Please Help - dirt in pool after rain storm

[mjrin2it]

Hi,
It rained very hard in a short amount of time here in NJ last night....I just had landscaping done with black mulch around pool beds. My pool was clean and clear and now black/darkish. I noticed dirt running with water directly into pool. I didn't know what to do but when I tested the water, I had .5 FC (target was 10). PH of 7.5

I thought maybe it was algae at first so I poured 8 gallons of 10% chlorine into water. Pump has been running and PSI is now about 21 from 18.

Should the pump be running and do I have to drain pool to get dirt out?

I'm new to pools but have been using TFPC for the last three months and it is working out great!

Thank you for any help...I'd like not to have to call a pool company.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

A pic of your pool now might help but, assuming it is dirt, vacuuming, running your pump 24/7, cleaning your filter, is about all you can do. It's a hard cleanup but you can complete it with persistence.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

What he said. Pump 24/7 and get your vacuum in there to clean up the bottom. Nothing special a pool company can do. Might be a couple days before seeing results.

Since you noticed a problem you need to create some drainage away from the pool to keep that dirt from getting in there.

 

[mjrin2it]

Welcome to the forum.

A pic of your pool now might help but, assuming it is dirt, vacuuming, running your pump 24/7, cleaning your filter, is about all you can do. It's a hard cleanup but you can complete it with persistence.

Thank you for responding so quickly. Yes, I did some more research on this forum and saw that I could manually vacuum to waste which I just did and got 99% of the way done before water level sank too low. Now filling and then will vacuum and then backwash filter. It is already clearer than it was at 4am. I will keep you posted as to chemistry and photos.

Love this site!

 

[mjrin2it]

What he said. Pump 24/7 and get your vacuum in there to clean up the bottom. Nothing special a pool company can do. Might be a couple days before seeing results.

Since you noticed a problem you need to create some drainage away from the pool to keep that dirt from getting in there.

Thank you! It has been graded the same way since home built in 1971 but since we removed old juniper bushes, etc...now a little more exposed and we just did it yesterday then the storm came in (go figure). When I clean the filter, will backwashing be enough or do I need to open and actually clean the ribs? If open, do I need a torque wrench or will a plain wrench work to open filter?