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Cloudy Water Immediately After Turning Pump On


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As soon as I turned on pump, water became cloudy within a minute. Does this mean filter needs to be backwashed? Little wary of backwashing too much because someone told me too much backwashing defeats the purpose of better filtration. Any advice?

Thanks.

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As soon as I turned on pump, water became cloudy within a minute. Does this mean filter needs to be backwashed? Little wary of backwashing too much because someone told me too much backwashing defeats the purpose of better filtration. Any advice?

Thanks.

Does the cloudiness dissipate in a bit or does it stay? If it is dissipating quickly then it is probably bubbles from either a suction side leak or pump cavitation.

If it does not and it's actually junk going back in the pool then your filter is in need of repair. I know in another post you were overdosong on metal remover. This can sometimes precipitate calcium phosphnate that will cloud the water and is almost impossible to filter out. If you can vacuum to waste then sometimes you can use a flocculant, let it settle, and then carefully vacuum most of it to waste.

As far as how often to backwash, you should backwash when the pressure gauge has risen 8 psi from the last backwash ir whatever pressure rise the manufacturer of your filer recommends. No guesswork involved here at all.

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That could be my problem also. Last year I loaded up on stain remover - mostly citric acid. Have had a cloudy pool ever since. EDIT: When I opened this year the water was crystal clear. After a day back to cloudy.

So I will try the flocculent and vac to waste. We have the tiger shark and have never used the vac system that attaches to the skimmer hole. Actually we tried it once but could not get it to work. From what I have read, I need to sink the hose in the water first, then plug into the skimmer hole. EDIT: fill hose using the inlets. Turn valve onto skimmer at 100%. Filter valve to waste. Any tricks to this?

EDIT: Do I need an adapter for the skimmer hole or just insert the hose?

Also, is one type of flocculent better that another? I have two bottles from last year of different brands.

All water chemicals test good.

Thank you

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As soon as I turned on pump, water became cloudy within a minute. Does this mean filter needs to be backwashed? Little wary of backwashing too much because someone told me too much backwashing defeats the purpose of better filtration. Any advice?

Thanks.

Does the cloudiness dissipate in a bit or does it stay? If it is dissipating quickly then it is probably bubbles from either a suction side leak or pump cavitation.

If it does not and it's actually junk going back in the pool then your filter is in need of repair. I know in another post you were overdosong on metal remover. This can sometimes precipitate calcium phosphnate that will cloud the water and is almost impossible to filter out. If you can vacuum to waste then sometimes you can use a flocculant, let it settle, and then carefully vacuum most of it to waste.

As far as how often to backwash, you should backwash when the pressure gauge has risen 8 psi from the last backwash ir whatever pressure rise the manufacturer of your filer recommends. No guesswork involved here at all.

Let me first say that I really appreciate your help...thx.

Cloudiness did not dissipate so did flocculant (is clarifier the same thing?) and vacummed to waste. Cleared to acceptable level but not crystal clear (my standard). I'm waiting on arrival of test kit you recommended to get chem levels to post here.

One other question. I bought this house with pool 7 years ago. Even the pool service guys had trouble managing cloudiness from time to time and one of them mentioned that mabye the sand needed to be replaced in the filter. I have no idea how long the sand has been in there but I know it hasn't been changed in 7 years and pool service guy said he never changed it for at least a few years before I bought the pool/house. Any ideas on sand life or is that another forum?

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Cloudiness did not dissipate so did flocculant (is clarifier the same thing?)

NO, they are different and cannot be substituted

One other question. I bought this house with pool 7 years ago. Even the pool service guys had trouble managing cloudiness from time to time and one of them mentioned that mabye the sand needed to be replaced in the filter. I have no idea how long the sand has been in there but I know it hasn't been changed in 7 years and pool service guy said he never changed it for at least a few years before I bought the pool/house. Any ideas on sand life or is that another forum?

Replacing the sand might help.

Sand life is a hotly debated topic. Some feel that sand does not wear out. Others feel that the water tends to polish off the corners of the sand grains and lower their filtering ability from erosion. I am in the latter group and feel that sand should be changed every 5 to 7 years. It's cheap enough that it's not a big expense. Be sure to use filter sand and don't waste your money on zeolite or (recycled) glass filter media. They offer no real advantages over sand, IMHO, and cost quite a bit more.

I would also check the laterals when you do to make sure that no sand is getting into the pool. You can use a bit of DE as a filter aid with a sand filter. First check the pressure on your pressure gauge. Start with 1 cup of DE and mixed it in a bucket of water and pour it into the skimmer with the pump running. Let it run about 20 minutes and check the pressure. If it has risen 1 psi you are done. If it has not risen add another cup of DE in a bucket of water and wait again. If it has risen more than 1 psi then backwash out the DE and start over with just hald a cup of DE. Once you find out how much DE causes a 1 psi rise in filter pressure just add that amount after each backwash mixed into a bucket of water and poured into the skimmer. It will improve your filtration by quite a bit. Most sand filters need around 1 or 2 cups of DE.

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Here are test results from Taylor kit:

PH = 7.0. Took 11 drops of R0006 to get to 7.4

Free chlorine = .2ppm

Combined chlorine = .6ppm

Alkalinity = 90ppm

Calcium hardness = 370ppm

CYA = did not even get close to registering at 100 ppm mark.

Water temp = 84 degrees.

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Here are test results from Taylor kit:

PH = 7.0. Took 11 drops of R0006 to get to 7.4

I assume you raised the pH a bit? (And retested TA after raising pH if you used soda ash or pH up?)

Free chlorine = .2ppm

Combined chlorine = .6ppm

I assume you brought the FC and shocked to get rid of the CC?

Alkalinity = 90ppm

Calcium hardness = 370ppm

CYA = did not even get close to registering at 100 ppm mark.

Why do you want the CYA at 100 ppm? Do you have a SWCG? If not you don't want the CYA anywhere near that high!

Water temp = 84 degrees.

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As far as the CYA goes, what I meant was when I put the treated cloudy water into the CYA tube, the black dot wasn't visible after only adding a small amount, so small that it didn't even reach the 100 mark, which I'm guessing it means it was way OVER 100. What is a SWCG?

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As far as the CYA goes, what I meant was when I put the treated cloudy water into the CYA tube, the black dot wasn't visible after only adding a small amount, so small that it didn't even reach the 100 mark, which I'm guessing it means it was way OVER 100. What is a SWCG?

CYA is WAY TOO HIGH

SWCG=salt water chlorine generator

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As far as the CYA goes, what I meant was when I put the treated cloudy water into the CYA tube, the black dot wasn't visible after only adding a small amount, so small that it didn't even reach the 100 mark, which I'm guessing it means it was way OVER 100. What is a SWCG?

CYA is WAY TOO HIGH

SWCG=salt water chlorine generator

Ok...sooooo...what do I do now?

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