Did I screw up by adding floc'd.

[deelands]

Hello, we bought a house that had a pool. The pool had not been cleaned in 2 years. It is a sand filter/vinyl liner inground pool. The pool water was almost brown and had small red worms, mutated water bugs, and a bunch of scum at the bottom that I tried to skim out. I hit the pool with a few shock treatments, used green to clean, and it just turned to a lower degree of green.
I shocked the pool again and threw in alum floc. After about 24 hours, the floc has collected a lot of junk, but it is floating on the surface rather than sinking to the bottom.
Should I let it set longer before I freak out? Can I recirculate the water and use more shock (i'm assuming all the algae didn't die in the first three shock treatments and that's why it didn't sink, the water still looks greenish)? Should I vacuum out what I can and then recirculate/shock?
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum.

I would suggest you consider draining the pool and refill with fresh water if at all possible. Be ware of draining risks due to shallow ground water.

Floc is not recommended as it creates more problems than it solves. And algae must be dead if you attempt to use it.

 

[deelands]

This is the latest photo of the floc process.

 

[deelands]

Welcome to the forum.

I would suggest you consider draining the pool and refill with fresh water if at all possible. Be ware of draining risks due to shallow ground water.

Floc is not recommended as it creates more problems than it solves. And algae must be dead if you attempt to use it.

I was also considering draining the pool. But is draining the pool safe if it is a vinyl liner pool? Could the loss of water and that pressure cause issues with the liner coming loose or something?

Thanks.

 

[mknauss]

You cannot drain a vinyl liner pool. This is when filling out your signature would have been of great help.

I assume you can vac to waste.

 

[deelands]

You cannot drain a vinyl liner pool. This is when filling out your signature would have been of great help.

I assume you can vac to waste.

The third sentence stated that it was a "sand filter/vinyl liner pool". Please take a look at the photo above. That is the current state of the pool. I don't think vacuuming to waste is a viable option for the sediment floating on the surface.

 

[mknauss]

Sorry, missed that.
Few of us have experience with what you have as we do not use floc or other pool store potions.
You might try first to pull from the skimmer to waste while adding water. See if that clears some of the surface material. Or run it on recirculate to shear the material through the pump.

 

[deelands]

Sorry, missed that.
Few of us have experience with what you have as we do not use floc or other pool store potions.
You might try first to pull from the skimmer to waste while adding water. See if that clears some of the surface material. Or run it on recirculate to shear the material through the pump.

No worries. And I will try that.
In theory, could I recirculate the water and reshock the pool? It will disturb everything that has settled to the surface, but if I can get it to sink I can vacuum to waste.

 

[mknauss]

Give it a try. You need chlorine.

When you have time, review SLAM Process and Pool Care Basics. That will help you understand TFPC. It is diametrically opposed to what you are doing.