Stupid Pool Company......

[dtimmons]

I know, I know, I already made a critical error in hiring a pool company to do anything. As a new pool owner (less than a year) we were going to be out of town and very busy without time to winterize the pool. Since we weren't sure what to do and were short on time we hired the pool company who installed our new liner this summer. And of course it was a BIG mistake. About a month and a half after winterizing (overpriced chemicals, unhooking the pump pipes, blowing out the lines, adding antifreeze to the motor, and covering the pool with the tarp and water bag style cover) we come home to the pool cover collapsed into the pool with a minimal amount of snowy ice that had been put down the night before. On further inspection we notice that the pool has essentially been drained (all but the hopper water is completely gone). On further inspection we get under the deck and notice that two pipes are completely separated and the valve to the main drain of the pool (in the hopper) was left OPEN. Yes open. So call pool company, yell at them. Their solution is come over and replace all the piping from main drain back to the filter since all the pipes had been frozen and burst, yep free of charge. Then tells us on a nice day to refill the pool. How sweet of them. So out of concern for our brand new liner we fill the pool as soon as possible (we accomplished that about 2 weeks ago). The pool has obviously now started to turn completely green as we start to warm slightly here during the days. Finally, here comes our newbie question. How do I add chemicals or should I add chemicals without being able to turn on the pump and mix? Will it even do any good? I dumped two gallons of bleach into it today. Probably the wrong decision but I had already done it when I got online and found you guys to ask your advice. Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

PS we are still at freezing temperatures in the night and have only had a few nicer (algae growing) days. So I don't think it would be wise at this point to clean out the pump and hook everything back up yet.

 

[cramar]

You gotta have a way to circulate the bleach, there's potential to damage the liner if bleach is sitting idle in the water.
I don't see how you can properly defeat algae without proper shocking and cleaning, personally I'd leave everything disconnected and wait until it's pool opening time to shock and clean properly, why fight it now, fight in in the spring.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[257WbyMag]

Agree with cramar. One should never add chemicals to a pool without the pump on and water circulating. If it is green, it won't hurt for it to be green for a few more weeks until spring is here and you can properly open the pool.

Out of curiosity, do you have a good test kit. It is important.

 

[dtimmons]

Hi Guys- Thanks for the replies. We did take a big flat shovel later out to the pool and stirred for about 30 minutes as best as we could. Probably a futile effort but hopefully what I added won't do too much damage. I do have a test kit (not a great one) like what is recommended here. But I will be ordering one of the good ones that are suggested on this website as soon as we start to warm up so I can manage the chemicals correctly this summer. Please let me know if you think there's anything else I should do regarding the bleach I already added.

Thanks again!

 

[swimcmp]

The main drain pipe is yirtually impossible to winterize in an aboveground pool. As a full service pool company in Missouri, when a customer asks about a main drain in an aboveground I won't do it because of this. My competitors use to do it until they had too many broken pipes.

 

[dtimmons]

I do understand the risks of a main drain line. But there is a valve right where the pipe comes out of the ground by the main drain. I would have considered it better winterized if they would have atleast closed that valve. Instead of leaving it wide open. It appears to hold water just fine since they closed that.

 

[Rogyates]

Regarding the main drain line freezing. My main center drain is made of rigid PVC which would obviously crack if allowed to freeze. It comes out of the ground near the pump. The solution is to fill the line with compressed air. I made a thread-on PVC cap with a tire valve (shrader valve) in the center. Screw the cap on with teflon tape, pump the line with air (a bicycle tire pump works fine) and voila'....no problems in 19 years.