Help Vaccuming Out Residule In Pool

[DIMPLES]

HI : ALL AT MY WITS END HERE, AND FUSTRATED , ALL MY CHEMICALS ARE IN LINE , PH 7.2-7.5 , TOTAL HARDNESS ,100 TO 200 , CHLORINE 5/10 , TA ,120 ,CYA50 TO 100 ,WATER IS PRETTY CLEAR , ITS JUST WHAT EVER AT THE BOTTOM CANT SEEM TO VACCUME OUT , I DO THE BEST I CAN , BUT ITS LIKE A POWDER THAT FLOATS , OR PUFFS UP , THEN THE POOL CLOUDS ALL OVER AGAIN , AND AGAIN , I BACK WASH ECT , EVEN TRIED DE AS A FILTER AID , I ALSO USED OMIN ALGEA DESTROYER , THE WATER WAS CYRSTAL CLEAR BUT STILL POWDER SUBSTANCE ON THE POOL BOTTOM I USED ZEO LITE SAND , THE POOL IS 10.000 GAL , OVAL 15 BY 30 COULD IT BE A FALL OUT I USE LIQUID CLORINE AS A SHOCK , WHAT COULD THIS STUFF BE , I ALSO USE GRADUALS AND PUCKS IN FLOATER

[confused]

I totally feel your pain. I am experiencing the same thing. All my numbers are good; the water is clear, but this brown dusty stuff keeps showing up everyday on the bottom. I am told it is not algea or it would be on the sides and steps. I am sick of daily vacuuming but I don't know what else to do. Oddly, after I vacuum if I leave the filter off it stays clean. Only when I turn the pump back on does the dusty stuff come back. I'm thinking of trying a skimmer sock to see if I can catch this when I vacuum. Let me know if you have any ideas

[ps558]

I totally feel your pain. I am experiencing the same thing. All my numbers are good; the water is clear, but this brown dusty stuff keeps showing up everyday on the bottom. I am told it is not algea or it would be on the sides and steps. I am sick of daily vacuuming but I don't know what else to do. Oddly, after I vacuum if I leave the filter off it stays clean. Only when I turn the pump back on does the dusty stuff come back. I'm thinking of trying a skimmer sock to see if I can catch this when I vacuum. Let me know if you have any ideas

It could mustard algae, which can be a gray color. Hard to get rid of but can be done.

[abefroman]

I have that too, I believe someone here said its dead algea/mustard algea and the only way to get rid of it was to vacuum it out of the pool IE. you pump will be discharging the water to the lawn.

[waytoxic]

It sounds like the filter has a small hole in it, or a missing bolt. Your filter is passing diatamatious earth from the dirty side to the clean side. This has happened to my pool in the past.

Take the filter apart by removing all the bolts around the top. Pull the filter up and set it on the ground. Hose the DE off and inspect the "fingers" for cuts, tears, holes. Make sure all the bolts that hold the filter to the "bumping plate" are still tight. If one fell out, that is where the DE is passing into the clean water side of the filter. Replace the missing parts, and put the filter back together. Recoat the filter with new DE and with luck your pool will remain clean.

[GTGallop]

I get the same thing and I've got a Sand (Zeolite) filter. No cartridge. I've asked my neighbors that have pools and they all have the same thing. A fine silty residue almost like sand. I've had it explained as pollen, dust, and smoke residue from burning Brazilian rainforrest.

But the most consistent answer I've come across is this, "It's called owning a pool."

Apparently this is a normal issue that AG pool owners face since we do not have a return on the bottom of the pool to keep it clean.

[shymomma]

I have had cloudy water in my intex pool for about two weeks. This comes on the tail of an algea outbreak. My water balance is fine now but I've been working my rear off to try to clear the water...shocking, using water clarifier, etc.

I was away on a trip for about a day and a half. I left the pump off. When I came back the water was almost crystal clear!!! I could see that everything had settled to the bottom. I thought great, all I have to do is vacuum it up and I'm good to go...finally. So I begin to vacuum and can see everything blowing right back into the pool from the pump return. And this is just after I changed the filter. So this makes me think the reason the water has been cloudy for so long is that I've just been circulating this junk through my filter over and over.

I think the best thing to do would just be to vacuum it "to waste". The problem is, I'm a newbie and I don't know how to do that with my Intex 635 pump. Do I just open the sediment valve and run the pump?

Or would putting more clarifier in help this junk to clump up and get stuck in the filter?

[waytoxic]

I have had cloudy water in my intex pool for about two weeks. This comes on the tail of an algea outbreak. My water balance is fine now but I've been working my rear off to try to clear the water...shocking, using water clarifier, etc.

I was away on a trip for about a day and a half. I left the pump off. When I came back the water was almost crystal clear!!! I could see that everything had settled to the bottom. I thought great, all I have to do is vacuum it up and I'm good to go...finally. So I begin to vacuum and can see everything blowing right back into the pool from the pump return. And this is just after I changed the filter. So this makes me think the reason the water has been cloudy for so long is that I've just been circulating this junk through my filter over and over.

I think the best thing to do would just be to vacuum it "to waste". The problem is, I'm a newbie and I don't know how to do that with my Intex 635 pump. Do I just open the sediment valve and run the pump?

Or would putting more clarifier in help this junk to clump up and get stuck in the filter?

[dymondgeezer]

I use a Pool Buster rechargable battery powered vac. The Catfish model is smaller but works fine on my pool. I use a pantyhose toe over the bag inside the vac and it traps 100% dust, sand etc.

Has enough juice to last 1 session covering the entire pool floor. Advantage is it doesn't use pool pump / filter and it's easy to handle.

[GTGallop]

http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=12758

[poseidonpools]

Have you taken the water to a swimming pool shop for a water test? It would be better to find out what is growing in the pool and combat that instead of continuously cleaning the pool.

[spacewalker]

Hi, I may have experienced the same thing which no one around here (pool stores included) was able to tell me what was going on. The water was clear and didnt use a bunch of chlorine and everything was in balance but I had this stuff on the bottom like you said which settled in the dips and irregularites on the bottom. Mine was the same color as red dirt which we have plenty of down south. You could try and capture some and it would just vanish. I did get some in a plastic drink bottle by going down with the bottle full of water but with the sides squished in and then letting the sides go sucking it in there. You couldn't tell right away but after a few mins its started settling just like it was in the pool. I came up with the conclusion that is was just dust from the air. My pool at the time had very poor circulation (a common problem with the type of pool I have). You may not have as much a low circulation problem as there may be a lot of developing going on around your area. However, I would check the pumps output to see if its doing what it supposed to do if you haven't already. Since I got my new pump and made the modifications to my pool, the problem dissapeared. The way it all was happening to me, it just made perfect sense. If I kept the solar cover on, there would be less. Also, less we used the pool more of the stuff showed up. The only way I could get rid of it was to vacuume the bottom by siphoning it over the side and being very carefull not to stir it up. It would usually take about 3 times vacuumeing to get it all.

When I changed to the 635 pump, it cleaned my pool right up. I did modify it slightly and got rid of the very non-efficient plunger valves which I cant mention enough. Maybe Intex will come up with something else soon. I have the 18ft round pool. An oval pool may be more difficult to get the circulation at the right places. Another way of getting rid of the plunger valves would be to place the pump on a table so the top of the filter would be at the same height as the water in the pool and scew the hoses right onto the pool. They wont screw on the blue fittings but they will on the new gray ones that come with the 635 pump. I havent tried this but I see no problem with it working. You will see a great improvement in water flow!!!!!

Tim.