New to forum...please help...green pool and quickly clogging filter

[creamyitalian]

Hi I'm new to the forum and I hope someone can help.

This is my second year with my pool. I bought my house last year and was able to get the pool going after A LOT of hard work, but I'm having less luck this year.

First my setup: Pool is above ground approx 10,000 gallons. Filter is Hayward EC40 D.E., pump is Hayward Power-Flo LX 1.5 HP. From what I've read this pump may be too powerful for the filter size but that is what came with the house so...

Anyway, I live in RI and we had a hurricane last August. I decided to close the pool the day before the storm but I did not have the cover secured well enough and a LOT of branches and leaves got in the pool so I am currently scooping a lot of debris out now that I have opened it.

When I first started, the water was black. I put a bunch of shock in, started the filter, and the pool eventually went from black to green. The problem is my filter is clogging very quickly. At the start of the season I took the filter apart, cleaned the "tentacles" and started it up with 4lbs of DE. Within an hour the pressure rose 10psi and the return to the pool was very weak. I "bumped" the filter and that gets me about 20-30 minutes before clogging again (10psi rise, weak return). So I tried the next step which, according to the filter instructions, means bumping the filter again then opening the drain and running the pump to clean out the filter, then putting in new DE again, but even this only buys me 30 minutes. So I have have since opened the filter 2 more times and completely cleaed the filter tentacles but even after doing this I am only getting a few minutes of good filtering before it clogs again.

The pool remains a disgusting green. I try to leave the filter on as long as I can but I just don't have enough time in the day to keep cleaning it every half hour, so it is not possible to filter 8-10 hours a day as needed. It's like a catch 22: in order to clear out the green pool I need to run the filter constantly, but because it is so dirty I cannot run the filter constantly.

As it stands now I have 10-12 gallons of shock in the pool over the past 2 weeks, and my chlorine level is actually OVER the ideal level. pH is normal, alk is ok. My thought is that there is so much algae in the pool that it is cloggin my filter in a bad way. When I open the filter up it is caked with sludge which I think is algae or maybe excess DE. The extreme amounts of chlorine have failed to make a dent in the greeness. At one point a few days ago I had the pool a cloudly teal, but a day later it went back to swamp green.

So what am I to do? Must I devote a few days of sitting by my pool cleaning the filter every 20 minutes? Should I continue to shock or use something else? I just don't see how I can get rid of the algae if I can't keep that filter running strongly for hours at a time. Is it possible something is wrong with the filter beyond it just getting dirty?

Sorry for the length, but please help!

Josh

[AnnaK]

Oh, how very frustrating!

I'm no expert with DE filters but what I would do at this point is to set it to recirculate rather than filter and keep shock levels up, 24/7. Brush before you add bleach and brush again after you've added it to get as much algae exposed to the chlorine as possible. The water will eventually turn a cloudy blue. Our DE filter people will be able to advise you how to manage the filter.

[creamyitalian]

Unfortunately I cannot bypass the filter with this model.

[aylad]

Doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with the filter--live algae clogs up a DE filter in a hurry. The only way to clean up the swamp is lots and lots of chlorine--but if you can't bypass your filter, I don't know what other option you have other than to babysit it. You might be able to add a shock dose of chlorine and keep the filter on long enough to circulate it, then turn the filter off and let the chlorine work, but I'm not sure how effective that would be. Hopefully some of the other DE filter users around the forum can stop by shortly to offer some better suggestions.

[Watermom]

Do you have a submersible sump pump? I'm wondering if you could use it to circulate after you put in bleach. Then, once the algae is dead, then use your filter. Jan's right -- live algae clogs DE filters FAST!

[mas985]

Two options:

#1 Remove the filter grids and DE and then run without them until all of the algae is dead.

#2 Turn the pump off and circulate manually. When adding chlorine, walk around the edge of the pool pouring slowing. Mix it up a bit with a pool brush or leak rake. That should be good enough.

[paraman72]

I have had the similar problem, however my filter would clog in 5 minutes!!!!. I have 2 inch PVC piping from my pump to my filter, so i made a bypass and remove my filter so the water goes back into the pool to circulate the chemicals and kills the algae then I put the filter back in and go through the process of filtering the pool....

[PoolDoc]

Hi Josh;

Your membership is now upgraded; you can log on and see everything.

Regarding DE filters, it is unavoidable that live algae can stop them up almost instantly. The only work around is to kill the algae.

Mark's suggestion of removing the grids will work. But, the grids are often somewhat 'icky-picky' to remove and replace, and not the sort of task for someone who's not 'handy'. Plus, some styles are rather fragile, and as the filter ages, can become VERY fragile. All in all, I would not recommend it, though it will work.

Regarding the algae - if it's not dying, your chlorine is NOT in the "ideal range", no matter what your test kit or pool store says. Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) test kit, and add chlorine till you get in the dark yellow range. Since you've got a DE filter, and can't circulate, use bleach. It can be added even when the pump is off.

A starting dose for a 10K gallon pool that's full of chlorine resistant algae would be 5 gallons of PLAIN 6% household bleach. Add this in the evening, and retest chlorine in the AM. If the algae is not dead AND the OTO chlorine level is not in the strong yellow range, add 2 more gallons immediately, and then 6 gallons that evening. Let us know what happens.

Also, you need to find out your CYA (stabilizer) level. If your CYA is quite high, it may take MUCH higher doses of chlorine, or some alternative treatments, to kill the algae.

[PoolDoc]

Just moved your thread where it belonged -- if you tried to post and couldn't, you can now. Sorry. Ben