Opened pool after 3 years of being closed.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
ok here are the pics. The green pipes aree the supply and return to our outdoor woodstove so when its clean it can heat the pool. I can't pump well right now as the water level is low after trying to vacuum to waste. As you can compare it is much "swampier" than the prior pics and the stuff you see floating is all I keep getting up when i scoop.
 

Attachments

  • poolswamp.jpg
    poolswamp.jpg
    227.4 KB · Views: 102
  • poolswamp2.jpg
    poolswamp2.jpg
    127.6 KB · Views: 101
  • poolswamp3.jpg
    poolswamp3.jpg
    240.1 KB · Views: 102
So my pool has sat since around 5pm last night without running the pump and I can't get anything to settle to the bottom. I can't get enough suction going to vacuum anything either.

I'm feeling like I should go back to bringing above shock level as I question how much I am going to vacuum out, I think it is gonna be more of a filtering issue. Any thoughts?
 
I would agree - you are in quite the pickle. You can't vac to waste and the filter set up is less than ideal - not much choice other than to set aside a couple of days where you can dedicate yourself to hourly testing/adding bleach and cleaning the filters round the clock...
 
Yeah I called everyone I know who has a pool and can't find anyone that has a regular robot vac, everyone has a suction vacuum like me. I am going to try and replumb the pool to set up a waste straight from the pump out if I'm lucky I'll find someplace open today while hubby is home to help.
 
If the "Pollutants" (algae) are suspended in your water and you have little or no solids settling to the bottom, then you can only filter those out.

However, you must combine that 24/7 filtration with shock levels of chlorine to kill the living stuff or it will simply keep reproducing. The filter cannot get live algae out of your pool.

So, it seems filtration and high chlorine levels is the answer. However, it seems you have little to no filtration since the filters plug up almost immediately.

I have more to add but tell me if my description makes sense to this point.
 
Yeah I know it makes sense. I just want to be 100% sure I have ALL of the solid material out. I have scooped for hours and seem to come up empty handed but I want to be sure.

I am going to restart with just running pump and rotating filters every 30mins. I have placed nylons on the skimmer which I am cleaning out every 30 mins as well. They are getting gross quick. I am clearly filter some as when I clean the carts they are greenish, so what FC shock would you shoot for? I had been going for 18-20. calculator says 12-14.
 
No now I have "had" possibly 30. I had put some through socks for 2 days per recommendation, that was before it was suggested to vaccuum to waste, I lost about 1.5 inches of water. So maybe when its all absorbed 15-20 as a guess.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Okay, then I would suggest you dose your chlorine up in the 15-18 range. I know that's a little higher than siggested but you have a lot to kill and it will deplete fairly rapidly.

The key to shocking successfully is not to give up. You must now run your pump 24/7, Replenish your FC as often as necessary to keep it up around 15 or so, brush the sides of the pool often and change out those filters when you get a psi rise and/or your flow through the filter is diminished significantly.

Do not stop. Stay with this process of constantly killing algae and filtering out all the suspended junk and your pool will clear. Normally, you will see improvement daily if you will keep at it in earnest.

I don't know anything about cartridge filters but it sounds like yours are not being cleaned very thoroughly or they are used up. I don't know if a worn out cartridge simply stays plugged up or not but it seems like that may be a part of your issue.
 
I followed the listed steps for cleaning the carts. One is about 3 years old and needs replacing one is new.

My biggest issue is I believe the cart system cannot handle the pool. It does 90sq ft but really only for general use will it be clean. I have a new filter system and pump coming from my old house that is 4x the size that I will replace in about a month, sure do wish I had it now but I don't. So off to clean and clean some more, Thank God its a beautiful day out......maybe I'l get some sun in the process!
 
So it's not a lot but it is still progress. Constant filter cleaning and brushing and keeping FC to shock level has gotten me here:
 

Attachments

  • poolswamp6.jpg
    poolswamp6.jpg
    168.7 KB · Views: 61
  • poolswamp7.jpg
    poolswamp7.jpg
    105.3 KB · Views: 61
From the looks of your water, it appears you might be oxidizing some chemistry that was dumped in as well as the algae. Doesn't matter......chlorine will fix it unless you give up and stop.

1. Keep you FC up

2. Run the filter 24/7

3. Keep your filters clean.

You're progress is better than you think.
 
duraleigh said:
From the looks of your water, it appears you might be oxidizing some chemistry that was dumped in as well as the algae. Doesn't matter......chlorine will fix it unless you give up and stop.

1. Keep you FC up

2. Run the filter 24/7

3. Keep your filters clean.

You're progress is better than you think.
Click to expand...



Can you explain? Yes I am keeping the FC up, I stocked up on bleach and have kept it at 18-20 since yesterday, even got up last night. Rotating filters Q1 hour now.
 
Can you explain?
Click to expand...
It's mostly a guess but algae typically doesn't foam up like that, however, some algaecides do. I'm not sure about clarifiers or sequestrants. Additionally, that water is sort of a flat grey. Most algae will go from the green you had to greenish gray to cloudy blue and finally, blue

Just speculating, but it looks like you might see a dramatic improvement over the next 24 hours or so. The grayish cast looks kinda' "thin" so it might start to clear fairly quickly.....here's hopin'!!
 
I tested the water for FC and here are my results
FC-25 (oops I'm not sure how this happened) as I used the calculator, maybe my gallons are off.
CC-0.......yay

So as long as I keep the level at 18 which I'll have to recheck it later I should be good as long as I keep the filters clean.

I know in the past I had metal issues in my water, could this account for the color? Should I consider using something to help with the metal issue once I have the algae under control? If so what do I use?
 
Depending on how significant your previous metal issues were, you could either add a bottle of sequestrant right now just as insurance, or wait till the algae is all cleaned up and figure out what the next step is then. Normally, I would say to wait till the algae is all taken care of, but if you have had ongoing metals issues in the past it would be better to add some sequestrant right now.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply