Cloudy water after algae bloom

[rollinrock]

Try 2 things that are easy and inexpensive:

1) add a skimmer sock to your skimmer. Most pool stores sell them and they are cheap and reusable--3-5 in a pack for $5 is the local price here--they go by various names. They catch an AMAZING amount of stuff--in May mine was catching tons of pollen. I'm only on my 2nd sock of the season, so it's a cheap addition.

2) Poconos's DE trick for sand filters. DE is cheap--buy 10# or less--should cost less than $9. Or, if you have a neighbor with a DE filter, borrow a cup of DE to try it. Start by adding 1/3 of a cup to the skimmer (without the sock in, please!), wait 20 minutes and see if your pump pressure goes up 1 lb. If it doesn't, add another 1/3 and wait again. Once pressure is up 1 lb, you are done. Keep running your filter and you should see the water clear. When you backwash, you lose the DE and need more, but you don't use much. If you add too much DE and you filter clogs, just backwash to clear it and start again, using less DE this time.

Hopefully these will help filter that fine stuff out. You can also try adding a dose of Polyquat algaecide--it's never bad to use polyquat, and it does act as a flocculant to clump particles together. But only polyquat

What does a skimmer sock do? I have nerver heard of it.

[itstoohot]

A skimmer sock is a finely woven fabric that allows water to pass, but traps particles down to a certain size. They fit over top of the skimmer basket. They are excellent at filtering out stuff that can muck up your filter and cause you to change cartridges/backwash more than usual.