Pool help, cloudy mess, no experience.

[aylad]

If you're having just a 1 ppm drop in chlorine overnight, that's a good thing. The CC is high but you're doing the right thing to get rid of it--just maintain your chlorine above 15 ppm and give it time to burn the CCs off. It will take time, but it will happen. Did you use foamy algaecides or other additives in the past that may be creating the foam? If you can skim some of that off with a net, it would probably help speed things up a bit. Also, what are you using to clean your cartridges? Is it possible that you're not completely washing all the detergent from the filters?

I think that running the pump without the filter in it is a waste of $$...if your pump has run enough after your bleach is added to sufficiently mix it (an hour or so), then I would just turn the pump off till the next day if you don't have a filter in place. The whole idea behind running the pump 24/7 is to capture as much of the dead algae in the filter as quickly as possible. One thing you might want to consider, though, is to buy a second filter cartridge--that way you could switch them out and always have a filter in place while you're cleaning the other one...just a thought?

Janet

[daddyjmo]

I'm only using a high pressure hose attachment to clean the filter each time. I'm not soaking it in detergent or anything. I'm sure it isn't coming out spotless each time but the thorough spray off I do does return it to as white as the day I bought it and a whole mess of cloudy gunk comes off each time too. Without a filter in, the filter container shows about 10 psi. Once I put a cleaned off filter in it starts at about 20 psi. I take it out and clean it once it reaches about 30 psi.

I will take your advise and just turn the whole system off at night. Once I can leave the filter in without cleaning it for longer chunks of time I'll try and run it for longer periods until it is all cleared up.

I was unfortunately trained in the ways of the pool store for my first few months as a pool owner so I'm sure their are all kinds of residuals of whatever product they sold me to "help" my problem. Ill work on scooping it out.

[aylad]

I was unfortunately trained in the ways of the pool store for my first few months as a pool owner so I'm sure their are all kinds of residuals of whatever product they sold me to "help" my problem. Ill work on scooping it out.

I suspect you're right on the money there, and that would explain both the foam and the residual high CC. Scoop as much out as you can, and keep the chlorine levels up, and it will clear. Sometimes the residual of other chemical processes can create a HUGE chlorine demand, but if you can stay the course, it will be much easier to maintain than it was to clear up!

Janet