SLAM without a main drain?

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You don't really need a working main drain to properly maintain a pool. In my last pool the plumbing to the main drain was leaking so, both ends of the pipe was plugged and the drain abandoned. It never seemed to be a problem. I had good circulation and a good pressure side pool cleaner. Anything that ends up in a pool either floats or sinks anyway,so either the skimmer or the robot took care of any debris. A main drain is not a necessity in a pool, there are many here that don't have one.
 
Of course all of us with intex or similar branded pools don't have main drains either... Less water but it's still gotta either get sucked through a hole in the side or from the skimmer.

Kinda jealous of people who can "sweep" stuff towards a drain! Isn't that cheating?
 
The robot will help. What model are you using????

Get that gunk to the filter, let it settle, vacuum what you can see to waste. Use a leaf rake in the areas you can't see if needed. The sediment will just eat your chlorine and CYA alive. I filled up a 96 gallon trash can with leaves, and probably threw another 96 gallons worth around the yard to try and mulch.

Use the robot to get the gunk to the filter, your filter should clog and need back washing. Let the sediment settle, vacuum to waste. ****, let me go see how the pool looks now, this is the method I used and it worked.
 
Quick shot, it was raining a little. I started with an absolute mess, I have yet to see a picture of a pool that started in worse shape than mine, and I have read a lot of green to clean threads. I don't have a functioning main drain, just skimmers. The bottom is my artwork of rust, iron and tannin stains from the pool being neglected for years. I kind of like them, gives the pool some character. On the deep end you can see different levels where the pool was left at various stages of fill over the years.

 
All great points. I had no idea about the main drain - the pool guy looked at me like I was crazy when I said it wasnt hooked up.

We have a Dolphin Nautilis, I think? The cleaner does not hook into the filter. We let the robot run a cycle, clear out its filters and let it run again. It was dark this morning when I left for work, so I will grab another picture when I get home.

Scrubbing 2x per day, keeping the chlorine at shock level and keeping the filter running 24/7 seems to be doing the trick. Patience....that too!
 
I used a Dolphin Nautilis. Run it with the "Spring filters" until it starts coming back with only a few leaves. Once you get the leaves out and get the "Dead algae" look put in the "ultra fine" filters. the ultra fine filters actually filter to a lower micron than the sand filter. I just dropped mine Dolphin in to get the leaves out of the pool from some nasty storms we had last night. Just when I was ready to fill the pool in, things turned around.
 
Arms, which filters are the ultra- fine? The pleated or the metal?

Here is a picture of today's progress. Unfortunately, my husband forgot to turn off the timer this morning & the filter/pump didn't run all day. I got my FC back up to 18 and am running the robot & pump. I feel like it is always something….

Right now it is a downpour out there20150526_173729.jpg, so no scrubbing for me.
 

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Lisa, he is going to be the death of me, I swear. I leave for work at 4:45 am, so I have been letting him take care of it.

I think the problem is that the pump is on a timer & I can't figure out how to turn the timer off. Or he is sabotaging me. :)

But, I have a little clarity. I "think" I can see down a few feet. So, I am hanging my hat on that!!! (otherwise I will lose it).
 
I am not mechanically inclined, so that was a HUGE win!

Quick question. "Splash Less" Bleach.. ok to use? I am on my last 8%. I can't see the percentage on the label. I am guessing it is lower? 6%?

- - - Updated - - -

FC holding at 20. One more check before the sun goes down, then I think I will call it a night.
 

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