Newbie needs help. Need a Plan Of Attack To Get This Pool Open

[NullQwerty]

I'm trying to get into the grocery store kick. The only two I've found out about though is just Borax, Bleach, and now baking soda.

My CYA had dropped to almost 0 so I had to put in some stabalizer.

My algae is much more under control, but it's not gone yet. Without a waste line, vacuuming is very difficult. I've resorted to a shop vac attached to the pool vacuum. Every 30 seconds it fills up and I have to take the vac out of the pool and dump the shop vac. I'm looking into a skimmer sock to see if it filters out algae. Then I could just vacuum as normal.

I did the Acid wash, but the crazy thing is that my pressure still built up within an hour to the point where there is very little flow into my pool. It's getting really frustrating because I can't keep the filter going. If I shut off the filter for a couple of hours, the pressure will drop on it's own. One hour later though it'll be right back up there though. At least I don't have to drain it constantly though. Thanks for the tip on removing the pressure gauge though. That will be huge.

I'm getting a water test done after work today. I'll post my readings tonight.

[bbb]

I think you should keep the filter running with NO backwashing until there is very little flow of water back into the pool. That will help focus your time with getting your pool cleaned out. Skimmer socks work well and they are cheap. They do keep gunk out of your filter. What you really need is more chlorine - if I understand right, your CYA is 70, and your FC is only 1.5. To kill the algae, you really need to get your FC (free chlorine) level from 10 to 20 ppm and keep it there (see link. (By the way, the beauty of Ben's kit on poolsolutions.com, is that it lets you measure free chlorine levels over 5 very easily). Onxe the algae is gone, you should run the pool at around 5 ppm of Free Chlorine.

Also, what other (if any) pool cleaning equipment do you have? I don't have a waste line but don't really miss having one. I use a leaf eater hooked up to a garden hose with a fine mesh bag to get gunk out, personally. Once the gunk is out, your regualr vacuum should work just fine.

[NullQwerty]

Unfortunately, once the filter hits 23/24 PSI there is basically no flow at all into the pool. If I turn it off for a couple of hours, it comes back, but during the week that means only 2 hours per day of filtering (since I work all day and sleep at night).

Hopefully once the algae is completely gone, the filter will be normal. Otherwise I might have to get a timer installed until I can figure out what's wrong with the filter.

Pool store was closed so I couldn't get a full reading, but my test kit showed very high chlorine (above 10 ppm). PH (the only other thing it tests) seemed spot on, or maybe a little low. I'm going to order Ben's kit tomorrow this week.

The water today was very clean and clear and there was algae on the floor. I vacuumed up as much as I could. In the deep end that was difficult because it's hard to see the exact algae locations, where as in shallow that is very easy. I then brushed the walls down to help stir things up a bit.

As far as pool cleaning equipment goes, I've got a vacuum and a brush.

Guess I'll see what tomorrow brings me.

[bbb]

Keep up the good work. Hopefully your filter will be ok or at least will need some inexpensive servicing. There is some good troubleshooting info here. Sounds like you have dead algae on the floor. I'm still confused about your CYA level, though. Is it in fact 70?

[NullQwerty]

My CYA was 70, but then it dropped to almost 0. When I added in the stabalizer, that brought it back up into the acceptable range. Almost all the algae is gone.

I'm going to take Friday off of work so I can give it my full attention. I'll post the latest when I have it.

Thanks for all the help!

[bbb]

My CYA was 70, but then it dropped to almost 0. When I added in the stabalizer, that brought it back up into the acceptable range. Almost all the algae is gone.

I'm going to take Friday off of work so I can give it my full attention. I'll post the latest when I have it.

Thanks for all the help!

Great to hear. I'm looking forward to see your latest test readings!

[misternicely]

It has been a few days since your last post. I hope all is going better for you.

Just a few words about the bump-type DE filters. I'm not an expert by any means, but I have spent a fair amount of time researching them. I have a smaller pool - only a 9000 gallon, and I use a Hayward EC40 bump filter.

You do not have to replace the DE when your filter pressure builds up. The concept with DE is that it coats the filter fingers/grids/whatever with the DE and that filters out small impurities. With commercial DE filters (like in a massive public pool) when you turn the filter off the DE on the grids/fingers just falls off. Then the DE needs to be washed out and replaced. In these smaller hayward filters (especially the bump type) the filter is constructed in such a way that after you have bumped to knock the DE off, and restart the filter, the DE that is on the bottom of the filter recoats the grids/fingers. It basically just rearranges the DE on the grids. You should notice your pressure go way down after one of these "bumps", and then build up again. Once it rises 7-10 psi, it's time to turn off the pump and "bump" again. You can do this repeatedly. Each time you bump, the pressure on a restart will be slightly higher than the last time. Per the manuals, once you bump and the pressure starts out higher (7-10 psi) than when you FIRST put the original DE in, then it is time to flush (and I mean flush thoroughly) and replace the DE.

I know it is a pain, but it is a good thing that your pressure is rising - at least it is telling you that your filter is taking the stuff out of the pool.

Hope that helps

Mike