Salinity issue after flooding. Help with plan.

[fishpool5710228]

Hi All - So we are in the southeast and in December we had saltwater flooding that made it's way into the pool. It turned green and I threw in a bunch of chlorine, within a short time frame it was back to the normal clear blue. Admittedly I then completely slacked on the chemistry. I vaccumed and brushed but didn't test (I don't have a salt meter anyway - but I didn't test any chem). I know this was foolish but I simply got distracted by other things. About a week ago I started to notice rust colored stains on the pebbletek surface and in my gut I knew I had messed up by igoring the chem. My husband took a water sample to Leslie (I know, I know) simply to confirm my gut. Our salinity is off the charts.

So their advice, that I agree with, is that we need to drain the pool and get the salinty in check before we worry about anything else (staining, other levels). Because of the water table level in the area the advice is to not fully drain the pool and then add all new water (the pool could pop out of the ground) but to drain and fill at the same time. Makes sense to me.

So my questions to wise people here are:

1. Does the plan of action in general make sense. I am mostly worried about the chance to address the staining and terrified it's unfixable.

2. Should I order a salinity meter or just take the water to Leslie's a few times until it's correct. I plan on sitting by the pool for the many hours/whole day that it takes to replace the water other than running back and forth to the store to test if I don't buy a meter. If I should buy a meter is there one on Amazon that could work? I want to get it here fast so i can start this process.

3. Any other advice or issues I am overlooking.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Newdude]

The Talyor K-1766 ($30 drop test) is your best bet. The pool store is likely in the right ballpark, but still off from Taylor per usual.

Do you know how deep your ground water table is ? You worry about the pool shell becoming a boat (floating) if you drain below it.

 

[ajw22]

Nope.

Get your own test kits and stay out of Leslie.

Identify the stains and what chemical treatments will be required to treat them. Some chemical treatments will require replacing the water after treatment. You don’t want to get into a cycle of needing to drain the pool two or three times.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

Stain ID Kit | Jacks Magic

jacksmagic.com

Read about our No Drain Water Exchange that can reduce salt levels without fully draining the pool - Draining - Further Reading

Post pics of your pool and show us the problems.

 

[fishpool5710228]

The Talyor K-1766 ($30 drop test) is your best bet. The pool store is likely in the right ballpark, but still off from Taylor per usual.

Do you know how deep your ground water table is ? You worry about the pool shell becoming a boat (floating) if you drain below it.

Thank you for the rec. just ordered! I don't know the exact water table level but we live in the Lowcountry so ...close, LOL! I have drained it to the a certain line before with no issues so my plan was to not exceed that while also refilling at the same time. I am definitely worried about the pool becoming a boat!

 

[ajw22]

Put a complete recent set of water tests in your PoolMath log.

 

[fishpool5710228]

Nope.

Get your own test kits and stay out of Leslie.

Identify the stains and what chemical treatments will be required to treat them. Some chemical treatments will require replacing the water after treatment. You don’t want to get into a cycle of needing to drain the pool two or three times.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

Stain ID Kit | Jacks Magic

jacksmagic.com

Read about our No Drain Water Exchange that can reduce salt levels without fully draining the pool - Draining - Further Reading

Post pics of your pool and show us the problems.

Thank you! Here are pictures of the stains. They are expanding by the minute, I swear I am going to read the link you provided now.

 

[ajw22]

Those blurry pics are not very helpful. Try and get some pics without reflections.

 

[ajw22]

Put vitamin C in a sock and rub it on some stained areas and see if it lifts.

 

[reggiehammond]

Without test results - it's hard to have advice. Do you have any FC in the pool?
But those blurry blobs look like could be simply algae to me. What happens when you brush them?

 

[fishpool5710228]

Ok. Y'all have already been so helpful! I have updated my test results. I have no
FC so clearly that's an issue. I then brushed what I thought was "rust" and it brushed away - so my mind is blown that it seems to be algae (better pictures attached).

So... now I have to figure out what order to address the issues in. I am still confident that my salinity is off the charts. I will have my own salinity tester here in the next day or two. Obviously I need to address the algae and other pool chem as well. I'm guessing I should do the no drain water axchange before getting the rest of the chemistry correct?

 

[Bperry]

Ok. Y'all have already been so helpful! I have updated my test results. I have no
FC so clearly that's an issue. I then brushed what I thought was "rust" and it brushed away - so my mind is blown that it seems to be algae (better pictures attached).

So... now I have to figure out what order to address the issues in. I am still confident that my salinity is off the charts. I will have my own salinity tester here in the next day or two. Obviously I need to address the algae and other pool chem as well. I'm guessing I should do the no drain water axchange before getting the rest of the chemistry correct?

Did you really test zero CH and CYA?

 

[JJ_Tex]

So... now I have to figure out what order to address the issues in. I am still confident that my salinity is off the charts.

Here are my 2 cents on order of importance:

1. Get FC in the pool ASAP. That is by far your #1 issue.
2. Get your Salinity test to determine if you need to drain.
3a. If you don't need to drain, get some CYA in your pool
3b. If you do need to drain, post up here and we can help you out. Ideally you can do a partial drain and refill.
4. Balance all of your chemicals
5. Address any draining issues so you don't have another flood

 

[fishpool5710228]

Did you really test zero CH and CYA?

I think so. Obviously human error could be an issue. When I did the CH test I added the 20 drops of R-0010, swirled and then added the 5 drops of R-0011L, swirled and the sample turned purple. I added the R-0012 by the drop just to see if I could a more blue color but it never changed from the purple.

With the CYA the black dot never dissapeared.....

 

[Newdude]

It makes sense with enough sea water added. But you also may have just skipped those tests with bigger fish to fry at the moment.

 

[fishpool5710228]

Here are my 2 cents on order of importance:

1. Get FC in the pool ASAP. That is by far your #1 issue.
2. Get your Salinity test to determine if you need to drain.
3a. If you don't need to drain, get some CYA in your pool
3b. If you do need to drain, post up here and we can help you out. Ideally you can do a partial drain and refill.
4. Balance all of your chemicals
5. Address any draining issues so you don't have another flood

Thank you!! I am going to head to find some bottles of liquid chlorine to start the SLAM and get the FC up.

 

[Newdude]

How high was the tide ? Inches or feet ? Did the house flood too ?

 

[Newdude]

5. Address any draining issues so you don't have another flood

Normally I'm right there with ya, but we're not talking about diverting roof/gutter water here.

French drains aren't gonna cut it.

 

[ajw22]

When you say salinity is off the charts did Leslie give you a number?

 

[Newdude]

salinity is off the charts

That's a great point !!! If there's no pool water left, 35,000 ppm is going to take 175 drops with the Taylor kit. Ooof.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Normally I'm right there with ya, but we're not talking about diverting roof/gutter water here.

French drains aren't gonna cut it.

Ha, obviously if it was direct ocean water there is not much you can do without Poseidon like powers. I was just thinking it was some sort of lowland/brackish water flooding that could possibly be mitigated with re-grading, drains, etc.