Complete Water Change

[KellisEM]

And so it begins.......

Some friends of mine just bought a house with an above ground pool. Once they took possession I took a water test. The results were not good. After talking with them about results (insanely high hardness, cyanuric acid, and copper content, and rock bottom pH) we settled on using the tarp method for a complete water exchange. They have a secondary water meter so we estimated that part to only be about $70.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Clearly that's not your pool in the picture. Can you add some specifics on the size and volume of water you are trying to replace?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Also, be very careful as the tarp starts to pull down into the water. You'll have very large dynamic forces on the uprights that they were never intended to experience. They were designed for a static load of water pulling down on them from the liner. As the tarps drags across the upper rail, there are additional forces involved.

Just be safe....as a colleague of mine who worked on a sugar plantation as a younger man once said, "If things ever got out of control the safety mantra was - ring the bell and run like HE _ _ !!"

 

[KellisEM]

Clearly that's not your pool in the picture. Can you add some specifics on the size and volume of water you are trying to replace?

Sorry about that! This is a 15x30, approx 13,000 gal.

 

[SUNOFTHEBEACH]

So, you pump half the water out, put a tarp on it then fill the top of the tarp while you pump the water out on the bottom?

will you be able to get all the old water out?

 

[KellisEM]

So, you pump half the water out, put a tarp on it then fill the top of the tarp while you pump the water out on the bottom?

will you be able to get all the old water out?

That's the basic of it yep! We drained it to about 4 inches below the skimmer. Then, using a large tarp (30x50) we then started filling on top of the tarp while using a submersible pump to pull water from below. This will allow for a *almost* complete water exchange. Much better than a drain-fill, drain-fill cycle.

 

[KellisEM]

The flow rate of their hose bibs is a little lower than estimated, so it's taking longer than anticipated. We are currently about 80% done. So far it is going perfectly and I truly coiuld not have hoped it to go better.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

 

[JamesW]

The important thing to remember about the tarp method is to never secure the tarp. As long as the tarp sits loosely on the water, it supports no weight and there should be no tension.

The tarp should just float gently down to the bottom of the pool.