Devastated by flood... brown not green pool :(

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VinylDelight

VinylDelight

Well-known member
Aug 9, 2022
104
MS
Pool Size
28000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Ok I think I have been a pool owner for exactly a year now and we had a flood... it was BAD and the pool went over the vinyl liner and then some. I did turn off the filter before this happened, but the pool is brown and filthy. I am sure there is stuff in there but it is literally like a swamp. I'm lost... I ran the robot and drained the water to half skimmer level... but I don't even know where to start... is my vinyl liner done for? Do I test the pump somehow? I deleted the schedule and put it in service mode so hopefully it does not turn on. This is pretty rough!!! Please help! Thank you.
 
How high did the water get at your equipment pad?

Post pics of your equipment pad and pool and show us your situation.
 
Don’t worry, there’s been a lot of really nasty flooded pools cleaned up and beautiful again thanks to the methods here.

Please post pics, they will help.

Did anything big get washed in that you know of or is it just dirt, mulch and other stuff like that?
 
I just cleaned a flooded pool which had the floor completely covered with mud from the torrential runoff. Looks worse but a plan needs to be in order before you mess with it. If you can vacuum to waste best option doing it carefully and methodically otherwise vacuum to the filter and clean it when it's time even several time as you progress. I did just that and cleaned the quad filter 3 times. The residual was pushed towards the main drain which I had valved for main drain ONLY with the vsp at a higher rpm. The final which wasn't much but yet enough was done with my Polaris 9550 which has a fine mesh filter to trap all. I knew to clean the filter in the polaris when it was too heavy to climb and didn't give it the chance to struggle. Even the fine stuff left behind almost looking like dead algae is heavy when it got into the robot so be vigilant and careful.
 
Firstly, thank you for the reassurance and fast replies... it is hopeful at the very least. Spent all night breaking open boxes and setting things out to dry... going to have to tear out drywall this weekend in addition to the pool. ugh...
ajw22 said:
How high did the water get at your equipment pad?

Post pics of your equipment pad and pool and show us your situation.
Click to expand...
It appears to have gotten just about over the clean out thing -- is this the pump? The water lines are fairly visible. The water came and went within an hour I would say. It was not standing water for a while.

Kaylee34 said:
Don’t worry, there’s been a lot of really nasty flooded pools cleaned up and beautiful again thanks to the methods here.

Please post pics, they will help.

Did anything big get washed in that you know of or is it just dirt, mulch and other stuff like that?
Click to expand...
I definitely think there is going to be a fair amount of gravel from nearby, small branches, maybe a piece of small wood. I don't think there are any extremely large limbs in there. We have a fence around it, but it was broken but in a "favorable" spot.
wireform said:
I just cleaned a flooded pool which had the floor completely covered with mud from the torrential runoff. Looks worse but a plan needs to be in order before you mess with it. If you can vacuum to waste best option doing it carefully and methodically otherwise vacuum to the filter and clean it when it's time even several time as you progress. I did just that and cleaned the quad filter 3 times. The residual was pushed towards the main drain which I had valved for main drain ONLY with the vsp at a higher rpm. The final which wasn't much but yet enough was done with my Polaris 9550 which has a fine mesh filter to trap all. I knew to clean the filter in the polaris when it was too heavy to climb and didn't give it the chance to struggle. Even the fine stuff left behind almost looking like dead algae is heavy when it got into the robot so be vigilant and careful.
Click to expand...
A lot of this went over my head... but I do have a pool vacuum attachment and hose lol.
 

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Thank you for the follow ups. I have stopped the robot. I'll pump out some water tomorrow if it boots up and try to vac out some scum water.
 
Rough, rough weekend. Drying out *&%^, picking up fences... did not even get a chance to go after the pool. :(

So my question is, to test the pool pump and see if it actually works without damaging it, what do I do? I know there is debris in there, and if it did work I would hate to think me turning on something or doing it wrong would be what breaks something. My goal is to vacuum to waste (led to believe that is most prudent) all the sediment, but I have only used a pool vacuum 1 time and that was simply to try things out (on a clear pool).
 
Open up the pump basket and see it is free of dirt and debris. Hose it out if necessary and pour a bucket of water in the pump and secure the pump lid firmly.

All you can do is turn on the pump and see what it does and sounds like. If it makes any strange sounds turn it off.
 
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ajw22 said:
Open up the pump basket and see it is free of dirt and debris. Hose it out if necessary and pour a bucket of water in the pump and secure the pump lid firmly.

All you can do is turn on the pump and see what it does and sounds like. If it makes any strange sounds turn it off.
Click to expand...
I have opened the pump to clear that filter numerous times in my 1 year, but never poured in a bucket of water. What does that do?
 
VinylDelight said:
I have opened the pump to clear that filter numerous times in my 1 year, but never poured in a bucket of water. What does that do?
Click to expand...
It helps the pump prime. I have no idea how easily the pump primes itself.
 
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Ok so bad news ish.... I had to leave for 2 weeks and between cutting out walls and the pool, I had decided to cut out the walls to prevent mold but now I just got back and tried to fire up the pump to vacuum-to-waste and it simply "hums" or buzzes but does not "crank up". I quickly googled it and saw a person say that this happens from corrosion or debris... so I will attempt to take off the cap on the side and see if anything is up. At this point what is best recommended? Thank you.
 

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ajw22 said:
Check the capacitor in the hump....

Pump Capacitors - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
edit: tested the capacitor... I used an ohmeter and the capacitor seemed to work fine -- it gained resistance (or whatever) with the test.

Thank you, will do... in the meantime my update is I got the back cover off to use a box wrench to rotate the impeller "nub" and it was quite tough but rotates now, although it does not sound smooth but rather almost "crunchy" if I had to choose a word.

Is this the correct capacitor to replace my current one? I am not fortunate enough to be right next to a leslies! Amazon.com

(I attached a photo of the capacitor housing which was disconcertingly rusty. Also, the 1 photo is to show the state of the end of the pump.
 

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An additional question... is it possible that the reason for my troubles (humming pump, not starting edit: pump can start but sounds "screechier/whinier" now) has to do with water levels lowering? While I was away there was a lot of heat and the water level dropped lower than usual, although when I got home there was still water in the skimmer. Additionally, the pool pump has not been running since the flood ~2 weeks ago.
 
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New update.... whacked with a mallet and it started up :D :poop:
o_O

However, it seems to be a slightly off sound so I turned it off for fear of the unknown (Im a pool newb and very far out of my paygrade here!)... did it lose prime (I wouldn't know how to tell)? Did something happen from not having a pool pump run for 2 weeks? Is it possible the pump simply sounds different/screechier/whinier when there is so much :poop: in the water? I simply do not know.
 
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