Hello. I am new to the site and already have a major problem. I live in the Dallas area and with the huge amount of rain we have been receiving, I have had a huge amount of runoff from flower beds overflowing and filling my pool with muddy water. It is so bad that i cannot see the bottom of my pool. My pool is 15,000 gallons. I have a DE filter system and I do not have the ability to "Vaccum to waste" as I have read in other sites. I have backwashed and added DE many times but it doesn't seem to have made a dent. I would like to not have to drain the pool and start over if possible and I am also concerned if I do, with the amount of moisture saturation we have, that the pool could float or collapse. Any advice would be truly appreciated as I feel I am not the only pool owner going thru this.
Pool filled with muddy runoff....Help!!!
- Thread starter Ozzie2u
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,754
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Would you mind listing some more info about your pool? A lot of people list it in the profile "signature". What type of pool exactly is it? If you could list any other pool hardware that might be helpful as well. See my signature as an example. We should have some ideas shortly. Oh, and welcome! 
Welcome to the forum. 
Runoff rainwater into the pool is one of the very toughest things there is to deal with. You simply have no choice but to vacuum, filter, brush as much as you can until it's clear. During this time, you should also elevate your chlorine to maybe twice above normal to help kill the additional stuff that has run into your pool and to keep your pool sanitary.
The Pool Store will tell you to try their latest clarifier and flocs. That may help a bit but the experience on this forum says that they seldom work at all and they often make matters worse.
Runoff rainwater into the pool is one of the very toughest things there is to deal with. You simply have no choice but to vacuum, filter, brush as much as you can until it's clear. During this time, you should also elevate your chlorine to maybe twice above normal to help kill the additional stuff that has run into your pool and to keep your pool sanitary.
The Pool Store will tell you to try their latest clarifier and flocs. That may help a bit but the experience on this forum says that they seldom work at all and they often make matters worse.
Your DE filter should have a drain plug. Remove the plug and attach a backwash hose. Lay out the hose where you want the water to drain. Remove the filter elements and DE. Put lid back on filter, then attach pool vacuum as usual and you can vacuum to waste this way. Keep an eye on the water level as you will loose water fairly quickly.
Thanks for the advice!! I have added a signature with my pool information. I have a Polaris 9550 robotic cleaner which I am thinking is not the best for this problem. Hopefully it will eventually get the job done. Zea3, I am curious what the difference is in taking out the grids and attaching the backwash hose to the filter and just backwashing. Perhaps if my cleaner was a suction based cleaner it would make the difference I am looking for. Is that correct? If so, I do have some hoses from a previous cleaner and a manual vacuum head that may work better. Thoughts?
I helped a friend with a similar disaster some years ago. My thoughts from experience –
If you can't see the bottom because it's obscured, dredge with a pool net to find out what's down there. In his case it was ugly – inches of mud and backyard debris. Your pool equipment wasn't designed for sucking mud and rocks. He damaged the pump, blew out all the the DE filter grids, and clogged the main drain before deciding to rent a large commercial pump to remove everything. We succeeded, but it was a major exercise. If you think your equipment is up to the task, certainly remove your filter grids as suggested by zea3.
If you can't see the bottom because it's obscured, dredge with a pool net to find out what's down there. In his case it was ugly – inches of mud and backyard debris. Your pool equipment wasn't designed for sucking mud and rocks. He damaged the pump, blew out all the the DE filter grids, and clogged the main drain before deciding to rent a large commercial pump to remove everything. We succeeded, but it was a major exercise. If you think your equipment is up to the task, certainly remove your filter grids as suggested by zea3.
Just an update...I cleaned my filter one more time and after about 15 backwashes in two days I could finally see the main drain. Two more days later and a few more backwashes I think I can finally get my water tested and things will be normal again. Thanks again for the advice.