Can find cause of all the dirt/sand in the pool

[Tredge]

Same here. I also ruled out the filter sand the same as you did.

The stuff is so fine that when disturbed it disappears for a while till the pool settles out again.

At first I thought it was metals precipitating out of the water from when I first filled it....a magnet doesnt help....but maybe its copper, or gold!

I also thought maybe it was from the yard but it doesnt accumulate daily...seems to be the same once settled as when it first appeared.

Even my dolphin cant filter it out...it just tosses it around and the next day its back.

So I guess we're both stuck with it unless someone has a better Idea of how to get this stuff out of the pool.

[tribe_fan]

The only thing I can think of is vac to waste. If you don't have that on your filter I've thrown the hose over the side of the pool and used the vac to siphon the fine sand out.

I swear I used to get more fine sand problems when using granular chlorine.

Not having enough sand in the filter is a possibility too - make sure it is approx 2/3 full.

[hrsdennis]

It sounds to me like you are describing algae. This will blow through the filter and settle back onto the floor of the pool. Vacuum to waist will get it out of the pool but you will also need to treat the water for algae to keep it gone for good.

Best of luck, Dennis

[Wayne LaBanca]

Not a pro on this but, isn't a 1.5 HP pump a bit powerfull for a 150 LB filter? Maybe too much force to allow the sand to trap the finer particles.

Post some numbers so we can see how you are looking on the CL side of things. The post above mentions algae so some numbers would help to rule this in or out.

Wayne

[matt4x4]

Sounds like dust stirred up by lawnmowing, happens at our house all the time.
When you cut your lawn, old, dead cuttings pretty much pulverize into a fine dust, this dust will immediately cling to the surface and eventually sink to the bottom, currents in the pool will naturally fill in crevices with it.
The problem with the fine dust is that it will push trhough pretty much any sand filter unless you reduce the flow to almost nothing.
Try 1-1.5 cups DE right before vacuuming, vacuum VERY SLOWLY, too much speed and all you do is stir the stuff up, and mix it back into the surrounding water.
I don't know about where you are located, but where we are it has been EXTREMELY dry which certainly isn't helping the dust situation any.

[denanbob]

We've noticed the same thing. We bought a used AGP and just got it all up and running yesterday. We put 4lbs. of DE into the skimmer slowly and about 2 hours later, DH vacuumed the pool and said he noticed the dust/silt/whatever and just thought it was DE. Later in the evening, our water looked super clear but if you stood beside the pool and looked down into it, you could see a ton of spots where there was a whitish/gray substance just settling where the wrinkles in the bottom were. I thought we had minimal wrinkles, but now I can clearly see there are alot!! I'll have him vacuum again tonight when he gets home hoping to get this stuff out of there! We have a 1hp pump and a Star DE-50 filter.

[NWMNMom]

Here is what I finally discovered after blaming my teenagers for a couple of weeks for dragging sand/gravel in where I find it near the ladder and along the sides on the pool floor - ITS THE FARM CAT. He is jumping up on the rail and leaning in to drink from the pool (ick!) We have a security cam we use for backing up the 5th wheel/boat - I rigged it to watch the pool and it took less than 36 hrs to see Toby crawl up the ladder and walk the rail. We have water for him and Koi ponds he could drink from, but apparently this is his drink of choice and he does not wipe his feet first!

Do you have a cat or are there any in the neighborhood?

[poolrx]

We've noticed the same thing. We bought a used AGP and just got it all up and running yesterday. We put 4lbs. of DE into the skimmer slowly and about 2 hours later, DH vacuumed the pool and said he noticed the dust/silt/whatever and just thought it was DE. Later in the evening, our water looked super clear but if you stood beside the pool and looked down into it, you could see a ton of spots where there was a whitish/gray substance just settling where the wrinkles in the bottom were. I thought we had minimal wrinkles, but now I can clearly see there are alot!! I'll have him vacuum again tonight when he gets home hoping to get this stuff out of there! We have a 1hp pump and a Star DE-50 filter.

Denanbob. Are you using calcium hypoclorite to clorinate or shock by chance? I have a DE filter and thought the same as you. When I switched to bleach, no more grey "stuff" on the bottom of the pool!

[poolrx]

Sounds like dust stirred up by lawnmowing, happens at our house all the time.
When you cut your lawn, old, dead cuttings pretty much pulverize into a fine dust, this dust will immediately cling to the surface and eventually sink to the bottom, currents in the pool will naturally fill in crevices with it.
The problem with the fine dust is that it will push trhough pretty much any sand filter unless you reduce the flow to almost nothing.
Try 1-1.5 cups DE right before vacuuming, vacuum VERY SLOWLY, too much speed and all you do is stir the stuff up, and mix it back into the surrounding water.
I don't know about where you are located, but where we are it has been EXTREMELY dry which certainly isn't helping the dust situation any.

Same problem here with the mowing. I did notice that if I mow the day after it rains I get significantly less dirt in the pool from the ground being wet and the dust not blowing around as much. We have had a lot of rain recently and it is amazing how much "stuff" ends up in the pool from just the rain and wind.