More DE?

I have been a pool owner since 31 May 2012. In the past 3 weeks I have successfully kept my pool water crystal clear from reading this forum. I have adopted the BBB method for the most part, with the exception of temporarily using trichlor pucks to raise the CYA to 50 ppm.

The last owner of the pool left behind a Taylor K-2005 test kit but it looks kind of old so I don't know how relaible the reagents are. Just in case, I bought an HTH 6 way kit as a supplement.

I have a concrete inground pool measuring 18 ft x 36 ft for about 24,000 gallons. I have a DE filter with an Emerson Motors 1 HP pump. I have been running the pump about 15 hours a day.

Readings as of 15 June 2012:
CYA 45 ppm
FC 2 ppm
pH 7.2
TA 70 ppm
TH 290 ppm

I have repeatedly had to vaccumm the floor around the returns. Do you think I may be low on DE and the debris is not being sufficiently trapped, thus being blown out the returns? I have not backwashed yet. The psi is slowly rising to just under 20 as of last night.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Shifty, and welcome to the forum!!

If you are having to vac DE from the floor, it sounds like maybe you have some damage to one of the grids and the DE is blowing through, but the only way to know for sure is to open up the filter and take a look. Do you see anything blowing through the returns?

You probably need to bump your chlorine up just a little--with a CYA of 45, you need to keep it at least 3 ppm, otherwise you're inviting algae to start. Chlorine at 2 ppm is already too low, and if you have anything at all that creates a chlorine demand (swimmers, pollen, etc), then you're already behind in the game.

Thanks for the reply Janet.

No DE has blown out the returns. It is stuff like bugs and pieces of leaves. As far as I can tell, I don't see anything besides water coming out the returns. The only time I saw something other than water come out the returns was when I apparently put granular CYA in the skimmer too quickly and some of it came out the returns (I had just about 0 CYA when I bought the house on 31 May. I added 4lbs of granular CYA over about 1 hour. I thought that was slow enough but I guess not). That is why I temporarily switched to the trichlor pucks for ease of raising of the CYA.

I will add some (I'll check the pool calculator for the amount) bleach later this evening.

The walls (white) of the pool are slightly turning an "off white." Do you think this is happening because my chlorine is low? Besides brushing, are there any tricks to clean the walls?

I appreciate the help this forum provides. Without the forum, my water surely would not be clear.

I just tested the chlorine and pH after a weekend of swimming and both have held relatively stable from the 15 June test results above. pH stayed at 7.2 and FC fell to 1.5 ppm. I just added two (2) 186 oz. jugs of 6% bleach. I'll test the chlorine level in about an hour or two, then test first thing in the morning to see if the level held overnight.

Shifty,
Like Janet told you above, you are not keeping your chlorine high enough. With a CYA of 45, your chlorine level should always be between 3-6ppm. When you drop lower than that, algae can get started.

Welcome to The Forum!

Here is a link to some info on DE filter care and use (found in the second sticky in the Pool Equipment and Operations section).

Please keep us informed as to your progress. :)

I think due to my FC being around 2ppm after the weekend, algae has started to appear on the floor and walls. The last two (2) evenings I have brushed the floor and walls then added 6% bleach in an attempt to raise FC while battling the start of algae. My CC has been around 1ppm and FC has decreased a little overnight so it seems I have a few more days of shock level (CYA is around 50 so using Ben's chart shock level would be 15ppm) to get CC less than .5ppm. My water is still clear.

I plan on vaccuuming after work followed by another evening round of brushing and bleaching. Any suggestions on how to clear the floor and walls?

June 18
Evening FC after bleach: 8ppm

June 19
Morning FC: 6ppm
Evening FC after bleach: 15ppm

June 20
Morning FC: 12ppm

Looks like you do have a little ways to go before you can let it drift back down. Keep it at shock level, brush after your chlorine additions, keep pump/filter running, cleaning filter as pressure indicates....it will clear up but will take some persistence.

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Originally Posted by Shifty

No DE has blown out the returns. It is stuff like bugs and pieces of leaves. As far as I can tell, I don't see anything besides water coming out the returns. The only time I saw something other than water come out the returns was when I apparently put granular CYA in the skimmer too quickly and some of it came out the returns

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Do you have a multiport valve? That sounds a LOT like a multiport valve failure.

Yes, I do have a multi port valve. Do you think the spider gasket needs to be replaced? The reason I ask is because I just saw that moving the position of the multi port while the pump is on will ruin the spider gasket. Wish I knew that 2 weeks ago.