New member needs some advice

[john5555leonard]

hi, my names john i,m british and live in thailand .i,v got a inground tiled pool with sand filter . i had the pool 5yrs and sometimes use washing soda <soda ash> that i get from local hardware shop <cheap> as a floculant , i put 3 kilo in leave it overnight then vacuum to waste. i,v done this for years and it always worked great, but this time its not worked, just left the water cloudy, once or twice in the past its not worked and i,v tried different suppliers of soda but its not the soda , so can anybody tell me why its not floculating . regards john

[cpo2go]

I see that this was posted quite a while ago but I'll respond anyway. It may help someone else somewhere down the road:
Do you usually backwash before you add more flocculant? I hope that you do so you don't get too much build-up. The one thing that I can see could be causing the problem would be channeling of your sand bed. This is when grooves or channels form in your sand and allow larger particles to pass through. Give your sand filter a good backwash to really stir things up and the channeling will go away.

[wendy2]

I had the same problem so I did a little research and followed this:

ith the correct treatment, this issue can be fixed in a matter of a couple days. Depending on the severity of the cloudy pool water will determine the best way to treat it.

Step 1

How cloudy is the water? Can you see the bottom or not? What type of filtration system do you have? How old is the equipment or filter? These are all issues that need to be addressed when it comes to cloudy water. Sometimes, cloudy water can arrise due to poor filtration. If you have a sand filter and the sand is old (over 5-7 years) or too dirty to filter anything.

Step 2

If the cloudy water is because of an algae treatment. I recommend a flocculant product (aluminum sulfate). Biogaurd makes a produt called PowerFloc that works very well. This product will settle all those particles to the bottom for vacuuming. This is not very easy with a cartridge filter system unless you have to ability to vacuum to waste. Refer to my article on cloudy water with a cartridge filter. If you have a sand or DE filter, then continue reading.

Step 3

If the cloudyness is not very bad (you can still see the bottom) usually a water clarifier (Polysheen Blue by Bioguard) will work within about 24 hours and a good backwash or filter cleaning should do the trick. If the cloudyness is severe (you cannot see the bottom) you need to use a flocculant. To use, follow these steps: 1. Make sure your pH is above 7.8. The product works faster when the pH is higher. 2. Add the flocculant (liquid or powder, I use liquid) to the pool and circulate for 2-4 hours. If you have a sand filter, put the handle on the filter to recirculate. 3. Turn the pump off and allow the pool to sit for 24-72 hours. 4. Simply vacuum to waste when the debris (cloudyness) settles to the bottom.

How cloudy is the water? Can you see the bottom or not? What type of filtration system do you have? How old is the equipment or filter? These are all issues that need to be addressed when it comes to cloudy water. Sometimes, cloudy water can arrise due to poor filtration. If you have a sand filter and the sand is old (over 5-7 years) or too dirty to filter anything.

Step 4

If the cloudyness is not very bad (you can still see the bottom) usually a water clarifier (Polysheen Blue by Bioguard) will work within about 24 hours and a good backwash or filter cleaning should do the trick. If the cloudyness is severe (you cannot see the bottom) you need to use a flocculant. To use, follow these steps: 1. Make sure your pH is above 7.8. The product works faster when the pH is higher. 2. Add the flocculant (liquid or powder, I use liquid) to the pool and circulate for 2-4 hours. If you have a sand filter, put the handle on the filter to recirculate. 3. Turn the pump off and allow the pool to sit for 24-72 hours. 4. Simply vacuum to waste when the debris (cloudyness) settles to the bottom.

Hope it helps.