Dirt In Pool

[aGrandma]

I'm not sure if this topic should go in the chemistry section or not - correct me if so.

My neighbors used a roto tiller to landscape their back yard and my pool floor and walls are coated with dirt now. I have been brushing the sides and floor for days because I have also been fighting algae, and I'm not sure if the dirt is getting better or not. I am running my filter 8 hours a day and I cleaned my filter cartridges and they didn't have a lot of dirt in them that I saw.

In order for me to get the dirt out of the pool, do I need to drain it? Or keep running the filter with the vacuum running? What I am seeing is definitely dirt, not algae. It settles on all the steps and walls and floor, and is easily brushed up, but settles again.

If it makes a difference, I have an inground gunite pool with plaster walls.

[waterbear]

What color it is? It could also be mustard algae. If it is dirt then get out the vacuum and vacuum it out and then clean the filter. Dirt will get caught by a cart filter. However, dirt usually does not settle on the walls. Mustard algae does, usually in the shaded parts of the pool. Also, algae does not filter out easily.

You have been fighting algae for a while now and that tells me that your water chemistry is not right. Please take another set of test results and post them. Pay particular attention to the CYA test and the FC and CC tests when you do them to make sure they are accurate. You should not be having problems like this with a salt pool if you have followed my suggestions.

Once you post the test results we can take it from there. The test results will tell a lot about what is going on.I see you increased your pump run time like I suggested. Have you adjusted the cell output to maintain your FC at 5 ppm? Or have you still been shocking with bleach to kill the algae? It would not be a bad idea to run the pump 24/7 until the algae is gone and that should take no more than a few days to a week IF you are maintaining the right shock level for the CYA level (which is why we need new test results). You also need to be testing the chlorine level at least twice a day and bumping up the chlorine to shock level to kill the algae. The more constant you keep the chlorine the faster you kill the algae. Shocking and letting it drop and then shocking again will not do the job and just makes this a long, drawn out process that is never ending.

Post the test results and a complete description of the 'dirt' and exactly where it is in the pool (and how much sun all the areas it appears in gets) and we will take it from there. I will give you a step by step to follow to solve this problem once and for all!

[aGrandma]

Thanks so much - I ran out of the chemical reagent to test my chlorine. I need to order more from the Internet because my pool store does not stock it. I think that is what has been happening - I have made this a long, drawn-out process, of not keeping the chlorine high enough for long enough. My neighbors did rototill and there is dirt in the pool. When it settles the water is clear. I can see it getting better every day since they stopped rototilling.

I did add some salt and lowered the chlorine output too but I have not let it get down to 5 ppm yet. Still adding bleach and brushing the walls.

I checked everything this morning except the chlorine is not accurate. The pH is 7.8, alkalinity is 60, CYA is 80.

I'll post my complete numbers after I get the chlorine reagent in the mail in a few days!

[waterbear]

OK, in the meantime do you have an OTO test kit (yellow comparator with the chlorine drops usually sold along with pH drops)? It only tests total chlorine but if you use that you want the color to be off scale and orange to brown instead of yellow or deep yellow. It will get you in the ballpark of where you need to be for shocking.