Recovering from a flood - Louisiana

[Darrenmv]

We are currently recovering from a flood. The pool of course is black. The pool pump is dead. May be a week or more before I can get it replaced. Should I try to drain the pool? Leave it and dump bleach into it? Do nothing at all until I can get the pump up and running?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Darren

 

[smforte]

Sorry to hear of all the devastation there! Don't drain, put 1 gal bleach in each day and brush to circulate it until you can get that pump fixed. After pump is repaired post a set of water results with a good test let such has tf100 or Taylor 2006 You'll probably have to SLAM. Good luck

 

[JohnT]

Sorry to hear about the problems.

Whatever you do, don't drain it yet. All that ground water is just waiting to pop the pool out of the ground.

Safest way to go is to drain and refill since you don't know what was in the water that flooded into the pool. Wait until you have filtration and circulation available and then seek advice from the builder if you can. They know local conditions.

If you aren't worried about what was in the flood water, you can add liquid chlorine and circulate with a canoe paddle or your brush. Probably want to clear any debris out of the bottom before you start. Not sure it's worth the effort to start before the pump is working.

 

[LeimLife]

Might be best to wait until water table under the pool has gone down to prevent the pool from popping up out of the ground. Believe me I've seen this happen. The only thing keeping the pool in the ground right now might be the dirty water inside it.

Once the flood waters subside and the water table is lower, then drain the pool, clean the inside with acid wash or chlorine, and purge the flood water from the underground plumbing. Depending on your filter you may need to get a new filter and/or cartridge/sand when you get the new pump. Flood water that has made it to the inside of a filter seems to never get cleaned out and will cause problems for a long time. If you ever thought about changing the filtration layout now might be the time.

My family and I are praying for a speedy recovery for every one impacted by the flooding. God bless.

•Please note: Pools, cars and women will all consume stacks of $ on a regular basis, no matter the make, model, quality or year.•

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Please post a picture of the pool. IMHO if it flooded I wouldn't want to save that water as you never know what may have been leaking into it. Sewage for sure but I'd be more concerned with oil, gasoline, crud from the storm drains, nitrates ...

 

[Isaac-1]

What they all said, don't drain now, wait until the risk of the pool popping out of the ground is lower, even then you may want to do multiple partial drains.

Ike

p.s. also it will help us give better advice if you can edit your location and add city or part of the state you are in. Much of our advice depends on knowing local climate and conditions. For example those people with pools in the north part of the state (north of I-20) are much more likely to close and cover their pools in the winter vs those that are south of I-10.

- - - Updated - - -

What they all said, don't drain now, wait until the risk of the pool popping out of the ground is lower, even then you may want to do multiple partial drains.

Ike

p.s. also it will help us give better advice if you can edit your location and add city or part of the state you are in. Much of our advice depends on knowing local climate and conditions. For example those people with pools in the north part of the state (north of I-20) are much more likely to close and cover their pools in the winter vs those that are south of I-10.

 

[Darrenmv]

I am located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The flood occurred on 8/12/2016 at my house. Flood waters receded in 24 - 48 hours I think. Can't be sure as I could not gain access to my property due to road closures. I really would like to drain it if possible as I can confirm that are many crayfish living in it right now. Just dragging my net along the bottom picked up 1/2 a dozen of them. Also, before all of this mess started I was fighting black algae as well. Local pool builder is going to change the pump (2 speed Hayward) for me $732 and is offering to drain the pool and acid wash the gunite for $800ish. Sounds like a good idea though I worry about the pool popping out. What do you guys think?

 

[Isaac-1]

Well first you need some propane, then a big pot, .......

 

[zea3]

Since it is near the end of the swim season, I think I would wait a little while longer to let the ground dry out more before doing an acid wash. If he can assure you that his insurance will cover your loss if the pool floats then you could do it now. If he will not assume liability then wait.

 

[Isaac-1]

On a serious topic you can probably get a replacement 2 speed motor for half that, changing it out should take less than 20 minutes as there are only 8 bolts to remove and replace on most pumps and the plumbing can all stay connected for a motor swap.

 

[Darrenmv]

Ok, I think I am going to have the pool drained and cleaned. One guy is telling me to acid wash it (have some black algae would like to deal with). Another guy is telling me do not acid wash it since the pool is only 9 years old. He claims the acid washing will make the plaster super rough and uncomfortable. So the question here is to acid wash or not to acid wash.

Next, one guy is telling me no worries on the water table. It "should be down by now" plus we have insurance. Another guy says he would drill holes in the bottom of the pool allowing ground water to enter the pool while it is being drained and that is the way to be certain you won't have a problem. After the pool is drained he would fill the holes. Any ideas on these two opinions?

Thanks in advance for all of the great advice.

Darren

 

[triptyx]

You don't need to acid wash if you're just trying to get rid of black algae. You can handle that with SLAM levels of chlorine and some vigorous brushing once the pump is operational again.

Draining to clean out the gunk and mess would be a good thing, but I'd personally skip the acid wash.