Hello all! My name is Katie and I am new to this forum and to the wonderful world of pool maintenance!
Last year, my husband and I purchased a house with a pool (with a new liner), but we had no clue about pool care so we just hired a pool guy. He was very helpful, he kept it regulated throughout the summer. He told us that we could keep it open throughout the winter without covering it and come spring, he would get it back up and running for a few hundred dollars.
Well, to make a long story short, I recently called him about the pool and he stopped by to survey it. His response to me: There are waaay too many leaves and just being honest, he won't feel like cleaning them all out. So now, I'm without a pool guy and no other company in the area has called me back. This whole week has been very stressful, but I finally broke down and decided to fix it up myself!
I've been reading different articles online about similar scenarios to mine. Right now, our pool is dark green and very obscure so that we can't see the bottom on either the shallow or deep end. There must be thousands upon thousands of leaves at the bottom perhaps along with some other debris. When I rake the shallow end, I can sort of see the bottom is lighter than is with the surrounding mounds of leaves. Also, with the coming of spring, everything (including the surface of the pool) was recently covered with pollen, which does NOT make my life any easier.
So far, my husband and I have tried to clear as many leaves as possible with our net, but seem to be making no progress and scooping blindly. (Sidenote: Last year, some heavy rain caused mud to flush into the water, and when we went to rake some things out of the deep end, our pole broke, and that's how we actually found our pool guy!) I don't want to lose the pole again, but from what I've read, scooping blindly is the only way out of this mess.
Also, I've read stories from people who used something called a "leaf eater;" it sucks up all of the leaves/debris into a bag using the garden hose. I'm not sure whether I should purchase one for this scenario, given I can't see into the water clearly.
Our skimmer is pretty low-tech, from what I recall our pool guy telling us. It's just a simple basket, I can't recall the name he used for it. All I can remember him saying about cleaning the water is setting the filter to backwash for a while, shocking, and backwashing again. However, I've read precautions not to waste so many chemicals with all of the decomposed leaves just eating it away.
I guess this is what I'm asking: Does anyone have any advice for my particular scenario (I've attached some pics)? I don't think draining is necessary based on what I've heard. But I'm nowhere near a body builder, so I haven't been of much assistance to my husband hauling these leaves out. Would it help us to get the leaf eater? Are there any chemicals we could use to clear up the water so we can see better without the plant matter eating it? I know how fast algae grows back, so we've yet to douse it with anything. Another concern I have is how long the process will take. Like I said, we're not sure what kind of progress we're making, if any, so how long should it take to clean up? I'm not sure how many gallons, but the depth ranges from 3 to 9 feet across. I'd like to have it cleaned up, if possible, by the end of the month. So many sunny days lately, and we've been stuck looking at our swamp! I've been going through several related threads, but I just want to be sure that I'm on the right track. I may just need some moral support LOL!
Other than that, I'm a proud momma of 2 girls and 2 pups (both boys). My daughter's birthday is actually on the 3rd of next month and she's had her heart set on a pool party since last year. I've talked to her about having a party at Chuck E Cheese's instead and although she says she won't be entirely disappointed, I would still like to get the pool cleaned for my little fish! Please give me some GOOD news if you can--thanks in advance!
Last year, my husband and I purchased a house with a pool (with a new liner), but we had no clue about pool care so we just hired a pool guy. He was very helpful, he kept it regulated throughout the summer. He told us that we could keep it open throughout the winter without covering it and come spring, he would get it back up and running for a few hundred dollars.
Well, to make a long story short, I recently called him about the pool and he stopped by to survey it. His response to me: There are waaay too many leaves and just being honest, he won't feel like cleaning them all out. So now, I'm without a pool guy and no other company in the area has called me back. This whole week has been very stressful, but I finally broke down and decided to fix it up myself!
I've been reading different articles online about similar scenarios to mine. Right now, our pool is dark green and very obscure so that we can't see the bottom on either the shallow or deep end. There must be thousands upon thousands of leaves at the bottom perhaps along with some other debris. When I rake the shallow end, I can sort of see the bottom is lighter than is with the surrounding mounds of leaves. Also, with the coming of spring, everything (including the surface of the pool) was recently covered with pollen, which does NOT make my life any easier.
So far, my husband and I have tried to clear as many leaves as possible with our net, but seem to be making no progress and scooping blindly. (Sidenote: Last year, some heavy rain caused mud to flush into the water, and when we went to rake some things out of the deep end, our pole broke, and that's how we actually found our pool guy!) I don't want to lose the pole again, but from what I've read, scooping blindly is the only way out of this mess.
Also, I've read stories from people who used something called a "leaf eater;" it sucks up all of the leaves/debris into a bag using the garden hose. I'm not sure whether I should purchase one for this scenario, given I can't see into the water clearly.
Our skimmer is pretty low-tech, from what I recall our pool guy telling us. It's just a simple basket, I can't recall the name he used for it. All I can remember him saying about cleaning the water is setting the filter to backwash for a while, shocking, and backwashing again. However, I've read precautions not to waste so many chemicals with all of the decomposed leaves just eating it away.
I guess this is what I'm asking: Does anyone have any advice for my particular scenario (I've attached some pics)? I don't think draining is necessary based on what I've heard. But I'm nowhere near a body builder, so I haven't been of much assistance to my husband hauling these leaves out. Would it help us to get the leaf eater? Are there any chemicals we could use to clear up the water so we can see better without the plant matter eating it? I know how fast algae grows back, so we've yet to douse it with anything. Another concern I have is how long the process will take. Like I said, we're not sure what kind of progress we're making, if any, so how long should it take to clean up? I'm not sure how many gallons, but the depth ranges from 3 to 9 feet across. I'd like to have it cleaned up, if possible, by the end of the month. So many sunny days lately, and we've been stuck looking at our swamp! I've been going through several related threads, but I just want to be sure that I'm on the right track. I may just need some moral support LOL!
Other than that, I'm a proud momma of 2 girls and 2 pups (both boys). My daughter's birthday is actually on the 3rd of next month and she's had her heart set on a pool party since last year. I've talked to her about having a party at Chuck E Cheese's instead and although she says she won't be entirely disappointed, I would still like to get the pool cleaned for my little fish! Please give me some GOOD news if you can--thanks in advance!