cloudy water won't clear after 1 month

[ls81]

ok let me say I'm new to pools my gf has a 48 inch deep 21 foot round above ground pool of unknown make, an 18 inch sand filter of unknown make, and a fairly. generic 1.5hp pump from amazon.

Last year the pool got away from her after her old (much smaller) pump failed late summer and she just left it go. I put the pump she bought on this spring and opened the pool using some youtube tutorials. I have my chemicals balanced both to my liking and the liking of the local pool store that I took my sample to. The only thing he suggested was a phosphate remover as they were extremely high.

I opted to change out the sand in the filter as she had owned the pool for several years without a change and it was a used filter when she got the pool. All the laterals and sand pipe looked to be undamaged. As a note the laterals seem to screw into the sand pipe base instead of folding up like everything else I have seen on the internet. sand filter does build pressure starting at about 12 psi and I backwash around the 20lb mark

the pool has stayed extremely murky and you can only see your hand to a depth of about 12 inches before it just disappears.

I don't want to spend an entire summer chasing problems so I'm asking here for some suggestions of a direction to go.

my thoughts a much smaller slower pump perhaps over pumping the sand filter?
something in the multiport valve being screwed up?(it does not leak)
some amazing chemical I haven't tried? tried both a clarifier and a floc without much success.

Thanks for reading this

chlorine is abut 3 ppm ph about 7.2 and stabilizer appears good according to the couple different testing kits I have tried. I have tried a Clorox kit and an in the swim opening kit that came with test strips. along with the amazon special kit she had left over from last year.

 

[IceShadow]

Hello and welcome!

Cloudy water is fixed in two parts: first, you make sure everything potentially growing in it is dead with adequate chlorine levels. Next, you filter.

You won't need any clarifier or floc or magic potions. It does take time, but a month is certainly well over what it should take even for a sand filter.

So first things first: you changed out the sand. Did you use the floc and clarifier before or after that point? Did you vacuum out the floc that is likely at the bottom of the pool, and if so, did you go to waste, or to the sand?

Do you have a recommended test kit? One of these: Test Kits Compared. You'll need one to properly do the SLAM Process, which is what you want to do to ensure everything in the pool is dead and you're not getting more growth as you try to filter out the dead algae.

There are other items we'll get to, but these are the most important initial questions.

 

[ls81]

things I did in order
I started dating her at the end of last summer and helped her close her pool. remove pump filter and take them inside.
spring hooked up new pump and filter.
triple shocked according to a youtube video from I think swim university and began filtering the dark brown disgusting color went slow away adding chlorine keeping the levels high according to the Clorox test strips I bought at Walmart.
After aproximately a week of adding chlorine daily and running the pump 24/7 we decided based on the several years she owned the pool to change out the filter media. She wanted to try the filter balls because they would be so much lighter for her to deal with. I installed them and we used them for about a month with no change. Upon opening the filter I found that about 80% of the balls were still clean appearing and the other 20% were disgusting.

I opted to go back to sand at that point and had my water tested by the local pool supply place at the time. he said my chemistry was fine just should lower the phosphates.

We have been keeping chlorine very high.

Today I noticed after not running the pump all afternoon and over night that the top couple feet of water appears clearer and down lower on the bottom is cloudy I am gonna let it settle till tomorrow and try vacuuming to waste anything on the bottom.

She has added a clarifier she has used in the past and before I switched to filter balls I used a floc. I did vacuum to waste when I used the floc.

I am starting to believe she has way too much pump for her filter. I think it shoves the tiniest of particles right through the sand and blows them back out into the pool.

 

[Bperry]

things I did in order
I started dating her at the end of last summer and helped her close her pool. remove pump filter and take them inside.
spring hooked up new pump and filter.
triple shocked according to a youtube video from I think swim university and began filtering the dark brown disgusting color went slow away adding chlorine keeping the levels high according to the Clorox test strips I bought at Walmart.
After aproximately a week of adding chlorine daily and running the pump 24/7 we decided based on the several years she owned the pool to change out the filter media. She wanted to try the filter balls because they would be so much lighter for her to deal with. I installed them and we used them for about a month with no change. Upon opening the filter I found that about 80% of the balls were still clean appearing and the other 20% were disgusting.

I opted to go back to sand at that point and had my water tested by the local pool supply place at the time. he said my chemistry was fine just should lower the phosphates.

We have been keeping chlorine very high.

Today I noticed after not running the pump all afternoon and over night that the top couple feet of water appears clearer and down lower on the bottom is cloudy I am gonna let it settle till tomorrow and try vacuuming to waste anything on the bottom.

She has added a clarifier she has used in the past and before I switched to filter balls I used a floc. I did vacuum to waste when I used the floc.

