Recovering from the SoCal fires

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D

ddas

0
May 21, 2013
131
Los Angeles, CA
I'm in Los Angeles, where you may have noticed on the front pages that we've had some pretty bad fires.

My pool went from sparkling to black overnight, courtesy of a ton of heavy winds that rained ash on our house. Filter pressure went to max within a day later. I just dissembled the filter and cleaned it thoroughly, so filter pressure is back to its minimum starting level. It's "winter" (i.e. SoCal winter) here and I don't have a heater, so I put a couple of gallons of chlorine into it as a preventative measure to keep algae from starting. (1 gallon = FC of 7 for my pool, so I'm at about FC 17-18) I spent an hour vacuuming it today, and it's pretty slow to clean. I also brushed it, but all the black soot just clouded the pool.

My question is: anything else I can/should/shouldn't do to help the pool get clean again?

FC = 18
PH = 7.6
CYA = 60
 
Previous posts about effects of local fires points mostly towards the exhaustive efforts to remove the ash & debris that made it to the water. Aggressive filtering/cleaning is certainly recommended. If there is any chance you could filter to waste that might help take some of the load off of your filter. The increased FC won't hurt, but over the next day or two you should see if it's really needed based on the FC demand. Aside from that and the cosmetics of it all (messy), I suspect it will just take time. Maybe some others will have a thought or two. Crazy stuff huh. Best of luck to you.
 
This is one of the only times you’ll ever see me say this - flocculant. BUT you can only use floc if you can vacuum to waste. If that’s not an option, then it’s just going to be slow and painful vacuuming....

Do not use a clarifier as that will totally mess up your filter.
 
You have a DE filter. You should have a multi valve at the entry to that filter. It should have a setting for 'Waste'. That water then goes the same place your backwash water goes, to the sewer, your yard, etc.

I would suggest you also follow this thread -
Fire damage pool question.

You two are in the same predicament.

Take care.
 
(OP here.) You guys are incredibly helpful -- thank you.

I have the second photo (plunger valve) so I guess I can't backwash.

I've been vacuuming and brushing daily. It's getting better. Today the water is light greenish, which is an improvement from yesterday (brown) and the day before (black). There's still visible soot at the bottom of the pool, but each time I vacuum/brush, more of it comes up. Hopefully if I keep this up, within a few more days it'll be clear again and I can get back to regular pool chemistry balancing. The only "casualty" may be having to clean the filter an extra time. (Normally I go 3 months between filter cleanings but this cleaning might only last a week.)
 
Just a correction. You can backwash with both of those filter types. What you can’t do with the second picture is “vacuum to waste”.
 
Thanks for the pH tip. In my case (strangely) it doesn't appear the ash/soot has raised pH in any unexpected way. My pH raises naturally at a pretty consistent rate, and that rate has still been consistent through this wildfire episode. But always good to keep an eye on it.

Today, the pool is looking clearer! I would say it's 80% back to normal. It still has a greenish tint and some obvious soot/ash on the bottom, but hopefully with another vacuum or two it'll be back to normal.
 

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