New Member & New Pool Owner

My wife and I recently purchased a house in Manteca CA, along with the house came a pool full of green water & algae. I read through a lot of the posts here regarding how to get rid of algae and I seem to have killed all of it. Now I can't get rid of the brown dust like remains. I have brushed the pool three or four times a day and kept the filter running continuously for several days and the water, while no longer green, is still cloudy. I'm not sure if the pool filter is actually doing its job? The filter is an American Products DE filter and frankly...the idea of taking it apart to clean it or "fix" it scares the beejuzzes out of me. :-)

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Is your filter pressure rising as your pump runs? Do you have the ability to vacuum to waste?

With a DE filter, any particles should be collected. Since that's not happening, you know your filter needs service. It may be as simple as taking apart and cleaning it, or it may be require repairs.

If you can post pictures (Photobucket, Flickr, Webshots, Picasa -- or email them to poolforum@gmail.com) and/or exact make & model, we may be able to help.

1) Yes the filter pressure is rising when the pump runs. It goes up to about 23 psi, since the whole thing is new to me I don't know what the pressure was when the filter was newly cleaned consequently I don't know if the pressure has gone up the 10 psi or so that would indicate a cleaning is needed.

2) I don't really have the capability to vacum the bottom. I do have a polaris 360/280? that sweeps the bottom but from what I've seen this is designed to pick up leaves and other debris not fine particles. I have been brushing the sides and pushing it towards the filter pick up at the bottom of the pool and this seems tp help, but in the morning there is always a layer of brown dust/particles on the steps, I do have the ability to run the polaris and the filter at the same time and that might explain why the bottom of the pool seems clean but the steps are not. I'll try to post some pictures. Before I purchased the house I had a pool inspection done and everything was at least functioning, BUt the inspector could not verify if the filter was actually filtering. The pool inspector was very impressed/stunned by the amount of pvc plumbing and valves the previous owner had installed. With that in mind I have not figured out to actually get water up to solar heater on the roof yet. :-)

If you have the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit -- not 'guess-strips'! -- post complete test results.

Also, you need a manual vac system -- everyone does. Do you have a working skimmer?

Using the HTH drop tests...
Ph = 7.5
Clorine = 5-10 ppm
Alkalinuity = 70 ppm

The only chemicals I use are Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda.

What are your calcium hardness and stabilizer levels? Those are also in the HTH 6-way. (Well, actually, it's total hardness in the HTH, but close enough.)

Todays test results...

Ph = 7.5
Alkalinity = 80 ppm
Clorine = 3-6 ppm
cya = 50 ppm
Hardness = 600 ppm

Today's readings...
Clorine = 2-4
Ph = 7.5
Alkalinity = 70ppm

I still can't get rid of the brown dust. I was looking at some of the battery operated sweepers but form what i've seen these just pick up leaves. Do any of these have the capability to filter fine particles out of the water?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Green&Slippery

I still can't get rid of the brown dust. I was looking at some of the battery operated sweepers but form what i've seen these just pick up leaves.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

Also, you need a manual vac system -- everyone does. Do you have a working skimmer?

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You need a manual vacuum, not a battery operated on.

It's also possible that your DE filter is 'leaking' DE. If you touch the "brown dust" and it has some texture, it's DE. If it's fluffy, and you can't feel it, it's dead algae.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

It's also possible that your DE filter is 'leaking' DE. If you touch the "brown dust" and it has some texture, it's DE. If it's fluffy, and you can't feel it, it's dead algae.

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That's something I never though of, and after touching it, it feels like DE. Thanks I think that might be the problem.

Glad I could help!