I am starting to believe she has way too much pump for her filter. I think it shoves the tiniest of particles right through the sand and blows them back out into the pool.

Realistically, the real problem is probably not enough chlorine and maybe some other chemicals added could be causing some problems. The pump is the least of the problem. Those test strips you are using are not very accurate and the pool store testing isn’t much better. The best advice is to go get a Taylor k-2006C or a TFT-100 test kit and do the testing yourself.

 

[IceShadow]

So: We have a different methodology from most YouTube videos and pool stores. We work using accurate testing to know what our chem levels that matter are (FC, CYA, pH, TA, and sometimes CH) and add only the chemicals needed. Our recommended levels also differ from those as we recognize the relationship between how much CYA is in your pool and how much FC can work and be active, and we recommend using liquid chlorine (or a SWCG) to chlorinate your pool because other chemicals add either CYA or CH to your pool, which isn't consumed nearly as quickly as FC is.

Floc and clarifiers can gum up sand filters. If you changed from the filter balls back to sand after adding those things then great. Know that new sand will filter slower than old sand, but it will filter. I don't think filters can really be undersized to the pump, or a smaller pump would help - unless it's channeling (which is what can happen with clarifiers and floc getting stuck in the sand and gunking it up), it will filter fine. Be sure to note your clean pressure and backwash only when it gets to 25% above that, as dirty sand will filter better than clean sand too, until water flow is impeded.

My recommendation if you'd like to switch over to our methodology is to buy a decent test kit, either a Taylor K-2006c (the 'c' is important, it means more of the chemicals we use regularly) or a TFT-100, and post a full set of results when it comes in. Until it does, add 5ppm of chlorine to the pool daily with liquid chlorine, and nothing else. Check out ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry to see our methodology in overview, and hopefully you give us a shot. I haven't heard of anyone yet who has who regretted it.

 

[ls81]

The water settles clear but clouds upon pump starting. I am not saying you guys are wrong just do not understand how chlorine will fix .

 

[IceShadow]

Chlorine doesn't fix - filtering fixes. Chlorine prevents it from getting worse while you're fixing. We also need to figure out if you have a hidden algae problem somewhere, and the testing will help us to determine that.

 

[ls81]

ok on day 3 of adding the 5ppm chlorine to the pool 0 change so far. I'm gonna purchase a good test kit soon. on a fun note the chloral strips app suggests not swimming.

 

[IceShadow]

The strips are going to be following old recommendations of FC levels. That said, until you have a kit, who knows how much FC is actually in the pool?

 

[ls81]

ugh the saga of this mess continues. I got home the other night to find my other half of floc in the pool. not my pool so hard to be mad. To add to the fun though yesterday the teenager for the very first time ever vacuumed the pool because she was having a friend over to swim.

I also scored a heck of a deal on a Hayward DE filter so I'm gonna install that next week or so because I want to give the floc time to get out of the pool.

 

[Casey]

You're not going to be able to truly follow TFPC if you have someone else throwing chemicals in the pool that you are trying to fix. To many chefs in the kitchen ruin the stew.

DE filters. You can not use Floc with these filters at all. You will ruin the fingers. The flock will gum it up and it will not filter and you cant get it off. We don't even recommend using floc here anyways. Also... if you do hook up this DE filter, it's going to need baby sat. You're also going to need to buy 2 25lb bags of DE because this filter will build pressure and need cleaned every 25 minutes or so. It is the greatest filter you can run because it filters the finest particles hence needing baby sat during the clearing of this pool. I only deal with DE because I love it so much on a crystal clear pool but is a nightmare when clearing a dirty pool. I'll still use it every time because it does a great job.

Lastly... I know this is your gf's pool. You need to have a talk with her and ask her who she wants to be in charge of clearing and maintaining the pool. If she allows you to do this, she needs to take a hands off approach because right now, shes sabotaging your efforts to clear this pool with TFPC.

 

[ls81]

we had the talk I am now in charge of the pool at least for a bit. Not being there every day during a "poorly regulated slam" tends to make things complicated.
Hopeing to get most of the sorted today and one the weekend.

 

[ls81]

Water is clearing you can see the bottom now.

after vacing waiting, and Vacuuming again I let the sand filter filter the rest of the pool water overnight. Upon opening the sand filter I found what the problem was. The pump was too strong. It basically piled the sand around the pipe in the center of the thing and just had a little to no sand to drain down along the sides of the chamber.

 

[IceShadow]

That’s typically more to do with the clarifiers and flocs put in the pool. They gum up the sand.

 

[ls81]

Water is crystal clear. I let the filter run 24 hours pulled it apart cleaned the fingers with a garden hose again charged with a way to mount of diatomaceous earth and then put it all back together. It was building pressure rather quickly for the first two days now it’s very steady.