Trouble with cloudy water with fine dust layer

[lbtx]

Hi

I've been following the TFP forum for a year now, and up until now it's been really easy to achieve crystal clear pool water.

I've recently opened my pool for the summer and i'm having trouble getting the water clear. I've run the full range of tests with a clearchoice test kit, and the levels all appear to be good.
The problem is the water has a lot of suspended particles, and there is a layer of brown dust sitting on the floor of the pool and on the steps.

Whenever I vacuum the pool it stirs the dust up, and then after a couple of hours it settles back on the bottom of the pool.

Does anyone have any ideas here?
Should I do a SLAM? My CC has always been 0, so i've never had the inclination to SLAM. But maybe it's worth a try.

I'm thinking I might just have to do better at vacuuming, and run the filtration system for longer.
I am currently running the pump for 8 hours a day.

The readings taken with the clearchoicelabs test kit are:
FC 6
CC 0
pH 7.4
TA 60
CH 170
CYA 50 (but I will be increasing this to 70 asap)
Salt 3500

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I would do an OCLT (Overnight Chlorine Loss Test) to determine if anything is organic in there chewing away your FC overnight? If so you're gonna need to SLAM.
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
SLAM Process

Do you have dust like pollen on everything else like furniture near the pool? I would suspect pollen then.

Check your filters for damage...like a small tear in the fabric allowing pool debris back in.

If you turn the pump off and let it sit, will this dust settle at the bottom and allow you to vac it up if you go *real* slow?

Maddie

 

[Costas > DownUnder]

If it is simply just dust, I think this might be a classic case where a robot would do a better job than trying to manually vacuum.

Perform a OCLT as Maddie has suggested - This will quickly show if you have an algae issue or not.