noise. I started it right after these pics were taken.
Thanks for the feedback and encouragement.
H

 

[JJ_Tex]

Hows it going? I took a peek at your PoomMath logs and looks like you are still testing and adding chlorine regularly which is awesome (we get worried about people when they go quiet). It also seems like you are losing a ton of FC in just a few hours...which is not awesome.

 

[HBrittan]

Hows it going? I took a peek at your PoomMath logs and looks like you are still testing and adding chlorine regularly which is awesome (we get worried about people when they go quiet). It also seems like you are losing a ton of FC in just a few hours...which is not awesome.

JJ_Tex, thanks for checking on me. The pool is super clear. I am happy with that. My dogs dug a hole yesterday next to the sidewalk and kicked about a shovel full of dirt into the pool. You can bet I was super happy about that.

You are right, I am still adding a ton of chlorine, and while it's clear I can not pass my OCLT. Overnight, I lose 1 or 2 ppm which is not so bad. A week ago, I was getting a CC of .5. Now it is back up to 1ppm. During the day, I am still losing quite a bit. It is hot and we get a lot of sun. I am trying to maintain it at 20 ppm, and had to add 2 gallons of 12.5% chlorine yesterday. That seems like a whole lot for this stage of the process. Last night for my bedtime reading, I was looking at threads about continued losses and not passing the OCLT with a clear pool (I would say we are 90+% clear). So in addition to vacuuming this morning, I pulled the light and cleaned the niche behind it. I had already cleaned the light and left it on the side to let water circulate back in there, but I had NEVER brushed it. While it was still clouding a few weeks ago, I put this light back in. After pulling the light, I hit it hard with the brush. I could not believe how much stuff came out of there. It was like a plume of dirt, and debris and I am sure it was algae, as it was black and greenish. The stuff around the rim flaked off, and the stuff inside was very fine. I can only speculate, cause it all floated away, but I bet there was about 2 cups of material brushed from the rim and inside the light niche. If that was not the problem, it was certainly a contributing factor.

I left the light on the deck. I then gave the skimmer a good scrub even though I had done that several times before. Then I brushed, vacuumed, and cleaned the filter.

I would imagine we will have some losses today to eat up whatever I brushed out. I hope after that we start to see our FC losses start to stabilize.

Thanks again for checking on me.
Harry

 

[HBrittan]

WOO HOO! Looks like I passed the OCLT last night! FC last 1ppm and CC was 0! Pool looks super clear, and could not be happier. Thank you TFP and everyone that has given me input and encouragement. We started on May 27 and passed the OCLT on June 19. This was a long one. Had a few bumps, but the pool looks great. We have already been swimming in it for a couple of weeks, and have really enjoyed the back yard again.

I think cleaning that pool light niche made it possible to wrap this up.

I am going to continue at SLAM level one more day, and check it again tomorrow morning just to make sure!

Here are some pics from this morning



And for a reminder of where it came from....


Sure am glad I found the TFP Community!

Thanks
Harry

 

[HBrittan]

Now to tackle the salt build up on the waterfall and polish the handrail.

 

[splashpad]

That is MUCH more inviting pool for sure! Good work!

 

[JJ_Tex]

Awesome, I see a pool filled Fathers Day weekend in your future.

 

[mknauss]

Now to tackle the salt build up on the waterfall and polish the handrail.

That is calcium scale. Salt would be washed right off. Use a diltuted muriatic acid. Wear PPE and go slowly.