Dirt in pool, can't use pool cleaner

[BelLa's Pond]

I am still in the middle of fixing a leak in my pool and have decided to do some minor sanding and repainting while I'm at it. There is only about 2 feet of water in the pool so I can't use my pool cleaner to get at the dust/dirt that has accumulated at the bottom of pool.
For my background and some photos:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-leaking-rapidly-please-help-t28033.html

I've used a leaf cleaner, brushed down the sides and put some chlorine in and circulated it with a sub. pump.

My question is can I somehow run my pool cleaner or can I use my sub-pump to clean out the grit and dirt and maybe filter the water back into the pool?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Bama Rambler]

If it were me, I'd use the submersible pump to pump as much of the stuff out of the pool and replace it with clean water.

 

[susa]

in similar situations as this, I've purchased off craigslist a couple old cartridge filter cores (body and cartridge) and used the blue flex tubing (home depot) with compression ring fittings to pump water into the "temporary filter" and return water back to pool. frequent cleaning of the cartridge media and at the end of the project, throw away the cartridge but save the core for the next time (..or I've just donated it to someone else..)

 

[BelLa's Pond]

Thanks for your replies!

I guess at this point it won't hurt to drain the pool completely and add fresh water. I figure I'll put the pump in shallow end and brush all the dirt towards it and see what happens. Would love to hear any other suggestions!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

When you say drain the pool completely...

You never want to drain completely as you can damage the pool. Be sure to leave a foot or two of water in the shallow end.... it really depends on what your water table is locally... fiberglass pools can pop out of the ground if completely drained... just a heads up

 

[BelLa's Pond]

Duly noted, thanks. I will be adding water as I pump the dirt out. Or, that's my plan anyways

 

[BelLa's Pond]

Ok, so I hooked a hose up to my sub pump, put 2 pair of fine mesh nylons around my skimmer basket and running the water into skimmer. Dumb question, where is all that water going? I was expecting it to come back out of the skimmer. Is the water flowing to the filter?

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's probably going into your pool, but it could be going to the filter.

 

[BelLa's Pond]

Thanks for the reply. Where would it be coming back into the pool? I did notice the water level went down while I was doing this. Is it a good or bad thing if it is going to the filter?

Thanks!

 

[Bama Rambler]

If it's going to the filter then it'd go through the filter and back into the pool unless you have the filter valve in backwash or waste mode. I'm not understanding why you discharged the water back into the skimmer.

 

[BelLa's Pond]

Sorry for the , please refer to my first post on this thread for some background. I'm trying to save a little water (very expensive here and I hate to waste it), so I'm filtering water manually through some nylons with my sub pump as I'm doing repairs. I will not be able to add additional water back to the pool until I finish repairs. Bottom line: I want to keep the water relatively clean and recycle it while I do repairs without entirely emptying the pool. Why I am filtering the water back to the skimmer is just an experiment, I don't have to do it that way, it is just a convenient place to put the hose and my nylon filter; I just would like to know if that is a reasonable course of action. Thanks again to all for helping me with this!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Ok now I understand. Since you're trying to save water, the way you're doing it works. The water will be dirty but you can filter it out later.

 

[BelLa's Pond]

Yeah, I understand the water is still gonna be dirty, I'm just trying to remove some of the sand and grit. Thanks for your reply!