Cleaning out VERY dirty pool

[TamithaSue50]

So somehow my pool cover came off a little bit during the winter and now my pool is SUPER nasty. I'm currently draining ALL the water out and then I'm going to tackle scrubbing it clean. I'm wondering what is the best thing to scrub it with. There is nasty black and green slim on the sides of it and I can ONLY imagine what the bottom of it looks like. I figured bleach would be okay but wondered if there was something bettor to use.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

 

[mknauss]

Once you get toward the bottom just use water to spray off the sides, etc. Then get it refilling as it is not good to leave the pool up for long without water in it. After it is full, follow the SLAM Process process.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Don't empty it entirely.... leave at least 12-18 inches in the bottom or you risk having the liner shift out of place.

After that refill quickly and perform a slam procedure: SLAM Process

Do you have one of the test kits we endorse, you'll need one. www.tftestkits.net

Maddie

 

[TamithaSue50]

Once you get toward the bottom just use water to spray off the sides, etc. Then get it refilling as it is not good to leave the pool up for long without water in it. After it is full, follow the SLAM Process process.

I know all that. But there is green and black stuff stuck to the walls. How or what do I use to clean that off?

 

[mknauss]

The SLAM Process

 

[YippeeSkippy]

A brush and a lot of liquid chlorine. Then when you refill the pool, perform a SLAM Process procedure so you know the pool is free of all scrunge and algae. It should be a fairly quick SLAM Process since so much of the water is new.

Once you complete the SLAM based on the 3 criteria to end-
1) water crystal clear
2) CCs less 0.5 or less
3) pass the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

-you'll just maintain that beautiful water using your reliable test kit and some liquid chlorine! its not hard, I swear!

Maddie

 

[TamithaSue50]

The SLAM Process

Mknauss....so I don't have to do any scrubbing? Just doing The SLAM will clean everything off???

 

[mknauss]

Brush, often.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Get a good nylon brush and scrub, scrub, scrub! Lots of chlorine in the water too to brush up on the tile.

Maddie

 

[TamithaSue50]

Brush, often.

mknauss....question. Someone said not to drain all the water out. Advised to leave 12-18 inches in there but I'm wondering if it's a good idea to leave that much in it because that's where all the dirt rotted leaves and yucky stuff is at. If I leave that much water in there and then add water it won't work will it? Or do I need to get out all the debris I can before adding new water?

 

[mknauss]

Your liner can shift and be ruined if you drain all the way. Best to net out the solids and let the chlorine consume the rest.

 

[zea3]

Get out all the debris you can before adding fresh water. You will need a leaf rake, which is a deep bag-style net and not a flat skimming net to scoop the debris off the pool floor. Since you have a soft wall style pool you can completely empty it, but if you let the algae that is stuck to the walls of the pool dry out you will have a much harder time cleaning it off. While you are draining you can also try to spray off some of the gunk on the walls with an adjustable nozzle on your water hose.

 

[TamithaSue50]

Okay so what's the least amount I should leave in there

 

[zea3]

This type of pool may be completely emptied, but you don't want to leave it empty. Since you are above ground the liner is not going to shift due to ground water, but winds can knock an empty pool over. I would try to start refilling the pool the same day if you empty it completely. If you think you can't get to it all in one day leave about a foot of water in the pool.

 

[TamithaSue50]

Looks like this is gonna be a LONG process. UGH!! Thank you VERY much to whoever told me to get a leaf bag. Soooooo much easier than a skimmer lol