1st time power vacuuming the pool

[fatcat07]

Hello all,

I just opened my pool after 3 years of it being closed, opened it and connected all filter and pump. My plan was to not run any of the equipment until after I had the pool power vac-ed, I just made the appointment with my pool guy and he ask me if I could see the bottom of the pool at the deep end which I can't. He than said that I need to shock the pool and run my filter for at least 2 days before power vac-ing, is this the correct way to do this ?

My thinking is while would I want to mix around all the stuff laying at the bottom of my pool into the water and have my filter start clearing the water, that is the reason I am power vac-ing so that I can save the wear and tear on my filter and have the power vac I am paying for do the heavy lifting ?

Thank you for your options

 

[Richard320]

Is this the power-vac you intend to have used?


You're kind of caught. Shocking the pool goes faster if you remove as much organic stuff as early as possible. Was the pool covered or not? If there are heaps of leaves and who-knows-what-else in the pool, it needs to get out first. If there's a lot of debris, a lot of the chlorine you add will be used up trying to oxidize that stuff rather than killing algae. And your filter is undersized for a pool your size. Running the filter and brushing the walls and floor while killing algae will load that thing up in probably a couple hours, max. And you shouldn't add chemicals without having the water circulating.

On the other hand, if the pool guy won't vacuum it up unless the water is clear, there isn't much you can do but meet his terms. Using a manual vacuum connected to your skimmer would clog the filter in minutes.

Do you own a leaf rake?

That will pull sludge off the bottom. It will help.

Do you own a proper test kit? Without one, you'll be blindly adding chemicals without knowing exactly what you're doing to the CH or CYA levels. No matter what you end up doing regarding the vacuuming and shocking, you DO need your own test kit to take control of your pool once it's clean.

Have you considered possibly doing a partial drain on the pool? Renting a sump pump and brushing the sediment towards it would get a lot of it out of the pool, and may end up cheaper than hiring the pool guy to vacuum. Just remember that a binyl lined pool needs to leave at least a foot of water in the shallow end so the liner doesn;t shift.

 

[fatcat07]

Hello Richard320

The pool was covered so no leaves in the pool, the reason for the power vac is so I won't have to put all the stuff at the bottom of the pool thru the filter. I was advised against emptying the pool and told a power vac would do the job, my pool guy said just to shock and run the filter once he has power vac-ed I could go about getting my levels to where they should be.