It would be helpful to know what kind of filter what kind of cleaner, SWG? a list of current water test results. Do you have any of that handy?

I'm telling you, I am a NEWBIE!!!!!!!!!!!! ha ha...

I will try to go look at all the equipment and give you a rundown of what we've got.

DH was the "contractor" on the pool.

Is SWG a Salt Water Generator? We have that, but haven't added the salt yet. That's supposed to happen next week. Guess I'm glad we haven't done that yet.

Because we're novices, we don't have a test kit yet (leaving that to the pool guy for now!). I can jsut tell you that it was beautiful crystal blue yesterday, and today I can't see the bottom of the "beach" area...5" deep!

I'll see what I can see on the equipment and post in a bit.

OK...bear with me if any of this information is "non-information"!!! (I'm just reading labels and receipts!)

It looks (from a hand-written receipt) like we have:

Goldline PS8 System
Hayward 1 1/2 hr pump (Super II)
Pentair Clean and Clear

There's a lot more out there...just don't know what's important for this problem! I could try to take a digital pic of the equipment (and the pool!) if that would help.

Right now, I'm just letting the filter run, and I guess i just keep an eye on the pressure gauge.

Does any of that help???

You have a cartridge filter. Let the thing run forever until it clears. SeaKlear makes a great product called PRS that will filter that stuff out to .5 micron. Add that AS DIRECTED ASAP and expect to have to clean the filter a couple of time before you're through..

Something similar happened to us. Our pool was about 3 weeks old when a tremendous storm blew through and deposited a ton of dirt and sand in the pool. Afterwards the water was very cloudy, I could barely see the bottom. I cranked up the pump to run on high speed for a day so it would filter the water faster, plus brushed the pool down 2 or 3 times a day starting at the edges and brushing to the middle (floor drain). The water cleared up after a couple of days, but it took a week of brushing to get most of the sand out. After a week I cleaned the filters out and WOW did they have a lot of stuff in them! So in summary:

- Run your filtering cycle continuously until the water clears up.
- Brush the pool down twice a day as sediment collects in the bottom, continue until the sediment is gone.
- If you don't have a full test kit, take your water in and get it tested.
- Check your chemicals every day until the water gets back to normal.
- Clean your filters if you had a lot of sediment that you were sweeping out.

You may not have it as bad as we did, if not then it may be easier for you to get it cleared up.

One other thing, did you notice if the dirt was washed into your pool or blew in? Hopefully it didn't wash in as that would indicate that the pool may have been installed too low. We have some friends that have a pool that was installed too low and mud was getting washed into it every time they had a heavy rain. They had a miserable time trying to keep the pool clean! They ended up regrading around the pool and installing a sump pump.

Thanks for the help! Please pardon my COMPLETE lack of "Pool Talk". I consider myself a pretty sharp gal...but this pool stuff doesn't yet click with me. So here come the dumb questions:

1) How do I make the filter run on "high speed"?
2) I know we've got it pre-programmed to run 8-5...should I overrun that and have it run all the time?
3) We don't have a vacuum yet...should that be an immediate (emergency!!) purchase?
4) When sweeping, you just push the sediment toward the drain? Is that where it pulls it from to filter it anyway?
5) If I take the water to be tested, will I need to get chemicals? The guy that did our start up has been tending to that until we get the salt water thing going next week.
6) I'm watching the pressure gauge on the filter. It's been around 15. I understand if it gets 5-10 psi above that, I should clean the filter. Is that correct?

(I need "pool School 101" with drawings and such to understand it all!!)

tresw, you give me hope that all is not lost!!! I'm afraid, though that the dirt washed in. We have not completed the landscaping or fencing or sod yet, so I'm hoping that all that will come together and this won't be a recurring problem! We live in Florida, and afternoon showers are a part of life!

Thanks again for the expertise and 'fixits'!! This has already been a valuable place to 'lurk'!!!

Kathy

I assume it's a gunite pool.

