The Pool Builder did it. (DE in new pool)

[beemer]

Hi, folks! Clueless first time pool builder/owner, here. Plastered (pebble sheen) last Saturday. Acid washed and started filling Monday - done on Wednesday. Came home today (Friday) and I could hear water running into the sewer tie in. Called the builder - they've been working on startup. Apparently they didn't get the valve closed completely after backwashing and ran about an inch of water down the drain. Sigh... So, the supervisor (not the tech) stopped by to fix the problem. He turned some valves, put copious amount of DE in the skimmer basket and washed it down. Unfortunately he put it into the wrong skimmer (or turned the value to the wrong skimmer, or both) and the cleaning system blew DE all over the pool. The entire pool even 4 hours later is ridiculously cloudy and/or covered in white sediment - the spa got the worst of it. Literally every flat surface is totally covered in white dust to the point you can't even see the plaster.

I feel like I am fighting a losing battle with the brushing - It is so cloudy/murky the second I start brushing the white sediment off the steps, etc. that I can't even see the 3rd step much less the bottom of the pool. And after brushing the top of the 12" step in the spa I can't see ANYTHING. Tried brushing blindly but keep hitting the return I guess on the bottom and getting the brush hopelessly stuck.

Is this sediment going to hurt the plaster? How do we get it out of the pool? Builder is planning to send the tech out Monday. Kids and I were hoping to swim on Sunday. Do we have to put a kabosh on the swim plans now and wait for them to clean it up on Monday?

Please help!

Hot, and ready to swim in Texas.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Boy, what a mess! Did the supervisor see it happen and then charge the filter correctly, or did you have to call and tell them about it? I think what I would do is get a manual vacuum with a vacuum head for a vinyl pool since your plaster is still very fresh, turn off the pump and let the pool rest overnight so all the DE settles to the bottom and vacuum the DE to waste. You will lose more water but you don't want to put a bunch of extra DE in your filter and have to back wash right away. Just keep an eye on the water level so it doesn't get too low and you start sucking air. Move the vacuum slowly so you don't stir up the DE too much while vacuuming. Once you have vacuumed up as much as you can switch to filter mode and keep the pump running if the filter was charged properly. This will help clear up any DE suspended in the water.

 

[cowboycasey]

if you still have DE floating or in the pool I would probably stay out until it is cleaned

 

[beemer]

Boy, what a mess! Did the supervisor see it happen and then charge the filter correctly, or did you have to call and tell them about it? I think what I would do is get a manual vacuum with a vacuum head for a vinyl pool since your plaster is still very fresh, turn off the pump and let the pool rest overnight so all the DE settles to the bottom and vacuum the DE to waste.

Yes. I was brushing while he was working and asked immediately what the white stuff coming out of the vents was and if it was supposed to do that. So he shut it down, fixed the valve issue, put more DE in the right skimmer, and started the filters again. They want to leave the system running 24hrs a day for several days. So sounds like I probably shouldn't turn it off to vaccum, not to mention I have no idea how to actually do that. Part of the builders' package is to get the pool up and running and balanced for several weeks before sending you to pool school and then turning it over to you. Probably so you don't kill the plaster while it's curing. So while everything is labeled, since I have no idea what they are doing or why I don't want to mess with it. Guess we will just wait for Monday. Kids will be super sad. We had to wait for a while on the plaster to get it to stop weeping (or at least mostly stopped weeping). And now we will be out of town until Memorial Day weekend then gone all of June on vacation. We were really hoping to get to enjoy the pool for more than 1 weekend before we left.

But we will have it for life so I guess we can be patient a little longer... Even if there will be two little boys who will be oh so disappointed.