Drain pool or just start filtering?

[lucimireles6]

Hello, all. We left our pool filled/uncovered this winter. It is warming up in Louisiana, and we'd like to get the pool clean again.

I bought a sump pump to drain the pool so we could start all over with new water, but now I'm doubting that choice when reading about potential for liner tears/shrinkage.

The pool is not situated near any trees, but it likely has some debris in the bottom. Would you recommend draining it entirely or working with what we've got? It is very green, but I do not see much debris from the surface (5' deep pool), nor do I see the floating chunks of algae like we experienced last summer.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Either approach should be fine. My rule of thumb is to drain below 5,000 gallons, and treat above 5,000 gallons, but it isn't really a hard and fast line.

An above ground pool shouldn't have any problems with the liner stretching or tearing. That is really an in-ground issue.

 

[lucimireles6]

Thank you for your quick response! I watched a couple of the Above Ground Pros videos on YouTube, and they kept going on and on about it, but I've been a TFP lurker since last summer and never saw mention of anything about that.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm glad you decided to stop lurking and join in, and I hope you'll let us know how we can help you turn that around if you need it.

 

[lucimireles6]

Absolutely! You guys are the best.

 

[Patrick_B]

Thanks!

Grab a kit, hump some bleach home and SLAM that pool!

 

[jeffchap]

Oh yeah, that water is salvageable. I opened my pool this past weekend, and went from this:

to this in under 24 hours:

 

[lucimireles6]

Amazing!

- - - Updated - - -

The pool is currently refilling, and I'm about to go to the store to grab some chlorine. Should I just grab some jugs of unscented bleach for now?

Current readings are:
FC: 0
TC: 0
CYA: <30
CH: 100
pH: 7.8-8.0

We also have a test for alkalinity, which is at 350.

Do I add the dry acid now and the bleach when I get home? I don't think we have much chlorine left -- just some tablets.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Welcome to the forum Lucimireles6

You want to adjust your pH closer to 7.2 before you start your SLAM and then don't bother to test it again until after you're done. Just a waste of reagent.

Pull that ladder and scrub it. From the looks of that first posts picture there is some sturdy looking "green" hanging onto it. Don't forget to do the bottom of the rungs too Might want to check the inside of your skimmer and do a bit of scrubbing in there too. The less green stuff you have hiding in places the faster the SLAM goes. It's also cheaper as that stuff isn't eating your bleach.

 

[lucimireles6]

Thanks! We have scrubbed pretty well now (skimmer too!) and will adjust the pH before starting the process. I printed the SLAM instructions to follow to a T. Fingers crossed that it goes well!