Hurricane Helene recovery

[brucehenson]

I’ve been working on a water exchange since Helene flooded my pool. I’ve been replacing the water, sump pump in the deep end (in a kiddie pool) and makeup water over the step in shallow. Any advice would be welcomed although I still have no internet at home.

 

[Mdragger88]

Keep the fc up and when the exchange is done go full slam ahead.
SLAM Process
If there’s alot of sludge/debris at the bottom vac that to waste. You’ll probably be vacuuming a bit blind at first but that’s ok - go slow and try to go in a pattern. It will cloud things up. When it settles do it again. It will take lots of filtering and chlorine to clear. If you can’t be there to watch your psi and backwash as needed you can put the filter on recirculate until you return.
If you’re lowish on reagents go ahead and order some.

 

[brucehenson]

Thanks, I didn’t even think about reagents. I have ordered liquid chlorine, I have a feeling the water will remain too cold generate any. I have added somewhere Ron the neighbor of 80,000 gallons of fresh water.

 

[brucehenson]

Finally got internet back online.

The pool is eating chlorine and SLAM is called for. I’m having trouble sourcing liquid chlorine and scheduling is a challenge, as it usually is. Also working to get CYA up as I’m starting with tap water. I may have damaged the SWG by adding salt too fast, it will not register over 800 ppm although I added 160 lb. That is not all bad because I don’t want it back on line until this is under control.

What is the down side to running a DE filter without DE? I’ve done this before and was warned after the fact that I would need new grids which I purchased and still have in the box. Fact is I’m having to backwash so often that I am unable to recharge with DE each time. My plan is to continue feeding chlorine, brushing, and filter the larger particles until I can wash out the filter and then recharge with DE.

Any advice is welcomed.

 

[Saturn94]

What is the down side to running a DE filter without DE?

I believe the risk is the grids may become permanently clogged. However, it sounds like you have a spare new set of grids to use in case the old grids get clogged?

 

[Mdragger88]

You can use some cal hypo if necessary but large doses can cause cloudiness & further complicate things so use caution.
You don’t show your ch in poolmath so not sure how much you can get away with using.
30ppm cya is sufficient for
SLAM Process - no need to aim higher for now.
Is your pool cleaner functional? Does it have a fine debris bag? If so let do its thing and help your filter out.
You can always put the filter on recirculating if you’re not able to be there to backwash properly when needed. As you gain the upper hand with the slam there will be less & less dead algae to clog your filter.
Frequent dosing is the fastest way to gain the upper hand.
It really looks pretty good! Slam on

 

[brucehenson]

I believe the risk is the grids may become permanently clogged. However, it sounds like you have a spare new set of grids to use in case the old grids get clogged?

Thank you, yes I do have an extra set, and I finally feel like I’m making progress.

 

[brucehenson]

You can use some cal hypo if necessary but large doses can cause cloudiness & further complicate things so use caution.
You don’t show your ch in poolmath so not sure how much you can get away with using.
30ppm cya is sufficient for
SLAM Process - no need to aim higher for now.
Is your pool cleaner functional? Does it have a fine debris bag? If so let do its thing and help your filter out.
You can always put the filter on recirculating if you’re not able to be there to backwash properly when needed. As you gain the upper hand with the slam there will be less & less dead algae to clog your filter.
Frequent dosing is the fastest way to gain the upper hand.
It really looks pretty good! Slam on

Thanks again, really great advice. I don’t test CH because our water is so soft here that I’ve never had to monitor for it. My cleaner is functional and I did have it running however it kept things stirred up so I have it off now so that I can see to vacuum.

This site is so great!

 

[brucehenson]

Today marks the end of what turned out to be nearly a month long process. 20 bags of salt, about the same number gallons of 10% liquid chlorine, and the water is crystal clear. My liner is totally bleached to white but we will deal with that later.

Yesterday I started getting a “Clean salt cell” alert so today I am off line and soaking the cell in white vinegar.

I cleaned the filter yesterday and water blasted the SWCG with water but that only cleared the alert for a few minutes.

I want to thank this site for all the advice that I have read over the years. SLAM is no fun but it does work.

 

[brucehenson]

Clean and WHITE!

 

[Mdragger88]

Glad its cleared up!
What color was your liner before?

 

[brucehenson]

It began as a brown pebble pattern, no border, entire liner was the same color. It has been turning lighter since new due to high CYA and FC. I’ll treat the next one better. The first photo was 2019, first summer. Last photo (dog) was this past summer. It has been turning lighter each year. I usually keep CYA around 90-100 and FC around 7.0.

 

[brucehenson]

Photos changed order when uploaded. The one with me in the hat was the first summer. The pool was completed in Oct, 2018. The photo with the dog in same hat was this past summer (2024).

 

[Mdragger88]

Your numbers look fine.
I keep my fc at 10% of my cya or a little higher. Usually about 9/10ppm with cya of 80.
I do have some fading as to be expected but not that extreme after 6 years. Its apparent that some is due to uv (maybe the combo of uv and fc) as I moved my steps location after the first season or so and it was noticeably darker there. Now I rotate their location. Also the exterior of my bot is faded but the interior looks brand new. It lives in the pool 24/7 during swim season.
Darker colors tend to fade the fastest.
Liners on a white background also tend to fade to white. Those with blue background fade to blue etc.
I suspect in your case its more of a result of the dyes used and uv exposure than improper chemistry.
Liner manufacturing, like many things, isn’t what it used to be unfortunately. Not necessarily their fault but the materials they are able to use due to modern regulations.

 

[brucehenson]

Makes sense, thank you.

 

[brucehenson]

Well my SWCG cleaning did not go so well. I soaked the IC40 (over the blades) for 6 hours. Then rinsed we’ll. There is no visible corrosion, blades are clean and look like they normally do.

The cell ran at 100% for 24/7 while I was filtering out the dead algae after I passed the OCLT. Did I wear it out?

 

[PoolStored]

Well my SWCG cleaning did not go so well. I soaked the IC40 (over the blades) for 6 hours. Then rinsed we’ll. There is no visible corrosion, blades are clean and look like they normally do.

The cell ran at 100% for 24/7 while I was filtering out the dead algae after I passed the OCLT. Did I wear it out?

The two fastest ways to damage a cell is to run 24/7 at 100%, and to acid wash...particularly over a long period of time.

Never run your cell 100%, 24/7. Run no higher than 80% when you run 24/7.

Acid wash should be LAST resort. You should clean with mechanical means. If you get to last resort, you should only use 10:1 water:acid and should only be done long enough to remove scale.

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Turn it on 100% for a short period of time...do you get any bubbles out of the returns?
Post a picture of the cell running so we can see the lights.

 

[brucehenson]

No bubbles, first photo, cell was at 0%, second was at 80%. “Cell” light is flashing green in both cases.
I soaked it in white vinegar.

I just reread your instructions, now at 100%, still no bubbles.

 

[mknauss]

Flashing green Cell light and no scale build up in the cell means the cell is dead.

 

[brucehenson]

I was afraid of that. Well I got six good years from it. I took it out working it too hard, but it would have died soon enough. I usually remove it in the winter time and replace it with a spool piece. Guess I’ll be doing that early this year and start shopping for a new one.

Thank you all for your help, information, and fast response.