Cloudy.. impatient

[BigDave]

Measure FC tonight (if you get this) now that your chlorine addition is mixed in. Measure again before the sun is on the pool. If you lose more than 1ppm FC and have less than 0.5ppm CC, maintain shock level for another day then let FC come down if there's no CC(less thsan 0.5) and less than 1 ppm FC loss overnight.

[chuck9997]

FC was 16 at 10pm. I will check in the morning.

[chuck9997]

this AM readings:

FC 15ppm
CC 0

water: still clean/cloudy. It seems to be a slight bit clearer.. but I'm not sure. It might be wishful thinking on my part. Anyway.. its isn't a big enough difference for anyone else to see.

[BigDave]

Awesome! Almost there ( with killing the algae ), keep shock level one more day, if you lose 1ppm FC or less tonight to tomorrow morning and still have 0.5ppm CC or less, you'll be done with the shock process and can let the FC drift back to normal for your CYA - between 3ppm and 6ppm FC for CYA 30-40. Don't let FC go below 3ppm.

Now, let's work on the cloudy. It's probably dead algae and has to be removed. Your filter seems to be having a hard time clearing it so let's talk about your filter / pump.

Please tell us model and size of your sand filter and model and size of your pump including model number / HP / SF of the motor.
Do you have a valve to throttle the output of the pump?
Has the pressure been rising?

[chuck9997]

thanks for all your help... I am just so frustrated with this.. I don't have the time (or mechanical ability) to start tearing apart the filter. I am not sure about the size and model of the filter. But I can tell you I have had the same sand filter for about 6 years (or more).. and this pump for at least 3 years.. and it has always worked. No problems eventually cleaning the water and having a clear pool. Not saying there isn't a problem now.. but I think I can rule out a pump and/or filter size problem.

It does have a valve on top for backwash, rinse, filter, etc.

Pressure has been rising and falling (with backwashes to clear too much DE)

This pool has been too easy for years.. and has spoiled me. Right now.. I hate it.

[BigDave]

Don't hate it, it's just having a little tantrum.

It seems that alot of people are having more trouble than usual this year and Ben has speculated that some oversize pump / undersize filter combinations are pushing the dead algea through the filter grinding it into bits too small to filter. These filter / pump combos may have been fine for years but this year appears to be exceptional.

Adding a little DE is a good idea, it should help capture smaller particles. The gotcha is: adding a layer of DE on top of the sand bed in a small sand filter turns it into an extremely small DE filter.

With the DE in, your filter pressure should be rising.

Do you have the ability to take the multiport valve off the filter to inpect the sand bed?

Have you considered CarlD's suggesstion of adding a dose of polyquat 60%? It can act as a clarifier as well as an algecide - possibly making the cloudy more filterable.

Watermom's comment below is right on. If you use polyquat, don't add it until we've confirmed that you lose 1ppm or less overnight and have 0.5ppm CC. Then keep a close eye on your FC and be sure to keep it above 3ppm as the polyquat will drop your FC.

You'll get there. We'll help.

[Watermom]

The Polyquat will make your chlorine level plummet, by the way.

Is it just me, or is this thread going in circles?