Vaccumed my pool last week, it was very dusty on the bottom and used floculante beforehand. Only a few days after, it has another covering of yellow dust on the bottom. I've noticed this the last few cleans. Also, towards the end of vacuuming the water is becoming quite cloudy. I know you will get some cloudiness however careful you are, but I never remember the pool getting so dirty in just a few days before

Any ideas?

Sounds to me like a residue of floculante which is still clearing the water.

We have the same issue here.

Not wishing to be patronising in any way but did you vacuum the floculante through the filter? I was told that this was a definite no-no as it will damage the sand in the filter and will no longer do it's job and therefore all the dirt you vacuum out after this will not be picked up by the sand filter. I was told to always vacuum floculante straight to waste. If you have done it correctly it's probably, as suggested, just the residue settling.

I was told it was OK to vaccum floculate through the filter but you must do an immediate backwash and rinse to wash it through afterwards. I hope it was the right info, I picked it up off pool supply help sites

How can you vaccum straight through to waste ..... dont you lose a lot of water?

If the pool's dirty (like after using floculante), I always vacuum to waste.

Normal cleans are done via the filter. Too much dirt and the sand gets clogged too quickly.

Yes you loose some water, but I think this is a small price to pay for a clean pool and a sand filter that works efficiently.

Liquid flocculant must not go through the filter but in tablet form it is OK. Hoovering to waste does lose a lot of water but sometimes there is no alternative.

How long has the water been in the pool and what kind of chlorine do you use? Normal granular chlorine and chlorine in tablet form contains a chemical known as cyanuric acid which is used to stabilise the chlorine against sunlight loss. However, it does not dissipate and continues to build up in the water. This eventually causes 'chlorine lock' and the free chline in the water is unable to work effectively.

You should buy a test kit for cyanuric acid. Recommendations for ideal levels vary but is generally thought to be about 30 to 80 ppm (mg/l). Once it goes above 100 it can cause the kind of problem you describe.

You should vac the floculante to waste, then top up the pool!

... try using liquid chlorine. It's MUCH cheaper and seems to work better.

Has any one any thoughts on which is best (liquid vs tablets)?

Same question for floculante although I've only used tablets.

I use chlorine tablets and floculent tablets and always bw / rinse afterwards.

The water has been in the pool for about three years, like the others here. This has suddenly happened some weeks ago after we had a lot of "dirty" rain which made the bottom very dirty. I've been unable to clean it properly since

Yes, but it takes about 45 mins to an hour to vacuum the pool normally. Thats a hell of a lot of water gone out of the pool.

I gave the bottom a brush this morning and left the filter on. The water is still murky now, I shall leave the filter on for the rest of the day and see if it improves.

Check the PH level, I bet its low. ;-))

You would have lost

The ph & acidity are perfect

Christ Mitzy, have you got an olympic size pool!! 10-15 mins tops of actual vacuuming on my 10x4 pool which takes the level down about 3-4 inches and then takes about 2 hours to top up through a very low pressure hose.

If they are and the chlorine is ok then your water should be crystal clear.
You will have to vac it to waste to clear it.
How big is your pool, our 8 by 12 only takes about 3/4 of an hour to vac.

Same size as yours.
Yep, readings are all fine, just that I cant clear it.
Backwash and rinse produces clean looking water

How much water do you lose in 45 mins?

It's unlikely that you will be able to clear it using the filter. Either turn the pump off, leave it to settle for a few hours, then vac it to waste, or use powdered flocculante, (without the filter running, and preferably late in the evening) then when that has settled, vac it to waste.
Tim