Extreme Oil Cleanup Help Needed

[cmunro]

I was doing so well just reading everyone's posts and following the TFPC recommendations. Now I need some expert help:

This past weekend my neighbor was supposed to add chlorine (bleach) for me. He looked in the wrong place for the bleach and ended up pouring about 3 gallons of old peanut oil into my pool. Yes, he knew it didn't look right but that didn't stop him. It was enough to turn my 35K gallons of water opaque white to where I could only see a couple inches below the surface.

I've been adding Pool Aid / First Aid and the water is slowly clearing up. It's been 5 days and have added a total of 5 bottles of First Aid.
I can now see the bottom of the deep end. But I can also see accumulations of oil on a lot of surfaces. The skimmers have gobs of oil in and on them. The jets, pool lights and drains are also covered in oil. There's a track of oil where water circulates on the tanning shelf which is very shallow.

In addition to the enzyme treatment I'm keeping large sponges in the skimmers to soak up oil, and replacing them every other day. I'll be taking the filter apart for a thorough cleaning tomorrow.

Has anyone dealt with this much oil in a pool? Any suggestions for treating the deposits of oil on surfaces?

I've looked at UltraOne degreaser which is supposed to be safe, non-toxic and biodegradable.

Is the enzyme route reliable if I stick with it? Or is it time to drain and call in someone to clean the pool out?

Thanks!

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! If you can find some PIG mats they will help soak up the oil. I'm sure the Pool First Aid is getting expensive, but it does help break it down. You can also use the SLAM process to help clean up the pool. I don't know if UltraOne is ok for pools. It is a surface cleaner and would dilute in the bulk pool water. I would stick with the enzymes.

I hope your neighbor is getting his eyes checked!

 

[robertmee]

I don't know the answer...but dang that's terrible and depressing...I'm sure your neighbor feels horrible too. I probably would have drained, cleaned and refilled. Whatever the solution good luck.

 

[Texas Splash]

Holy smokes Charlie! My jaw dropped wen I read your post. I found this thread you may want to read: Please Help - Oil in Pool. It's vegetable oil, not peanut, but may have some similar applications. Here is the SLAM page: Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain that you may need as well.

Last but not least, make sure your neighbor buys the bleach and refreshments. Others will reply as well, so keep watching this post. Let us know how it turns out.

Last but not least..... welcome to TFP!

 

[cmunro]

Thanks for all the quick replies. The plan now is to let the enzymes work over night and clean the filter tomorrow. I should have pig mats tomorrow thanks to free one day shipping at a certain online super store.

Once the filter is cleaned I'll SLAM the pool. I've resisted testing with so much oil in the water. Didn't want to ruin the test kit. CYA reading in this condition should be close enough, right?

And yes, thanks for the welcome. Wish it was under better circumstances. Hoping no one else ever comes home to this problem.

(Texas Splash) - he is now indebted to me for a full summer of refreshments, and he knows what I prefer.

 

[Xandraxal]

But seriously. Was the neighbor a 9 year old kid? What grown adult doesn't know what oil and chlorine are supposed to look or smell like? Smh. This is a cruddy situation, my friend, I certainly wish you the best of luck with the clean up!

 

[duraleigh]

If there's even the slightest possibility that something can go wrong, it almost always does.

 

[cmunro]

Well, his specialty/profession is "disaster recovery." Maybe he's always trying to create work for himself?

 

[f3justusc]

Next time, raise your FC, drop some pucks in a floater if CYA is OK, and go on your trip. You do not need anyone to babysit your pool. If you do, gather everything they need in one box, clearly mark it, and leave anything they do not need out of their reach. What seems clear to one person is a mystery waiting to be solved by another. I am sad for you and your neighbor but like all things, this too shall pass.
Welcome to the forum regardless of the circumstances.

 

[cmunro]

You know, in hindsight - where everything is clear - that's exactly what I should have done for this short trip. And I knew that as soon as I got back.

Live and learn - share what you learn.

 

[domct203]

Welcome to the forum.

If the containers were clearly marked peanut oil this is truly all his fault.

Best of luck, as mentioned, this will pass and we will help you get your pool back in shape.

Dom

 

[Texas Splash]

He's disaster recovery? Bwaahaahaa! That's hilarious. Not for you right now, but maybe later.

 

[singingpond]

Welcome to the forum.

If the containers were clearly marked peanut oil this is truly all his fault.

Best of luck, as mentioned, this will pass and we will help you get your pool back in shape.

Dom

But, empty bleach containers are so useful for storing various other liquids... We use them after changing oil in the cars, and don't always label right away...

I suppose it could have been worse (I'm just imagining one way this goof could have happened; OP didn't say what the peanut oil bottles looked like).

 

[cmunro]

Since there's some entertainment value in this thread, there's the full story:

My neighbor is a good friend and I've been telling him about TFPC for a year. So he's well aware I use straight bleach, no special chemicals. His neighbor's pool had to be drained and power washed because of high CYA. And even then they were concerned that the CYA had leached into the plaster and that the levels might still be high after refilling. So the topic of pool care comes up often.

He also stole my pool design when it was time to redo his plaster. He was jealous of our tanning shelf and had one put into his pool.

I told him the bleach was by the back door. It's actually in the kitchen to keep it out of the Texas heat. He knows I don't keep chlorine in the garage because we talked about how badly tools can rust when stored in a hot garage along with Chlorine in any form (another lesson learned the hard way).

Despite having heard all this, he went into the garage, didn't see bleach, rummaged around until he found the old 3" Silk Tab container near the front of the garage. Near the fryer and the newer Peanut oil. Being the closest thing to Chlorine/Bleach he could find, he decided that must be what I used. And even when it didn't look right going in, kept pouring.

And yes, my wife "suggested" that I should have marked the container "peanut oil". Hind sight is a wonderful thing. She also suggested he was sabotaging us because he's still jealous of our pool.

Anyway, I am going to buy an extra large label maker. Because in addition to this incident, a relative went into my beer fridge last week and took a rare 120 minute IPA because it was not clearly marked "Not for Bud Light or Corona Drinkers." So clearly I need to label things around here much better.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[singingpond]

LOL, thank you for humoring us with the full story, including the wrong beer bit. ����

 

[Texas Splash]

Too many punch-lines in this story. Glad you have a sense of humor, and hope it all clears-up soon.