Cloudy Water

[bmlocal175]

Little bit of algae when I opened. 0 CYA. Shocked, vacuumed, brushed. Ran filter 24 hours for several days while vacuuming and brushing. Put in 9 lbs of stabilizer over 2 days got up to 40-50, directions said right in skimmer(small granular pieces) Dumped in 15 gallons of 12% chlorine over the course of a few days. Checked the Chlorine a few days later at dusk, held overnight, with no loss at all.

Pool was blue but very cloudy. Vacuumed again and noticed when I went over the dead algae in heavier spots, as soon as I did I saw it come right out of the return. Thought sand must be going bad, 5 years old. Changed the Sand in the filter, that was fun, NOT. Maybe the particles were to small and the sand was good but hey now I have new sand.

Still cloudy but getting better after more than a week. Could the stabilizer I dumped in all at once over 2 days be the cause? I do see on the shallow end floor white powder in spots and they come back everyday after I vacuum.

Put a stocking on one of the skimmers to help and it does seem to be getting better but taking FOREVER! Still can't really see the deep end floor. Any thoughts? Taylor kit by the way, everything seems fine chemical wise, CYA needs to be higher but didn't want to dump it in and cloud it up again if that was the problem. Salt system if you are wondering, and no it was off during the whole shock time.

[Watermom]

Go ahead and run a full set of numbers and post them.

[bmlocal175]

FC 4
CC 0
pH 7.4
Alk 70 ppm
Calc Hardness 80 ppm
CYA 45-50

Pools in NY, Vinyl, Sun all day long from 8am-8pm, Salt System, Sand Filter w/ new sand.

[Watermom]

Buy the smallest bag of DE that you can. Add a handful to the skimmer while the pump is running and watch the returns. If you see white powder shooting back out of the return, your filter is not working and needs to be repaired.

http://pool9.net/de-test/

[bmlocal175]

What would be wrong with the filter? I just had it all apart and inspected everything. I took out the center piece after taking all of the laterals off. Cleaned everyone in water to inspect for cracks. Rinsed filter and got every last bit of sand out, then filled half of water put the internals back in and started adding 350 lbs of pool sand. Backwashed and rinsed and have been filtering since last week. Not sure what else would be wrong with the filter.

[Watermom]

Vacuumed again and noticed when I went over the dead algae in heavier spots, as soon as I did I saw it come right out of the return.

This statement is what made me question whether or not your filter is working properly. Debris should not come back out through the returns.

Do you know how big your sand filter is? (How many lbs. of sand it holds?) Sometimes when your pump is way too big for your filter, it just forces debris through. In the case of algae, sometimes if it is forced through it breaks apart into extremely small particles that are difficult to filter out.

[bmlocal175]

It's a 27" Waterway Millennium. Called the Pool store where I bought the pool and they said 350 lbs. so 7 50# bags later here we are. I've had the same setup since we bought the pool 5 years ago. Don't remember going through all this the first year or two but the last few it has taken forever to clear up, that's why i thought the sand was bad and changed it. I had the same problem last year, it took weeks and weeks to clear up but when it finally did, the water was crystal clear for the whole summer. I guess I will call the store and see if they carry DE, anything else I can use to do the test if they don't have any?

[Watermom]

That's a nice big filter which is good. Your pool store should definitely have DE. DE is the media used in DE pool filters which are common so I can't imagine that they wouldn't have it.

Let us know how the DE test goes.

(By the way just for future reference, sand doesn't really wear out or need replaced. Many of us have the same sand for years and years and years. It occasionally needs topped off but doesn't actually need replaced. (Unless you convert from Baquacil to chlorine or something like that because Baquagoop really gums up the sand.)

EDIT --- Why don't you update your signature and add your filter capacity of 350 lbs.. You can click on the link in my signature to do so.)

[bmlocal175]

I went out and stopped the pump and just pushed down on the filter handle. The handle on top where you move it to backwash, rinse etc. Without moving it off of filter all the water in the pump went down somewhere. Is this normal?

Was on hold with the pool store forever and hung up eventually. While I was waiting I took a pinch of dirt and debris from the wife's garden and through it in the skimmer. Didn't notice any dirt flying out but twice saw some little pieces of debris come out.

Was reading about the filter top, maybe a bad gasket or something. Don't know anything about it and will have to probably have someone come look at it.

[Watermom]

I am not the pump/filter expert around here. I'm going to have someone else chime in here and see if they can offer you any additional advice.

