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

[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?

[nicole12]

I have DE in the sand filter. I had replaced the sand this season, last year had a sand leak in the filter that I fixed in the off season. I did notice that the first time I backwashed some sand came out, just guessing but probably around 5 lbs. Not sure if that would make a difference.

It's not algae here are my numbers.

FC 12
CC 0
TA 100
PH 7.4
CYA 100

It really could be linked to the mowing. We've had a ton of rain here in Mass. this past couple of months and we need to cut the grass every 3 days. I'm going to vacuum today with the skimmer sock and panty hose on the return and see what I can get out.

I'm just worried about vacuuming to waste...won't that empty out alot of my pool? It's only 7500 gallons so it's a matter of minutes before I lose an inch.

We have 2 big dogs...if there are any cats in the area...we don't see them :-)

[day1]

I have the same problem, but I know my problems come from the street behind our house. It's a low area where a creek runs just behind our yard and then crosses under street. All the drainage from rain/wind puts dirt/sand in that low spot, then cars fly by @ 30 to 40 mph and that throws it up in the air where it comes down in the pool. I know because I put a white filter sand in the pool and this is dirt brown. Next house will have IG pool w/o road behind it!
I bet yours is blowing into pool also, since the DE should filter it.

[matt4x4]

Denanbob, sounds like your DE filter is broken, grey can only mean DE getting back into pool, see how it goes over the next week, if it clears up then it just needed to set in the filter.

Nicole, for the first while, your sand is relatively loose since you reworked the equipment over the winter and it needs to pack down, so getting some sand while backwashing is normal, it may be too full, so that could explain 5 lbs loss on backwash...
When filtering, the sand should not get back into the pool, but since it's new sand, the really fine stuff (sand dust) is probably washing through and into the pool.
With a layer (1-2cups) of DE, it will eventually filter out, but will take a while, you could also direct your jet to create a whirlpool effect in the water and the sand should mostly collect in the middle in an area of about 10 sq ft - vacuum that heavily concentrated portion to waste, and continue to filter afterwards, after about 3 days of this, you'll have most of it gone without much water loss.

[nicole12]

I thought about that with the new sand possibly having small sand particles/dust in it that had to work it's way out. I had posted that and someone on the forum told me that wasn't the case because the sand had been prewashed/filtered. I know that I physically saw some fine sand/dust when putting the sand into the filter.

Hopefully some frequent vacuuming will get rid of it.

[matt4x4]

Yes, it's true that pool sand is prewashed, doesn't get shipped on a pillow though, it still get slammed onto skids, stacked 10 feet high, thrown around umpteen times until you get it, so I highly doubt it will consist of perfectly sized and shaped sand particles, i believe it will have fine dust in it again by the time it makes it into your filter.

Give it a couple of weeks tops, try to vac to waste (but only the big portions) and all should be well soon.

[nicole12]

I vacuumed the pool yesterday and it was spotless all day yesterday and today. I had put the panty hose back on the return. I took it off tonight and the filter will run through 2 cycles like that and tomorrow afternoon the grass gets cut again. I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow and have it be clean and then after the grass gets cut see some dust at the bottom of the pool. Even though it's a pain to vacuum at least I'll have my answer.

I'll post back tomorrow with what happened.

[nicole12]

Well to my dismay the pool had the dust/dirt in it this am. The only thing I did was to take off the panty hose. What I don't get is that the panty hose when I take them off have nothing in them. I've used regular color, nude, white. Nothing not even a feeling of grit. Wouldn't there be something in them?

This is my 4th season with the pool if it was the pump being too powerful for the filter why would I be seeing this just now? I used to only have to vacuum my pool once a week and everything would be in the middle would take 5 minutes.

I guess I'll just succumb to the fact that I'll have to vacuum everyday or throw the kids in the pool first thing in the morning to have them stir it up so I don't have to look at it.

[matt4x4]

Nicole - so, by the sounds of it, you're down to one of two possible issues.

1. Sand needs to flush out the fine dust created through shipping, one way to do that is to vac to waste, possible way to save water is to make jet circulate water in a circle, at which point, most deposits should happen in center, so just vac THAT area to waste.
Another way to do that (or at least get it out faster) is to add DE to filter through skimmer until pressure rises 1 lb (1-2 cups), wait 5-10 minutes and vacuum SLOWLY, once vacuuming is done, backwash immediately.

2. You have a broken lateral or stand pipe and the sand is washing through that.
Only way to find out is empty filter and inspect - repair or replace as necessary.