First test readings of season

[stma]

Like I had mentioned, I figured out my little sand filter will "take 4.5 oz of DE (which looks to be about 2 cups+) This much (according to Ben) should coat the entire top bed of the sand... it lasts for hours and hours before jumping psi..

But all day yesterday, i experimented with all different amounts of DE, as high as up to a double dosage (9oz)... That dose clogged things up within 30 minutes or so..... I simply backwashed for a few seconds and started again...God knows I have enough of this powder (10lbs)...

Personally, I made HUGE advances today......and for once in my life, I'm gonna have to be patient and hopefully things will De-Fog...! I'll see if I can post some pictures..

[michael3]

Lol, making progress or one to many free coronas lol. I tried about a total of a cup in about a 30 minute span and got close to a 5psi jump then it slowly rose, when I add enough to get a 1-2 rise it doesn't seem to want to increase

[stma]

Im wondering if I dose a heavy amount (2+ Cups) let the pressure increase THEN keep it there overnite.... I know the pressure out of the return wont be strong, hence the pool will be slow to re-circulate... but with that much DE coating the filter surface, I would ASSume I'd be catching the tiniest of particles....???

At the end of the day, it's all a crap shoot..

[BigDave]

...heavy amount (2+ Cups) let the pressure increase THEN keep it there overnite.... I know the pressure out of the return wont be strong, hence the pool will be slow to re-circulate... but with that much DE coating the filter surface, I would ASSume I'd be catching the tiniest of particles...

You may but not very many of them. If the flow is too low there just won't be much water flowing through to clean. Moderation in all things.

[stma]

Thanks Big Dave::: I think the science behind this was to get as much as you can BEFORE the flow dwindles to nothing, backwash and continue the process... I've been doing such since Friday and have seen a dramatic improvement, but in all honesty, I really was hoping to see alot more improvement into the 3rd day...

[BigDave]

I'm glad to hear you both are seeing improvements in water quality. I've been following both these threads. Remember: POPP (Pool Owner Patience and Persistence) is free but hard to find. DE in your sand filter is clearly doing the job for you but using it this way basically creates a very small DE filter with proportionately limited capacity.

[michael3]

Yes BigDave, it does appear to be working, today after adding some DE I decided to hop in the pool with the vac and walk the pool very slowly and let my feet tell me whats down there lol cause I still cant see over 18-24" down. The bottom of my pool was very clean, only a few leaf stems and a couple slick spots but not slimey. When I vacuumed with that DE in the filter the pressure rose much quicker than just letting it filter on its own with the DE. The thing I cant figure out is I cant shake that green tint. My chlorine is holding at night, lose maybe 1 point, and get 0 to .5 on cc test. During the day I see about a 4-5 point loss. Been keeping the chlorine stil in the 20s. I want to say will the DE help with the greenish tint but I will say Can it help? lol I still wonder if all that shock with the .26% copper could have added enough copper to the water to get the green? if so would a sequestrant? help me

[michael3]

Is it normal or I should say is it a good thing if when I add the DE and my pressure does the 1-2 psi rise that it takes forever to get high enough pressure to require backwash? Does it mean my water is getting better or maybe the particles just are to small for even DE or maybe I didn't add enough to "coat" the filter. It has been taking all day or overnight to build

[PoolDoc]

A small increase on adding DE would be normal; don't backwash because of that. Instead, wait for at least a 5lb increase. As the pool becomes cleaner, it will take longer and longer to plug the filter. (And that's a good thing!)

[michael3]

Got flooding rains yesterday and this morning, allowed me to vacuum to waste for a good while got water level down to correct level and redosed with DE, visibility is definitely improving, I can look straight down on the side and see more of the liner. Tested water and after all the rain my chlorine was still 15.5, CC 0, ph a strong 7.2 close to 7.4, Alk was 80.