Hi Everyone,

We let our above ground pool go for a few months, and now I'm unable
to get the water clear. It's an above ground pool, 25 feet diameter
and about 5 feet deep on average. With a few larger trees in our back
yard, the bottom was covered in leaves, which I believe started
growing algae.

After shocking the heck outta the pool I spent several days vacuuming
the pool to get as many leaves and crud from the bottom as I could
find, though it wasn't easy since I couldn't see the bottom. After
this plus scrubbing the sides I balanced the chemicals (still cloudy)
and took a sample to my local pool store where they suggested a 'super
floc'. I poured twice the standard dose for my pool (about 8 oz) and
ran the pump for 2 hours then shut off for 24 hours. I saw no change,
so vacuumed again and did another dose... again no change.

Went back to pool store and they recommended another clarifier which
also didn't work. From what they said the first would make the crud
settle to the bottom and the second would make the particals stick
together so they could be sucked into filter.

This was all last week, and I've let my pump run 24/hours for the last
4-5 days with still no change. The water is clearer, but still not
crystal and can't see the bottom.

I'm continuing to vacuum out every couple of days and keeping the
chemicals balanced, but I'm not sure what to try next. I've read some
folks say they drained 2/3 of the pool, but I'd rather not do that
since I don't want to hose the vinyl liner.

Any suggestions? I've been messing with the pool for 2 weeks now, and
still no luck. At this rate it'll be winter before it's ready to
go Also note to self, maintain the pool through winter this year.

Alex