It's been 10 days since my initial post. I've done everything in the instructions with the exception of the last step...POPP...I'm still working on that one.
Okay, put in DE Saturday and filter checked out okay (diluted 2 cups in some pool water and poured down the skimmer; within 10 minutes pressure jumped almost 3 pounds; may have poured it in a little fast, but the test proved that the filter is working either way). Backwashed and added 1 and 1/2 cups to filter which raised pressure about a pound and let filter overnight; pressure raised about 1/2 pound overnight; repeated again with 2 cups DE Sunday which raised 1 pound (and which is why I figure I poured it in too fast the first time), kept an eye on it Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. There was barely any pressure raise over these 3 days. Each time I backwash, I see the DE come out white followed by a very small amount of tan water...backwashing is complete within a couple minutes. My skimmer sock/nylon isn't catching very much debris...for those 3 days it didn't catch anything but bugs; then we had some rain Monday and a little Tuesday, so last night there was a little debris and leaves caught in the sock. I'm wondering if it's just that fine or if the majority of it is actually filtered out. We've been brushing everyday and it appears that most of it is gone (no clouds of green and tan rising in the water, no slimy feeling on the walls). The water clarity looks good still, but it is still green. It appears to be clearing from the outside though. I can see the entire return including the actual eye, and today I can see below the bottom of the skimmer. It looks clearer about 1/4 of the way down and about 6-8 inches in from the edges. The green does seem to be looking more blue-green in places and gray in places...
I got my test kit yesterday evening so I only had time to test the chlorine and pH. Here's what I got:
Free Chlorine-8.0
Combined Chlorine-1.5
pH-7.4 (If chlorine is high, then pH is sometimes not accurate, right...?)
Just wondering if there is anything I should do now, or continue waiting? I have no problem with POPP, just wanna make sure I take the right steps to clear this thing. My husband is starting to get anxious on me. Friday starts his week vacation from work and he wants to swim...he's told me he would really rather drain out most of the water to try to help it clear up...I dunno if that's a good idea at all...lol!
Thanks again for all your help...it's greatly appreciated!