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YankeeDDL

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  1. Oh, I forgot to mention: I'm nearly convinced to replace the sand. I suppose it's a fairly simple process of scooping the sand from the tank and putting clean one in its place. Seems simple enough to do it myself: what do you think?
  2. Gentlemen, so the experiment with the "robot" was a bit of a fiasco. To start with, the "robot" was infact more an automatic vacuum than anything: no wheels, it was a large suction cup with a balancer that gets it moving around the pool (also on the walls). The issue was the same though: the moment we started the process, the water started stirring and the dust lifting off. There was some new learning though: - as I mentioned, I had added quite a bit of flocculant. I suppose this was related to a whole lot of white-ish ... gunk that was stuck on the wall and started floating off. It seems to indicate some sort of chemical reaction going on. Obvious you think: you're putting something in the pool (the flocculant), however, while I would expect something going on with the dust, I did not expect all of this whiteish stuff. To give you an idea, by scrubbing the walls with the hand, you could see white ... powder being released into the water. Does this sound in any way familiar? - perhaps is a secondary effect of the flocculant, but the water seemed very ... dense. Some bubbles of air, injected every now and then by the jets, seemed to take some time to make it to the surface. I realize that this is rather qualitative, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. In any case, after a bit over an hour of fairly pointless vacuuming attempt, I let the dust settle again and vacuumed to waste. Of course, "luck" wanted that the regular vacuum broke in the middle of it, making it that much more complicated, however I got quite a bit of stuff out. The water level dropped just below the skimmer. That's quite a bit ... but at least I won't see much of the dust again ... Tomorrow, I'll see if there's still a lot of stuff, I'm thinking of doing another vacuum to waste, at least at the edges of the pool. Otherwise a "regular" vacuuming. The flocculant should have its effect still. By the way, how do I judge when it is "safe" to bathe again after putting the flocculant? Thanks.
  3. My plan is to keep vacuuming 1 or 2 times a day till saturday. Friday evening I'll add additonal flocculant to ensure that all the dust is deposited by saturday morning. Saturday I'll borrow the machine and pass it on the bottom anyway. Once that's done, I'll asses the situation. I am inclined to replace the sand: it seems to me that the filtering is lousy, at best. Perhaps I'll try to use the sand-cleaning product suggested by jkusimer, however, if the cost of changing the sand alltogether is comparable, I might go for it right away. I'll post an update over the weekend, just FYI. For now, many many thanks for your help and suggestions.
  4. A neighbor suggested to use one of those semi-automatic machines to clean the pool's bottom. He has one, and will lend it to me this weekend. I suppose there are several types: I haven't seen his is but he described it as: - it is self powered using the pressure of the water - it is self contained, so that it ejects filtered water: this way the sand filter is totally bypassed This may be an alternative: he claims that they cost in the order of 100eur these days so it may be an alternative to replacing the sand. It might be that once the pool is really cleaned, then the current system will be enough to maintain the status-quo, without having to vacuum it twice a day ... What do you think about those "robots"?
  5. Gentlemen, thanks for your suggestions. I did not even know such option existed. To answer jkusmier: the settings are: Filter, Waste, Closed, Backwash, Recirculate, Rinse. The valve is typically on Filter. When I wash the sand, I first set it on backwash, and then (when the cup shows clear water), on Rinse for a short time (like 5~10seconds). I've taken a couple of snapshots of the pool's edge: here are the links (I hope you can see them). This is at about 8pm, after the filtering has stopped at around 2pm, so the dist had time to settle for about 6hrs.
  6. Hi there, I'm new to the pool world and I need some help to get my pool clean. I'm renting a house that has not been lived in for about 3 years. The pool has been minimally maintained; it is now in bathable conditions, but there's still a lot of dirt/dust. A short background: - I started off with shocking the pool a couple of times. I only used pool-products, like chlorine tablets (slow dissolving) or powder (fast dissolving). The greenish on the walls was gone quite quickly, but the water was turbid - I checked pH and Chloring levels. The chlorine was relatively high of course, and I adjusted the pH (which instead was VERY low) accordingly with pH increaser. - I also had some troubles with a particular brand of chlorine (I'm living in Spain, the brand is PQS), which I found out was a "known" issue and replaced it - I added in the evening a product (flocculant) to condense the dirt. In the morning, I found the edges of the bottom of the pool to be fairly dark with what loos like dust/dirt, and all over the bottom there is a dark ... blanket (not as dark as the edge, but noticeable) - I started vacuuming the bottom of the pool 1 or 2 times a day. The area where I pass the vacuum becomes immediately noticeably cleaner (seems "perfect" actually), however ... the pool becomes turbid in a matter of 5~10minutes. At that point much of the dirt has lifted off the floor, so vacuuming is not effective. In 3~4hrs the dust settles again and I try to vacuum again Some background info: - the pool is about 13x20feet, and the depth goes from 4.6f to 6 - when the dust settles, I am able to see the bottom of the pool and distinguish the pattern of the tiles almost everywhere (not at the edges, where the dust is relatively thick, and not at its deepest spot) - the filtering system uses a sandbox. Not sure about the pump's power, but I can find out if it's important - the filter runs about 4.5hrs a day regularly, however, I always turn it on a couple of hours after I vacuum and after we bathe. So here are the questions: a) When I vacuum, I need to move relatively slowly, as moving the vacuum fast will result in the dust being lifted off around the vacuum handle anyway. I suppose that's normal, but could you confirm? b ) I don't see any alternative in filtering the water and get it back in the pool from the 3 eye-jets (which I suppose have a more technical name), however, is there a way to reduce the ... stirring effect, while vacuuming? c) I repeatedly wash the sand after vacuuming, end eject the water. This causes the water level to drop and I need to top off the pool (which is annoying ... and expensive). The first time I vacuumed I could clearly see gray water being injected back in the pool from the eye-jets. While washing the sand I look at a plastic, transparent cup where I see the water getting first very opaque, then slowly clear again. Does it mean that the sand is to be replaced? The tank containing the sand is tightly sealed (of course): before I really make an effort to open it, I'd like to know if I can judge whether the sand is to be replaced or not Another small bit of info: I have been doing this vacuuming for about 2 months. At first it seemed to help and the dust had reduced. Then there was some construction work nearby and some "clever" guy decided that the poolside was a good place to cut tiles. Needless to say by the time I had found out why the dust had suddenly increased again, I was back to square one. d) Am I really supposed to do this much vacuuming to get the pool cleaned? I mean, this is taking A LOT of time. I have the feeling that the filtering is highly inefficient. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
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