After Flocculant treatment water foggier than ever

[dongiulio]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, it's like the filter doesn't hold the dirt balls.

Or maybe the pump breaks them again so they don't get filtered.

The Fact is that I'm trying to clean the pool using the flocculant but the water is all white now.

In the morning the dirt will be all at the bottom of the water, and sucking it with the pump hose seems to help, but cristal clear water is something we are very far from.





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[Teapot1]

Flocc's are delicate and will be smashed apart by your pump. The traditional way flocculent is used by the pool industry is wrong. It should be mixed very rapidly (can use the pump impeller to do this) then allowed to form floccs in the filter. The pool way is to add lots more flocculent (think more sales) with the system on recirculate then switch off and allow floccs to form on the floor of the pool so you can vacuum them, none of that works very well it also depends on the flow and pressure of your pump, too high and the floccs just get smashed up. That is the issue with big pumps and small filters, slower filtration is better filtration and it saves a ton of electricity (big savings there). Also it depends on how good and what type of filtration you have. The best filtration is Dr Drydens AFM ng media but to perfom at its best it still requires the correct flow rate so adding a speed controller is a big help and a big saving on electricity.

[Guest]

Thanks,

I'm not sure I understand what you recommend.

Should I pour the flocculant in the skimmer, let it mix it with the pool for an hour or so,

Stop the pump let it sit overnight.

Then I should have the flocs at the bottom.


How to get rid of them ?

I have the vacuum tube connected to the normal pump and normal and filter with white balls.
I have the rake
and I have a smaller pump with a paper filter.

Can I do something with what I have at hand?





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[dongiulio]

Thanks,

I'm not sure I understand what you recommend.

Should I pour the flocculant in the skimmer, let it mix it with the pool for an hour or so,

Stop the pump let it sit overnight.

Then I should have the flocs at the bottom.


How to get rid of them ?

I have the vacuum tube connected to the normal pump and filter with white balls.
I have the pool leaf rake
and I have a smaller pump with a paper filter.

Can I do something with what I have at hand?





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[Teapot1]

Never used polyballs as I believe in proper filtration as mentioned above with AFM. I know polyballs have successfully removed iron as the plastic polyfibre attracts the iron. You cant use flocculent with paper filters as it will clog it very quickly.
Sounds like adding it to your skimmer with the valve set on recirculate and after a while switching it off and letying it settle is your only option, vacuuming the next day but you'll really need a separate stand alone vac to do this but gently enough to collect them.
You may choose to install a proper filter with AFM ng in it and do away with these issues forever.

[dongiulio]

Thanks, Ideally I don't want to spend on more filtering systems, and I really like the white balls, they are so much less mess and I think are a finer filter than sand.

The problem seems to be with the pump, maybe i can use the small pump with paper filter removed to pump water to the big white ball filter tank.

I'd get the slow pumping by but the small pump and the filtering from the balls

Would that do?

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[Teapot1]

The polyballs may filter finer than average sand (around 20 microns) I will wait for a lab report before making a comment. Sand has several disadvantages like biofouling and channeling that AFM doesn't. AFM ng filters to 1 micron and with flocculent 0.1 micron so as far as I know the best we can get, just bare it in mind for the future.
The only reason for a more powerful pump is for backwashing, certainly not needed on filtration cycle. The polyballs have far less water resistance (seen as less pressure on the gauge) therefore using the same power of pump as on the sand filled filter would mean water flow would be considerably increased with polyballs which will decrease their fine filtering ability. This is why a flow gauge is important so tuning of the flow can be achieved. I think you should give the small pump a go.

[Guest]

Thanks I think I figured it out,

As mentioned the flocs break in the pump so filtering is not an option.

What I did was let the flocs deposit at the bottom and then removed them using the vacuum while sending all the water to waste.

I did waste some water that I'll need to restore, but broken out not the majority of the dirt went away, and while still not 100% clear now the water is way more transparent than yesterday. So I guess this could be a way to go.

Having seen all the water wasted I think I'll go with a clarifier solution, which I understand is not as quick, but wastes no water.

I hope the clarifier doesn't get the same issues of breaking flocs in the pump.



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[dongiulio]

Thanks I think I figured it out,

As mentioned the flocs break in the pump so filtering is not an option.

What I did was let the flocs deposit at the bottom and then removed them using the vacuum while sending all the water to waste.

I did waste some water that I'll need to restore, but broken out not the majority of the dirt went away, and while still not 100% clear now the water is way more transparent than yesterday. So I guess this could be a way to go.

Having seen all the water wasted I think I'll go with a clarifier solution, which I understand is not as quick, but wastes no water.

I hope the clarifier doesn't get the same issues of breaking flocs in the pump.



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[Teapot1]

Something like Jollygel works well, put into the pump basket and it forms a slightly gloopy gel in the filter to catch fine dirt and parts that have no electrical charge so cant be flocc'd

[dongiulio]

Thanks, I ordered it I'll give it a try.

Looks like a good product

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[Teapot1]

Great, it can lower some of the phosphate as well as a bonus!