Hi TFP community,
I am a new pool owner. I am so sorry for the long message, but I need help and I wanted to give all the details to the people who would be willing to help me. Thank you so much.
POOL SPECIFICS :
- above ground, vinyl liner (installed in 2014)
- 15 feet (20 000 liters/5 283 gallons of water)
- sand filter
- liquid bleach used as disinfectant
- used to have a mineral purifier (nature2) – that I removed
THE PROBLEM :
I bought a house and moved in on July 8th. The previous owners had not started the pool after winter (I live in cold climate in Quebec, so the pools are completely shut down in winter). The owners just started the filter pump and added chlorine for a week before I arrived, without removing the black winter cover or even checking at the pool water.
Needless to say, the pool was disgusting and I worked hard to get clear water. With the help of all the information I found on this website, I cleared up my pool by the end of the month, but I have a recurring problem : brown traces on the floor of the pool, that you can see on the picture.
STORY OF THE BROWN STUFF + EVERYTHING I DID SINCE I STARTED TAKING CARE OF THIS POOL :
1. The first days, I didn’t know a lot about pools, so I followed the pool store employee’s advice. I used a pouch of shock treatment along with algeacide, vacuumed and brushed the pool a couple times, added chemicals to balance the pH and calcium hardness. The water cleared.
2. Since the pool had a mineral purifier (nature2) installed, I replaced the cartridge, thinking I had to.
3. I kept the chlorine and pH in check and the filter running 24/7 (I still do this). For chlorine, I used the puck kind with stabilizer that the previous owners left me.
4. Even though the water was clear and I vacuumed regularly, there was a lot of brown dirt that kept getting back on the floor of the pool. So I started researching about pool maintenance and I found TFP. Following the advice I found here, I made modifications to my maintenance method :
5. The brown stuff was still there and when I touched it, it disappeared instantly into a cloud. I started to think it was algea, maybe mustard, so I did the SLAM process with the mustard algea shock level for 24 hours at the end, soaking all the tools and toys for an hour during this time.
6. The brown stuff came back. I concluded it was pollen, or another kind of particule too small to be filtered by my sand filter, so I bought DE and added it to my filter in an attempt to make it more efficient. I did this yesterday, after vacuuming the brown stuff to waste (again). Then, I brushed my entire pool to lift the small particules for them to get in the filter.
This morning, the brown stuff is here again. The picture is from today. I am a little discouraged. What can I do? Is this pool broken? Is the vinyl liner damaged in a way that it lets small particules of sand come in, but looses no water (the water level does not decrease)? Is the sand in the filter no good anymore? Why doesn’t the DE help?
POOL WATER CHEMISTRY RESULTS FROM THIS MORNING :
(I test the water myself with the Taylor K2006 kit, following the instructions.)
I am a new pool owner. I am so sorry for the long message, but I need help and I wanted to give all the details to the people who would be willing to help me. Thank you so much.
POOL SPECIFICS :
- above ground, vinyl liner (installed in 2014)
- 15 feet (20 000 liters/5 283 gallons of water)
- sand filter
- liquid bleach used as disinfectant
- used to have a mineral purifier (nature2) – that I removed
THE PROBLEM :
I bought a house and moved in on July 8th. The previous owners had not started the pool after winter (I live in cold climate in Quebec, so the pools are completely shut down in winter). The owners just started the filter pump and added chlorine for a week before I arrived, without removing the black winter cover or even checking at the pool water.
Needless to say, the pool was disgusting and I worked hard to get clear water. With the help of all the information I found on this website, I cleared up my pool by the end of the month, but I have a recurring problem : brown traces on the floor of the pool, that you can see on the picture.
STORY OF THE BROWN STUFF + EVERYTHING I DID SINCE I STARTED TAKING CARE OF THIS POOL :
1. The first days, I didn’t know a lot about pools, so I followed the pool store employee’s advice. I used a pouch of shock treatment along with algeacide, vacuumed and brushed the pool a couple times, added chemicals to balance the pH and calcium hardness. The water cleared.
2. Since the pool had a mineral purifier (nature2) installed, I replaced the cartridge, thinking I had to.
3. I kept the chlorine and pH in check and the filter running 24/7 (I still do this). For chlorine, I used the puck kind with stabilizer that the previous owners left me.
4. Even though the water was clear and I vacuumed regularly, there was a lot of brown dirt that kept getting back on the floor of the pool. So I started researching about pool maintenance and I found TFP. Following the advice I found here, I made modifications to my maintenance method :
- removed the nature2 purifier
- switched to liquid chlorine
- ordered a precise test kit
- tested the water when the kit arrived (turns out I had over 150 ppm CYA… thanks to the pucks, I guess)
- replaced ¾ of the water to get rid of CYA
- vacuumed and brushed regularly, hoping that the new method would help me get rid of the brown stuff
5. The brown stuff was still there and when I touched it, it disappeared instantly into a cloud. I started to think it was algea, maybe mustard, so I did the SLAM process with the mustard algea shock level for 24 hours at the end, soaking all the tools and toys for an hour during this time.
6. The brown stuff came back. I concluded it was pollen, or another kind of particule too small to be filtered by my sand filter, so I bought DE and added it to my filter in an attempt to make it more efficient. I did this yesterday, after vacuuming the brown stuff to waste (again). Then, I brushed my entire pool to lift the small particules for them to get in the filter.
This morning, the brown stuff is here again. The picture is from today. I am a little discouraged. What can I do? Is this pool broken? Is the vinyl liner damaged in a way that it lets small particules of sand come in, but looses no water (the water level does not decrease)? Is the sand in the filter no good anymore? Why doesn’t the DE help?
POOL WATER CHEMISTRY RESULTS FROM THIS MORNING :
(I test the water myself with the Taylor K2006 kit, following the instructions.)
- FC : 3.5
- pH : 7.7
- TA : 70
- CH : 80
- CYA : 35
Hats-off to you for doing your TFP research. 
Since you seemed to have completed the SLAM and MA removal process, I'm left with something locally or perhaps the filter itself. It seems obvious the previous owners really didn't do much to maintain the pool in a TFP manner, so perhaps you'll need to open the filter and inspect the sand. Perhaps do a sand deep clean. If the sand is questionable, you may have to change it and start fresh knowing you won't add any snake oils to it.
