Can you recommend a floc?

I would like to do a bucket test with some floc. Can anyone recommend one?

Ttt

In some recent threads where people had unfilterable cloudiness, Ben mentioned PAC based floc. He also warned to test it in a bucket before putting it in the pool as floc can go wrong and make the mess worse.

You might try using the custom google search for PAC as I recall Ben found a source.

I, personally, have no experience with floc or clarifier.

Here is what Ben suggested to another poster a little earlier this season.

PAC (polyaluminum floc)
GLB Pool & Spa Products 71408 1-Quart Drop n' Vac Pool Water Clarifier (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...T6TY/poolbooks) @ Amazon -OR-
Blue Wave Super Floc 4 x 1 qt. @ Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...QTT0/poolbooks) - 4 days to ship -OR- Proteam Superfloc Clarifier (if it's available locally)

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. I need to do something.

To do the bucket test with the floc, pooldoc recommended in several posts, to take an 1/8 of a teaspoon to about 4 gallons of pool water. I also think he said to use a 1/4 teaspoon if the quart of floc was good for less than 20,000 gallons. I thought I had the post marked one of them, but can't find it. Put in the the bucket of pool water, stir for a few minutes, then walk away anywhere from 12-48 hrs. If you are able, I would snag another bucket and test with a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon/4 gallons of pool water. However if the smaller dose is settling... GO WITH THAT ONE! Normally too much floc/clarifier is a very bad thing, but in my instance I was using up the product, due to the nastiness of my water. PAC is positively charged and usually the colloids (the gunk in the pool) are negatively charged. The colloids are repelling each other. Floccing is the coagulating (combining of these -colloids with the positive PAC product to form bigger particles), the bigger particles are called flocs. The hope is that they can get big and heavy enough to fall to the pool floor.

I spent several days the beginning of May jar/bucket testing several flocs as my pool water was almost opaque (visibility of a few inches) after killing my algae mess. I don't know your water situation, so I'll share my tips in case yours is in a similar state.

Make sure you have a a decent chlorine level for CYA level. I took mine to just under shock level. Your pump will be off with no circulation for up to 48 hrs. I say this because I almost forgot to to accommodate for this...I would have been swampy again going without Cl- for 2-3 days. PAC is able to work across a wide pH range, so normal pool pH is okay.

If while vacuuming it gets to cloudy, give 8-12 hours and it will resettle. Another problem I had was I needed to add more water about half-way through vacuuming. I rubber banded a towel around the end of the hose to kind of diffuse the water as it entered the pool. Also the addition of the PAC may severely cloud the water as it begins its magic...this should clear as the particles begin settling, but the bucket test will make sure of, if this is going to happen Hope that helps.

Stella

Stella,
Thank you so much for the very detailed instructions! My situation seems similar to yours. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm glad someone out there is listening!

No problem! I have never been as frustrated at an intimate object as I was my pool this spring, lol. Please do let me know how it goes.
Stella