Cloudy water won't clear up

[Batman77]

Long time reader and user of the BBB method have had great success in the past. This year I did not put a cover on the pool and it turned into a swamp. Two weeks of work and the TC is holding but the water is still bad cloudy I can only see about 10 to 12 inches down. Pump is running 24-7 been back washing regularly but no improvrment in cloudiness. I can't figure it out I have tryed with and with out a skimmer sock I have had the pool 5 years do you think there is still enough sand in the filter.
Thank You for any help
27' round above ground
23" sand filter 1h/p pump (brand new)
TC 8
CC 0
CYA 50
PH 7.5
TA 110
CH 40

[Watermom]

Is your new pump the same size as the one you replaced? Do you see any sand on the floor of the pool? How big is your filter? Just wondering if the pump and filter are appropriately sized for each other. What are you using as your source of chlorine?

[Batman77]

I replaced a powerflo matrix 1.5 hp with a powerflo lx 1.0 hp the filter is sand 23" pro series hayward. I can't see more that 12" into the water so I am not sure if sand is coming in the pool. Last night I turned the pump off to see if anything would settle to the bottom but nothing the water still cloudy. I am using regular bleach and testing the water myself with the k2006 kit.

[aylad]

Other than being cloudy, is the water blue, or do you still have green water?

Janet

[Batman77]

It's milky blueish color

[aylad]

You might try the DE trick that the other mods use on their sand filters--use just enough DE to make your pressure rise by 1 psi (that rise is slow, so start with a handful and give it 30 minutes or so before adding more). That will help filter out some of the smaller stuff, if the problem is that it's going through your filter. You might also try looking at the returns after you add the DE to see if you see it coming back into the pool. If so, then you have an issue with your filter that needs to be addressed.

Janet

[Batman77]

Ok I will try that

[Batman77]

I think I found the problem. After reading about other peoples problems with their filters I decided to take the top off of the filter and check the sand. First of all the entire plastic assembly came up out of the sand I don't think it was suppose to do that. But what I found was that it was half empty of sand. Am I going to have to take all the sand out to get the assembly back down in it? And how full is the filter suppose to be from the top?

[aylad]

While you have the assembly out, check it really well for any cracks or stretching of the slots in the "fingers" on the laterals. Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to shovel some sand out to get the assembly back in correctly, but I'll let the equipment experts verify that.

My sand filter is a 300 lb filter, but I use zeosand, which requires half--150 lbs. When I added 150 lbs of zeo to my filter, it was just about half full. Do yourself a favor--after you get it all put back together and any sand added, make sure you start it up for the first time in backwash mode--there's a thread on the "lessons learned" forum that described my nightmare when I forgot to take my own advice, but that's a mistake I'll never make again!!

Janet

[Watermom]

Unless you can pour the sand out, you can use a shop vac to suck it out. Then, once your finished checking/repairing the filter, you can pour the same sand back in and then add however much more you need.

[Batman77]

Is the lateral assembly supposed to sit on the bottom of the filter? The old one was just a little more than half way down. The top of the down pipe was cracked so I repaired it and extended it so that it sits on the bottom.

[aylad]

I'm not sure--you might need to see if you can find an exploded view of your filter via the internet. I found one for mine, before I started taking it apart......

Janet

[Batman77]

Well it's been about a week I got the filter back running and am using DE in it and today I can see the pattern on the bottom of the pool, finally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Thank You all for your help

[Watermom]

Excellent!

[madwil]

Great! We got to use our pool all day Sunday- friends over, good BBQ, etc... you should be there soon!