New to the pool forum and fighting with an above ground pool that came with our home

[BigDave]

Are you willing to drain and refill the pool? It may be cheaper and certainly quicker than trying to clear the pool of this unknown "hobo-soup" of pool store chemicals. Was the pool clear when first filled?

If you're going to refill, what does the inside of the toilet tanks look like?(presuming it's the same city water source)

@Watermom: Sorry for the simul-post, glad we're pretty much on the same page.

[LisaMarie]

Refill 21000 gallons of water....We've done that math already to figure out our water bill and way to expensive!

As for it being clear when filled. It was already full when we bought the house but had been covered for 3 yrs. We drained it down to about a foot deep and cleaned the debris and refilled. It was never clear even when refilled because we were battling against the long closure time with no chemicals in it.

[PoolDoc]

Just a couple of quick notes;

1. Your filter is too small for a 21k gallon pool. It will keep your pool fairly clear when everything's OK, but clean up will be VERY slow. The Waterway spherical tank design just makes things worse.

2. Your pump is WAY too big for that filter, and will force dead algae and such THROUGH the sand. It will also cause you blow sand out of the filter on every backwash. There's a good chance you are missing a bunch of sand.

3. You need to check make / model numbers on the pump and filter so I can confirm what I told you, above. => http://pool9.net/pf-equip-form/

4. If you purchase this filter, and install it BESIDE your existing filter, you'll be able to clean your pool much more rapidly:

Hayward Star-Clear Plus Pool Cartridge Filter

5. If you have a 2-speed pump, it will be easier to correct the problems.