Three weeks in, still cloudy

[hausmann]

Hi!

Began opening my pool at the beginning of this month - late, it was also uncovered all winter, I know, I got myself into this predicament. I tested the PH at 7.2 and began the SLAM process, and after a week and a half of dosing to 24ppm FC the pool changed from green to a milky blue. I decided to stop assuming things were nominal and did a full water test, noted that I had < 30ppm CYA. I (wrongly) assumed this stayed constant, as I closed with 50ppm last season. I then continued to dose to 12ppm FC until I had a day off (today.) Last night I dosed to 12ppm FC at around 11PM, checked again just as the sun was rising, no chlorine loss! Just to be sure, I dosed back up to 10ppm FC around 5pm today, checked again around 7PM and the FC is 9ppm. So no ammonia/bacteria issues, right? I've added enough CYA to bring ppm to 30 via a sock in the skimmer, assuming I have 15ppm currently, my test tube stops at 30ppm. Don't want to over do it.

Readings from today look OK...
9ppm FC
< 1ppm CC
< 30ppm CYA
90ppm alkalinity
0ppm hardness (? sample didn't turn red)
6.8 ph

I can't figure out why the water is still cloudy. The pump/filter have been going non-stop for almost 3 weeks, I've been backwashing every time the flow rate noticeably drops. I can't see the bottom, have been vacuuming but I'm not pulling much gunk up anymore. Do I just need to wait and let the filter do its job? I began this venture last season with pond water, and even that wasn't as difficult to clear up as it is now

Here's a pic

 

[Richard320]

You have a sand filter and they take forever to clean the mess.

That's why the SLAM Process article even mentions adding DE to a sand filter. Normally I;d say go beg a cup or two from someone rather than buy a huge bag, but you'll spend more than that on bleach waiting for it to go clear.

 

[Pool_Medic]

If you don’t keep the proper chlorine levels you can play rope a dope with algae forever.

You need the cya at 30, then you need to keep the chlorine above 12 constantly. You do this by testing and dosing regularly. You also brush, insure no organic material left in the pool and backwash every day. Myself, I nail it with liquid chlorine big time at night, test before sun up, dose again, then 10-12-2-4-6. If you stay consistent, it will clear up very quickly.

 

[hausmann]

Ahh, DE! That's one thing that I haven't done this season, thank you. I'll pick some up and check back in.

I also suspect that I haven't been as vigilant as I should be on FC levels, though I've (probably wrongly) assumed if CC is < 1ppm, there's nothing to worry about. I'll keep the FC up and organics out.