Newbie with hard well water

[PoolDoc]

Q & A

Q: Why no chlorine with out stabilizer?
A: I don't know, but possibly because you didn't test immediately, and the sun had stripped all of it before you did test. Under full sun, chlorine is removed from unstabilized water VERY rapidly.

Q. What can be done about the cloudy water?

A: 3 possible solutions:

1. New Unicel or Filbur replacement cartridges *might* be able to filter it out; they will definitely work better for you over time. If you buy polyquat at the same time, and use SMALL doses every 2 - 3 days, it may help. Polyquat is both an algaecide and an effective clarifier, but I'm not sure if it will work on calcium particles. Don't use it up, and you'll have some to use if you go on vacation.

2. Lowering the TA -- a LOT -- may be sufficient to resolve the problem. To do so, add muriatic acid to lower the pH just below 7.0, and then maintain a low pH. To do this adjust the pH to 7.0 - 7.2, and then add another *small* dose of acid. Let the pH rise to 7.0 - 7.2 again, and then repeat. The more the pool is aerated (= small kids splashing around, big kid water fight, etc) the faster the TA will be stripped AND the pH will rise. Low pH (<6.0) will damage your pool, so you want to get as low as you can, but not too low.

3. If chlorinate, then turn the pump off for 24 hours, the calcium carbonate MAY settle to the bottom. If it does, and you have the equipment, you can carefully vacuum the dust to waste, using a vac-head, a hose, and a pool pole to siphon it on to the ground.

You'll need to read all these pages:

Using muriatic acid safely => http://pool9.net/ma/
Lowering alkalinity => http://pool9.net/alk-step/
Polyquat => http://pool9.net/polyquat/

The Super Simple Recipe page will help in a variety of ways, and has links on the filter cartridges: http://pool9.net/ssr/

[RaceAngel88]

Thanks! I will try these suggestions (one at a time) and see if anything helps.

[PoolDoc]

Actually, you can do #2 immediately -- just get some muriatic acid -- and #1 once the the filter cartridges arrive.

(Good grief, that sounds bad, when I re-read it. )

Anyhow, save #3 to try if the first 2 don't work.

[RaceAngel88]

It looks like I might not need to go to great lengths to "fix" the cloudy water. Last night when I went to test it, I found that the particles had stuck together and settled to the bottom. We can finally see the bottom of the pool--the water is clear! Now I just have to attempt to vacuum to waste to remove the gunk that has settled on the bottom. I'm hoping I can do this correctly, without stirring the stuff back into the water. I haven't used the vacuum yet, so I hope I have the option of vacuuming to waste. If not, are there other ways to remove the gunk from the bottom? I still plan to purchase the better quality filters because the one the pool came with is already falling apart. We've been cleaning it out daily.

[PoolDoc]

Great!

But be careful -- most Intex type pools come with a hose pressure driven venturi type back that drives large debris and leaves into a mesh sack. This type of tool will NOT help.

Go to Walmart, etc. and get a vac head, a pool and a hose long enough to reach from the middle of your pool to 6 - 8' OUTSIDE your pool. Overfill your pool, let everything settle, and then start a siphon in the vac hose that will drain water OUT of the pool, via the vac head. Then move the vac head over the powder (slowly enough to not stir things up) and pull the powder out.

It will probably take some practice to get this right, and not drain too much water.

[RaceAngel88]

So far we have been unsuccessful in getting the gunk out of the pool. We tried the siphon method however it didn't create enough suction, and mainly just stirred up the stuff making the water cloudy again. Then we tried to hook the vacuum up to the pump, but pumped the water out of the pool rather than through the filter cartridge and back into the pool. That removed some of the gunk, but again, it stirred stuff up so that the water became cloudy and we couldn't see what we were doing. I think that it would take several rounds of vacuuming to remove the amount of gunk that is on the bottom. It is tedious work and does not seem to be very effective. At this point, I'm wondering if it would be easier to stir the stuff back up and run it through the pump (after the better quality filter cartridges arrive) in the hopes that the filter will remove the cloudiness. I also considered trying to use the shop vac with some sort of modified attachment on it so that it doesn't suck up quite so much water so quickly. There are some You Tube videos of people doing that.

[PoolDoc]

Nothing wrong with that.

If you do, it will be MUCH easier if you get the Unicel cartridges, but buy a couple of extra, so you can rotate them. As long as you clean and dry them before putting them up, you can store them indefinitely, to re-use later.

There are some tips out there (maybe even on the forum) about using DE filter powder with cartridges: don't do that. Unicel tells me that it damages the fibers in the filter material.