Cloudy pool - pressure guage showing zero - now what ?

[chessie]

The story of our pool is turning into a nightmare.   Everything that could go wrong seems to have done so.

Pump works fine.   Have regenerated Zeolite.   Have dosed pool with max dose of Chlorine to get rid of bright green water.

Now have beautiful cloudy blue water;  but have run pump and filter for over 12 hours - and there is no difference - it is not being cleared.

There is good water flow, both ways.      The filter works - it will back-wash, it will rinse, it pulls and pushes water.   But there seems to be no 'filtering' action - it's almost as though it's stuck on 'recirculate' rather than filter;  but the valve (top mounted) is in the right 'filter' position.

This is a 24ft x 12ft above ground pool.  For last 4 years had no problems at all.   Have now done the pH and Chlorine test using the plastic container and the red and yellow drop bottles.   The water reading shows pH is OK - but in less than a minute the colour changes in the tester container from the OK to almost purple - which shows extremely hard water - even though I've put in what should be the right amounts of pH minus.

Will be going to visit local Pool shop tomorrow with sample of pool water in the hope they can do a more accurate read of the pool water and get a better picture of what's going on.

Another problem;  the pressure gauge is NOT working;  it is not showing any pressure at all - any ideas ?    He Who Doesn't Listen - doesn't have a clue and let's me try to sort this out on my own - which I'm trying to do.

Anyone hear my cries for help and advice ?

Chessie.

[osie]

If I had a zero gauge then I would empty the skimmer basket, check for a dead frog in the pump basket, open and close the inlet pipes lots to get rid of air bubbles and turn the little knob on the guauge to let out the air....  if that did not work I would give up..

Years ago I had a green pool.. when I was even more clueless.... and I recall it went from green to cloudy blue and then eventually after a few days back to normal... so I would wait a bit more....

I think the pool shop is also invaluable for the water results..

[halfblind]

It could be a problem with the seal in the multi-port valve or the spring on the handle on top of the filter ( or on the side if its that type) allowing water to pass by for recirculation rather than pass through the filter.

To check you should feel a resistance when you push the handle down to move position - if not then the spring is suspect.

You can easily remove the top of the valve by removing the six screws and examine the seal between the ports. Remove the screws a little at a time to avoid straining the top.

Replacement seals can be bought on line. I got mine from www.piscine-clic.com

[Théière]

Hi Chessie,

Sorry for the delay just got back after a busy time.  Pool gauges have a relatively short life span as the pool water often attacks the thin metal tube inside the gauge and puts a tiny pin hole in it and then they don't work, not a costly replacement around £10-12.

Your testing is correct for the pH immediately displayed, the delayed colour change is not hard water it's interference from chlorine usually.  Your OTO test kit also only shows total chlorine and not free chlorine so can give a spurious result as it's possible to have say 4ppm of total chlorine shown which could be nil free chlorine as it's all chloramine, the nasty pool smell type of byproduct.  A DPD type of tester would serve you better so you can measure free and total chlorine to get a proper view of the state of the water.

Tricky to help with why it hasn't cleared yet, may not be done with chocing or as I have visited two pools this past week with pumps badly cavitating so looking like water is moving properly but in fact not so as the pump is thrashing the water putting tiny bubbles into it.  The information gained from accurate proper testing shows whether there are issues from free and total chlorine tests and also if the water is hard and the alkalinity levels affect clarity too in some cases as the various waters of france can be totally different from one place to another.