[BigDave]

I went out and stopped the pump and just pushed down on the filter handle. The handle on top where you move it to backwash, rinse etc. Without moving it off of filter all the water in the pump went down somewhere. Is this normal?Yep, in a typical multiport valve when you press on the handle, the diverter (not sure what's it really called) inside the valve lifts off the ports that connect to inlet, outlet, backwash, top of sand and bottom of sand so that when it's turned, the spider gasket won't be destroyed. When it's opened, the ports are all connected and air can enter the valve allowing the water to drain.



Was on hold with the pool store forever and hung up eventually. While I was waiting I took a pinch of dirt and debris from the wife's garden and through it in the skimmer. Didn't notice any dirt flying out but twice saw some little pieces of debris come out.Sounds like you've demonstrated that the filter is not working correctly.



Was reading about the filter top, maybe a bad gasket or something. Don't know anything about it and will have to probably have someone come look at it.Sounds reasonable. Another pair of eyes may help and the next step would be to inspect the spider gasket.

Let us know how it goes.

[bmlocal175]

Took the top off of the multi port valve to get a look at what is actually in there and how it works. Not much to it. With me just changing the sand and inspecting every part of the lateral assembly and middle upright pipe, not to many options for the problem.

The only thing I saw was the spider gasket on one of the sides for filter there was a little off look to the gasket compared to the rest. Not damaged or torn but a little dent and slight mangled look. That could be the whole problem.

The pool store by me has 25# bags of DE so the wife is headed that way Monday so she will pick up a bag and I told her to get a spider gasket. Hopefully they have them. It's easier to just replace it and not worry if that is the problem. I really don't see what else it could be, there isn't anything left to the filter, pretty basic stuff.

Now when the pump is running, and I'm not sure if this was something I heard when we first got the pool, but the top of the multi port valve sounds like popcorn popping when everything is running. Like little ball bearings popping around in there. Could this be water squeezing through the gasket and making a popping noise as it goes right back to the return line hose on top. Would explain why it never gets clean, it never reaches the sand. Comes up from the pump, enters the multi port and instead of raining down on the sand to filter, a lot of it passes through the gasket and right back to the pool.

Anyway, Monday I will follow the instructions for the DE, have to read again but like a cup right in the skimmer. If it comes out the return, I'm changing the gasket. If not I will see if the PSI went up 1 and see what happens overnight.

[PoolDoc]

Just to be sure I understand: you DID do the DE-test, and your filter failed?

[bmlocal175]

No, Monday I will have the DE.

[Watermom]

@Ben, he posted above that when he was vacuuming algae, it shot back out the return jet. That is why I asked him to do a DE test.

@bmlocal175 -- Darn, I wish you could have found a smaller bag of DE than 25 lbs.

[Pappy]

If you haven't already got the D.E., your local WalMart may have this. The description is correct. The picture is not.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-D.E-Filter-Aid-10-lb/20434370

[BigDave]

@PoolDoc: OP did put garden soil in skimmer and observed debris from the returns.

@bmlocal175: Shopper will need make and model of multiport valve to get correct gasket. May also need glue to install. Search google for Youtubes and posts about spider gasket replacement.

[bmlocal175]

Well, wife came back earlier today with a 25# bag of DE and a new spider gasket. Mixed 1/3 of a cup with some pool water and dumped it in the skimmer. Watched the first return in the system and saw nothing where I was like OMG!! Didn't really notice a change at all in the water where I would of said yep that's DE. Checked the PSI after 20 minutes and it only went up .5 psi. So I dumped another 1/3 cup in and this time had the wife out there with me. She said the same as me, didn't see anything. That makes me feel better.

Now it's been almost 3 1/2 hours since I dumped it in and when I started the PSI was 20.5. It is now 27. It seems like the pool is getting clearer as I type this. It must be catching all the little stuff in the pool and explaining the rise in PSI. Even the noise in the multi port valve has stopped and the whole thing is just purring away. Now it's 6 pm here in NY, It will probably be 30 psi before I go to bed(which is max on my gauge). Should I backwash before bed and dump in 2/3 cup of DE again so it can continue through the night? Probably keep the gasket on hand just to have in the future was only $13 and the DE was $17.

[Watermom]

Yes, go ahead and backwash. But you might want to wait til you can watch your pressure gauge tomorrow before putting in more DE instead of doing it before bedtime. At least, that's what I would do if it were my pool.

Glad it's looking better.