first opening with new house, cloudy water for 3 weeks

[mjones]

Can you add DE to a sand filter? I don't know what DE is, but I have seen it in the stores.

[CarlD]

Can you add DE to a sand filter? I don't know what DE is, but I have seen it in the stores.

Yes. Both Poconos and I have been doing it for a while now. DE stands for Diotomaceous Earth. It's a fine white powder that is the key filtering component for DE filters.

You can add about a cup to a sand filter through the skimmer. Just add enough to increase the pressure about 1 lb. A cup should do it. It takes about 20 minutes for the pressure to rise. Don't add too much or you'll have to backwash immediately! Everytime you backwash, you'll have to add more DE. The best news about DE in sand filters is that it is CHEAP! I get a 10 or 15 lb box for about $8 and it lasts the entire summer, and improves my filtering nicely. It's one of the cheapest improvements you can make to a sand filter. The other is skimmer socks, which are about $5 a pack (they, of course, work on all filters).

[mjones]

My pool is very cloudy also. It looks like a "blue storm cloud", I can't see the bottom step, but my water is clear if I dip a glass full out. My liner is dark blue, so that could be the blue part of the cloud.

[sw_stupid]

Just a reminder that I wasn't doing until they (the gurus in here) stressed to run the pump 24/7 AND BRUSH DAILY. I fought mine for almost a month before I came here and then another week after I got here. Finally I got the point to leave my pump on and brush and, voila - overnight (literally overnight) clear water.
Not sure what would happen, but some people told me to check for phosphates. Mine cleared up right before I was going to have it checked.

Just food for thought.
Brad

[gordyjamz]

gordy back. ok today i can finally somewhat see the bottom of the pool. still cloudy though i think its improving. I don't know what happened. fc has dropped to 20ppm, cc still 0 which i think is normal due to the first sunny day in a week .i didn't change anything since the last post. today i felt a little scientific and decided to really look at my water. took a mason jar and filled it with some pool water. looked at it with magnifying glass, i can see very tiny particles floating around, maybe dead algea? even so isn't the filter supposed to take care of this? i think it is but very slowly. I've had water turn cloudy last year after rain, but after a good shock, presto, crystal clear. maybe its time to go cartridge. anyways thanks for the responses i'm going to try the DE trick and see if i can get any more improvement.

[aylad]

Just give it some time--it can take awhile for the filter to get all the dead stuff out, but with a little patience, it'll clear up!

Janet

[fullhouse]

skimmer socks really help catch a lot of fine particles. they are not very expensive and can be purchased at most pool shops.