After the storm...what to do first? (EDITED TO ADD TEST #'S)

[graffster]

TS Fay was a wind and water machinine for us. I have a pool that is brimming over and lots of debris at the bottom. And thanks to you all, I had just gotten it 'sparkly'!

I'll go out this mornng and "scoop" to get the leaves out of the bottom. Our 'overflow' isn't working, so I'll put the hose in to syphon. Do I need to drain the excess before I test it? And do I let the pump come on with all the debris in there? (Hubby turned it off yesterday.) I didn't know if the Baracuda would like to eat all that stuff or not. Is there anything you all KNOW that I need to do first?

my salt level usually goes wacko when the pool fills too high and I have to drain some. I guess tha's normal

Hope N Fla stays safe from Fay. She's quite unpredictable!

Here are my Wed. evening test results:

FC 9.5
CC 0
TC 9.5
pH 7.8
TA 70
CH 120
CYA 40
Salt 2890

Thanks,
Kathy

 

[Rob]

Re: After the storm...what to do first?

You can test the water as you drain, draining won't affect the testing. You really want to stay on top of your CL level, since with all the debris, it will get used up fast, since bunches of smaller debris also get washed in to the pool. I don't have an SWG, but if the tests show your salt being off, one suggestions would be to turn it off during this process and temporarily switch to using Bleach till things are stabilized.

You can also start the pump with the debris. Do you have a main drain? If possible, I would shut that off until you can get most of the debris out, since its easier to fish them out of the skimmers. Putting skimmer socks in will make things a bit easier then either backwashing your filter or cleaning it (if it's cartridge).

Not sure on the Baracuda, have never used one. I would try and get out as much as I could manually before turning it on though, and it all depends on the size of debris.

 

[graffster]

Re: After the storm...what to do first?

ok, I"m draining right now, but we're still raining a bit so I won't test till later.

Are you saying I should go ahead a pour some bleach in there? I do have main drain off, 'cuda off, and skimmer on full tilt. (Actually, that's not true, i just turned the whole 'filter' system off on the remote.) Since i haven't tested yet, do I need to know some numbers before I do that? (Not even sure how to turn the SWG off if I need to!)

Ack! Just when this was starting to come together...

 

[graffster]

Re: After the storm...what to do first?

still draining. Salt level already dropped from 3000 to 2800. I've got a 180 oz. bottle of liquid chlorine. Should I dump it in? (Still trying to scoop all the leaves out, too...I feel old!!)

 

[Mona]

Re: After the storm...what to do first?

still draining. Salt level already dropped from 3000 to 2800. I've got a 180 oz. bottle of liquid chlorine. Should I dump it in? (Still trying to scoop all the leaves out, too...I feel old!!)

go ahead and dump it in.

 

[graffster]

Finished draining about 3" off the top. Added about 160 oz of household bleach. Tested about 2 hours later and here are my numbers:

Wed. evening test results:

FC 9.5
CC 0
TC 9.5
pH 7.8
TA 70
CH 120
CYA 40
Salt 2890

This morning, the pool is looking a little 'greenish'. Between my net, the baracuda and my 7 year old son, we've gotten most of the leaves out. There are still some small ones that I hope the 'cuda will get this a.m.

We're still getting rain, so I'll most likely be overflowing today.

The Aqualogic is telling me "low salt/check system".

I just added CYA last week, but I"m sure I'll need to clean my filter after all this.

Anything else? How do I stay on top of the possible 'green' that I'm seeing?

Kathy

 

[duraleigh]

If you still have your pump turned off, you need to turn it on and leave it on until your pool clears up.

Manually remove the debris that is too large for the auto-vac.

Your pool will never clear with the pump off

 

[graffster]

Thanks, Dave.
The pump is back on (has been since yesterday afternoon...just didn't want the baracuda sucking up the big leaves, so i turned it all off until I got a handle on the debris.) Should I be running it 24/7 now until it clears?

Also, should I dump more salt in this morning or wait for a little?

Thanks,
Kathy