Opening a pool that wasn't closed last year

[giovanna317]

I had back surgery and was unable to close my pool properly. My thought was to drain the pool and attempt to clean the liner and fill the pool. I am not sure what to clean the liner with or how far to drain the pool. I am a single mom so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

JoAnne

 

[JohnT]

Hi JoAnne. Welcome to TFP!

Hope your back is doing better. No reason to drain the pool unless it's a really small one. The nastiest pool can be recovered by following the guidance in Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis

It's a matter of patience and persistence.

Let us know what kind of pool you have so we can give the best guidance.

The thing I'd be most concerned about would be plumbing and equipment damage due to freezing.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

+1 on telling us about your pool and equipment so we can give you some better info. Here is what we are looking for, What we need to know to answer your questions

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

If you have one of the intex pools that just flops around, you could drain the whole thing and scrub it. If it is anything else, you should leave at least a foot of water in it so the liner doesn't shift or wrinkle.

Tell us about your pool and your equipment. Some people have a nice setup where they can vacuum up the sludge on the bottom and expel it out the waste line and avoid clogging up the filter. We don't know if you're one of the lucky ones. We also don't know if your pump or filter might have frozen over the winter, which can cause damage and leaks. Is it holding water and circulating?

 

[giovanna317]

Hi thanks for replying so quickly. I have an above ground 18' by 52' round. There is approx 2 feet of water in the pool currently. I replaced the liner last year. I also have a cartridge Hayward filter with a replacement cartridge ready to go. Hope that helps. The specifics of the filter are somewhere to be found and I will locate and update shortly.

 

[giovanna317]

Pool - 18 by 52 round - vinyl liner. Hayward swim pro cartridge filter - pump -
Should I fill the pool back up with fresh water and start to run the filter? There is about 1 foot of water left with leaves and twigs and bugs.
Thanks

 

[Richard320]

I'd think it would be easier to dredge out the debris with the shallow water. Do you own a leaf rake? It's not really a rake. It looks like this:

You could probably even climb to make it easier without freezing yourself. Then fill it up and get it circulating.

 

[giovanna317]

I was planning on scooping out as much of the debris as possible. So you think it would be ok to start to fill the pool with water even though it is still murky then go through the bleaching process?

 

[Richard320]

I was planning on scooping out as much of the debris as possible. So you think it would be ok to start to fill the pool with water even though it is still murky then go through the bleaching process?

Yep. You don't want to empty it totally or the liner may shift and wrinkle. And that wrinkle is going to collect dust constantly and be a total annoyance. Believe me, when you start having crystal clear water, you'll see every piece of sand and every blade of grass that lands in the pool.

Skim out what you can now while it's easy. Then fill 'er up. I'd be tempted to our some bleach into the hose stream, myself, just to get a head start. Not a lot - maybe 2 cups of bleach every two hours while it's filling. That will get you up close to 10 ppm FC, which is shock level for zero CYA, and not likely to bleach the liner any.

 

[giovanna317]

Thanks. I am going to start that now. How do I measure the CYA level?

 

[Richard320]

Thanks. I am going to start that now. How do I measure the CYA level?

With the CYA test kit. When we list the test kit as a prerequisite to the Shock Level And Maintain process, we're not kidding. You won't be able to measure it until the pool is full and the water is well mixed. The CYA level determines the Free Chlorine level.