Foreclosure House with an in ground Pool!

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M

muckraker

0
May 8, 2010
15
Hi,

We bought a foreclosure house in NJ. Love the 3 acrea property not crazy about the in-ground pool until the Grandkids decided we had to use it. House was vacant for 2 years after people left in the night. We uncovered the pool this week and found a mass of leaves and muck on the bottom. After 3 days of "clam digging" we hauled away most of the leaves and muck from the bottom (needed a gas mask...whoa!) and left what looks like a cesspool.

Went to local pool store loaded up on a case of liquid shock, a quart of poly 60 algecide and armed with cleaning hardware. Pool store said the dump 2 gallons of shock and the quart of algecide and remove the two cartridges from the Pentair Cartidge filter. After running the filter for about 12hours we installed the 2 cartridges and have been running 24/7 for 3 more days with no sign of any change in dirt or color.

Before I run out and buy a new filter, does anyone anything about the StaRite System 3 filter sm7.
It is about 10 yrs old and I had it cleaned buy the pool store before I opened the pool.

How long do the cartridges last and is there a way to check to see if there are holes or tears?

Thanks, Muckraker
 
Welcome to this wonderful forum--the best! You will get a lot of help here.

In the meantime, tonight or tomorrow morning, start reading some of the articles in Pool School, the button on near the top right of the page. You will learn about treating your water using some simple products, including learning how to deal with your pool with good old bleach. Go buy a bunch of Clorox tomorrow. You want to be going through the shock process with bleach, not stuff from the pool store.

You will need a good test kit--not crummy strips. Look into the kits listed in Pool School.

Someone will soon be along to help with your filter.

You are on your way to a fabulous pool!

Lana
 
That is a great filter, and you will love it! Very easy to clean, holds a ton of dirt, and the cartridges are very durable and last for many, many years. I have the same filter, and have sold/installed a hundred or more, with zero problems. My personal one is 8 years old and is in perfect condition. I just cleaned the filters this past Thursday; they look brand new, and nor rips, tears or holes! I'm a little anal, so I clean mine every 6 months, if I need to or not!

Oh yeah, welcome to the 'page, and congrats on the purchase :cheers: You are going to be making many wonderful memories with your grand-kids in that pool!
 
Have you had a sample of the water tested yet? How much chlorine you need will depend on the chemical levels currently in your water. I do know that 2 gallons is not enough to clear a swamp! If you tested the water please post the results so we can advise you further. After we determine your target chlorine level for shock you will need to keep the pool at shock level with frequent additions of chlorine until your water clears. You will need to run the filter 24/7 and the cartridge will need to be cleaned frequently until the water clears as well. You can take the cartridges out and hose the gunk off. I'm sure the pool store would have told you if the cartridges needed to be replaced. Hang in there and we will help you get the pool up and running again!
 
WOW! Thank you all for your help and support! I did buy a pack of the crummy test strips in Walmart, sounds like the're not going to cut it. I'll head back to my new favorite store and get a real test kit and do some reading in pool school.
I've cleaned the cartridges twice after about 6 to 12 hrs run time and only light green came off in wash. Also pool has a small waterfall and I collect water from the return to the pool and it doesn't seem much cleaner than the stuff going in. That's why I was thinking maybe the filter's not working???
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
The filter propbably works fine - it's going to take ALOT more chlorine than what you added to clear up a 2 year old cesspool. Those 2 gallons were probably consumed instantly...

Read:
Defeating Algae

Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis

Shocking Your Pool

and

Test Kit Comparison
Pool stores often don't have the correct kit. We recommend ordering one of the two discussed in this article online... for your situation I highly recommend the TF100 XL. :)
Click to expand...

Yes I would get the TF100XL as already mentioned. I would also purchase the magnetic stirrer from that site a well. Will make your testing so much easier. I had also purchased the cheap test kit and it was no where near accurate. If you do order the TF test kit, it will get there very quickly.
 
I dumped the other 2 gals of liquid shock into the pool and started vacuuming the bottom stirring up more redish brown sediment. Filter pressure went up to 9 lbs. Removed cartdriges again for hose cleaning. This time there was much more dark green material on the filters. Reassembled but was not able to get pressure and little flow coming out. Is it possible to get some kind of an air lock? Is their a way to prime the pump. Tried closing off different combinations of valves, 4 outlet and two inlet. Still pressure gage only reading about 1 to 2 lbs and very little air coming out top bleeder and poor suction at skimmer. Any ideas? If I close off all outlet valves pressure will go up.

Disconnected two inlet unions just before the pump inlet. Ran leaf blower into the each of the inlets, skimmer and bottom drain to clear any possible obstructions. Full pressure was applied and no bubbles came out either the skimmer or pool drain. Is that normal? Is the water pressure too great for the leaf blower discharge force to overcome?

Perplexed....
 

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It's an inground pool so you're going to have to prime the pump. Fill the pump basket housing with water and seal the lid tightly on it and try it again. You may have to do this several times.

The leaf blower most likely won't develop enough pressure to blow the piping out. They're made for lots of flow but almost no pressure.

As FPM said, pool info in your sig would be great because I had to look all the way back to the first post to glean the little info I got.
 
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