2) I guess you can but I'm not sure it would help if you have dirt on the bottom of the pool because of #3

3) usually a cleaner is included when you have a pool built but certainly not always. I would check with the builder on that. He may not want you to put in a cleaner if it's a gunite pool just yet.

4)The drains on the bottom have very little suction for safety reasons. You can brush it that way but I don't think you'll see drastic improvement.

5) The builder should have left some pucks in the skimmer basket until the salt system is turned on. I would get a good test kit and test for myself in the long run. It wouldn't hurt to take some of the water to the pool store. You do not have to buy anything at that time. I would also ask the builder what he has added to the pool so far.

4) I would say 8-10 PSI above would be a good time to clean it. 30 PSI max...

Hi Kathy,

==1) How do I make the filter run on "high speed"?==

Not the filter, but the pump. This really only applies if you have a multi-speed pump. I think your Hayward is single speed, so you can disregard that comment.

==2) I know we've got it pre-programmed to run 8-5...should I overrun that and have it run all the time?==

I would run it more just to get the water-borne stuff filtered out. Once the water clears you can back off of that.

==3) We don't have a vacuum yet...should that be an immediate (emergency!!) purchase?==

Do you have a pool cleaner of some sort (robotic)? If so, you should run it. The plaster should be well cured after a month, but as Tagprod said you should confirm with your PB if you haven't been running it yet. If you don't have one, then yeah, a vacuum would be a good purchase at this point.

==4) When sweeping, you just push the sediment toward the drain? Is that where it pulls it from to filter it anyway?==

Yes, the water returns through the floor drain/ drains and the skimmers. It goes from there through the filter then back into the pump. As Tagprod said the floor drain doesn't pull very strongly, so you have to keep sweeping the sediment into the drain until it's gone. I push everything to within a couple of feet of the drain first, then keep pushing that last pile into the drain until it's all sucked in. Some of the sediment goes in the drain and some of it goes over, so I just keep working it back and forth until it's all gone.

==5) If I take the water to be tested, will I need to get chemicals? The guy that did our start up has been tending to that until we get the salt water thing going next week.==

If the PB is maintaining it for you then call them and let them know it's cloudy and let them test it and add chemicals if required. If it's dirt, then it probably won't need anything. But if it's cloudy because the chlorine is battling something, then you (or the PB) may need to shock it.

==6) I'm watching the pressure gauge on the filter. It's been around 15. I understand if it gets 5-10 psi above that, I should clean the filter. Is that correct?==

As a general rule. But it needs to be cleaned more often when the pool is new due to plaster dust. It's also a good idea to clean it quarterly even if the pressure isn't up because the filters are easier to clean if you do it more often. I'm assuming you have a cartridge filter rather than DE, if you have DE it's a different procedure (backwashing).

==tresw, you give me hope that all is not lost!!! I'm afraid, though that the dirt washed in.==

Don't be concerned just yet, since all your landscaping is still new there's no doubt a lot of loose dirt around. Once it all settles in then hopefully it won't wash in.

Lastly, as Tagprod suggested get a GOOD test kit. I bought a TF100 at the suggestion of other pool forum members and it is indeed a great kit (link below). Pool stores do not give consistent results when testing your water, go to 3 different stores and you'll likely get 3 different test reports. If you invest in a good kit you'll get consistent results and won't need to deal with misinformation at the pool store! But until you get a good kit, either the PB needs to check it or you need to take a sample somewhere. Whenever you get a big storm blow through you need to watch your chemicals closely for a few days.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.tftestkits.com/

Thank you for the excellent advice. We got more rain yesterday, more dirt in the pool. And I think there's more rain this afternoon. I feel very defeated by this thing now. I'm afraid I'm forever ruining the pretty PebbleTec finish and the grout along the waterline tile. Right now, it's a mess.

Hubby did come home with a Baracuda Vacuum yesterday, but it's hard to see how it can even make a dent.

I'm usually the upbeat optimist...I guess a mud puddle for a pool will change things...

Thanks again for your help! I'll be sticking around looking for more help, I'm sure!

Kathy