Cloudy water/foam - possibly DE problem

[JimmyGee]

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum but belong to many others and find them a great source of information and greatly appreciate all the experts that contribute.

I have a cloudy water problem.

My pool: 20 year old 20x40 in-ground, steel wall, (new last season) vinyl liner, 36K. Hayward 1.5 hp pump, Hayward 4800 DE filter (not sure of filter # - I think it’s 4800). No heater.

Pulled the cover off about 2 weeks ago - water looked great (clear) with some leaves in the bottom. Leaf-raked 80% of the leaves, began to add water and s/u filter. I unexpectedly needed to be out of town for a few days - added 4 gallons of liquid shock (12.5% sodium hypochlorite). Returned 3 days later and the water was a dark green murky soup. The pump motor had burned out (took 2 days) and I then disassembled the filter to inspect the grids. Found the top manifold cracked and replaced it (2 more days). Inspected all of the grids (they looked good) but I had 5 spares so I replaced 5 of the 8. Added 8 more gallons of shock over 2-3 days attempting to clear up the water. Turned the pump off for a day and vacuumed to waste any DE that was sitting on the bottom. I could see it in the shallow end, but I am simply pushing the vacuum around in the deep end since the pool is so murky. Added some algecide which helped the color (now blue and murky) but created a ton of foam (covering about 1/3 the surface) and moved to water balancing.

Initial reading from Leslies:
Free Cl = 0.18
Total Cl = 0.42
pH = 8.1
Total alk = 48
Hardness = 116
Cyanuric Acid = 5
Iron = 0.1
Copper = 0
Phosphates = 152
TDS = 900

Ugly I know. I added 30 lbs Alk Up and I’m in the process of adding ~7 lbs dry acid. After that I’ll address the hardness, though I don’t really believe that’s necessary since I don’t have a heater (comments welcome on that point).

I also see a ring of what looks like granular chlorine (I’ve always used liquid) around the pool perimeter at the surface - I am guessing this is DE that is aggregating.

I know normal process is to let the pool sit (filter off) and then vac to waste, though I don’t understand why the filter won’t remove the DE (aren’t the grids designed to hold DE???). I’m hoping once I address the balance the pool will clear enough so that I can see if there’s DE on the bottom to vacuum, but I have my doubts. I also think I need to run the filter to circulate the water to distribute the chemicals so it will clear, but that won’t allow the DE to settle.

After the dry acid I thought I’d run it overnight and bring the water for another test in the morning.

Appreciate comments/suggestions/advice from the experts here.

Thanks I’m advance.

[Teapot1]

Sorry I dont have much time today but as a vinyl liner pool dont worry about the hardness. Alk is also ok for now. Just keep shocking it after lowering the pH. Be back later.

[Denniswiseman]

You need to Slam (Shock Level and Maintain) with relation to Chlorine / CYA Chart and Recommended Pool Levels

Use these common products to balance your pool
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach) Liquid chlorine only adds salt
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA