- Jul 24, 2020
- 384
- Pool Size
- 24500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
In the fall of 2021 my daughter moved into a home that had an above ground pool that had not been opened in at least three years. The property is at the base of a mountain with forest close to the house. The pool cover was ripped and there was a ton of debris in the pool, including tens of thousands of tadpoles. In the early summer of 2022, she asked if I could teach her how to clean-up and maintain the pool.
Once the ripped cover was removed, we scooped out 20 wheelbarrows of debris which included leaves, branches, at least one dead hawk and a few dead squirrels. Since the pool had not been opened in many years, the amount of chlorine it would take to clean it up was more expensive than a water replacement, so we drained the pool down to about 1 foot and continued to remove more debris. As the pool was filled we added enough chlorine to achieve 10 ppm chlorine, stirring the mess with a brush, till we had enough water to run the pump.
Once we got the level sufficient for the pump, we attempted to run the pump/filter, the pump ran but was very noisy and some of the piping was cracked. She didn't want to spend anymore money so we did some temporary repairs with epoxy putty (I claim it was bubblegum and baling wire), we slowed the leaks to acceptable range, but we were finally flowing water. At this point we added CYA to 30 ppm and started the balancing process, but we were still using 7-9 ppm of chlorine a day. The SLAM process continued and she was getting discouraged because it took almost three weeks to get the water clear enough to swim.
It was early August of 2022 till the water was clean,,,, still not TFP crystal clear, but she was happy.
Fast forward to this year, the winter cover was mainly intact, with about 1000 gallons of water on top of the cover, and still thousands of tadpoles on the cover. We expected to open the pool to a complete mess again.
But when the cover was pumped and removed this is what we found.
We replaced the leaking filter system and upgraded the electrical to add a timer and proper weather protection for the electrical system.
The process works, she now has a trouble free pool, it does require daily dosing of chlorine and periodic testing and brushing/vacuuming, but she can relax and enjoy what was a mosquito and frog infested pool, and it now qualifies as TFP clear, I'm so proud of her for following thru, and my granddaughter is loving having a pool in her backyard.
Once the ripped cover was removed, we scooped out 20 wheelbarrows of debris which included leaves, branches, at least one dead hawk and a few dead squirrels. Since the pool had not been opened in many years, the amount of chlorine it would take to clean it up was more expensive than a water replacement, so we drained the pool down to about 1 foot and continued to remove more debris. As the pool was filled we added enough chlorine to achieve 10 ppm chlorine, stirring the mess with a brush, till we had enough water to run the pump.
Once we got the level sufficient for the pump, we attempted to run the pump/filter, the pump ran but was very noisy and some of the piping was cracked. She didn't want to spend anymore money so we did some temporary repairs with epoxy putty (I claim it was bubblegum and baling wire), we slowed the leaks to acceptable range, but we were finally flowing water. At this point we added CYA to 30 ppm and started the balancing process, but we were still using 7-9 ppm of chlorine a day. The SLAM process continued and she was getting discouraged because it took almost three weeks to get the water clear enough to swim.
It was early August of 2022 till the water was clean,,,, still not TFP crystal clear, but she was happy.
Fast forward to this year, the winter cover was mainly intact, with about 1000 gallons of water on top of the cover, and still thousands of tadpoles on the cover. We expected to open the pool to a complete mess again.
But when the cover was pumped and removed this is what we found.
We replaced the leaking filter system and upgraded the electrical to add a timer and proper weather protection for the electrical system.
The process works, she now has a trouble free pool, it does require daily dosing of chlorine and periodic testing and brushing/vacuuming, but she can relax and enjoy what was a mosquito and frog infested pool, and it now qualifies as TFP clear, I'm so proud of her for following thru, and my granddaughter is loving having a pool in her backyard.
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