Filtering out concrete

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pjku79

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Apr 17, 2015
164
San Antonio
I just got back from vacation to find out my coping was done last Friday. My pool was clear when I left and is now very cloudy. I am guessing it's due to all the concrete which feel into the pool. What's the best way to get it out? Will it cause an problems is I run my dolphin s200? Should I put a mesh thing over the skimmer? Thanks for the advice.

PS I'm expecting more tomorrow when they clean it all up.
 
Hi pjku,
I had the same thing happen when my pool was built. I filtered for days on end without much luck.

What I did finally was turn off the pump and let the sediment settle to the bottom, then vacuum it out with a manual vacuum. I had to repeat the process a couple of times to get it all.
 
OK, so I got around to trying to get the pool cleaned up yesterday and there is definitely a lot of concrete (sand) and gravel (base) in the bottom of the pool. By a lot, I am not actually sure how much because I still can't see the bottom of the pool.

I have a skimmer based vacuum that I got from Lowes. It basically uses the skimmer as the basket for debris. I added a mesh bag to help catch the sand. When I hooked it up yesterday and dropped the vacuum part to the bottom of the pool it instantly filled the basket (less then 5 sec). It was filled with base stone and sand. I did this about 10 times until my skimmer basket literally broke from the weight.

Is there a better way to do this? I am positive that I haven't even made a dent in the amount of debris still in the bottom as I never moved the vacuum from the initial location and it kept filling the basket. Is there some sort of larger attachment that I can put on that can trap the gravel/sand before my skimmer, so I don't have to empty it every 10 sec? Or, should I just give up and call an expert?
 
I would invest in a inline leaf cannister, such as Hayward or Pentair, to filter out the the coarse material, an let your cartridge filter do the rest. Keep a close eye on the filter pressure, and clean as necessary. Just a quick rinse, no need to be too meticulous. Your cartridges will probably need replaced after all on this, but that's pretty common after a construction project like yours. This would be a good time to SLAM as well.
This is a good time for POP, and you will be rewarded!
Good luck!
Jim
 
ajw22 said:
It may be worthwhile to have a pool service vacuum your pool with a standalone rig like this.

Pool Vacuum Rig

Pool Vacuum Rig

Click to expand...
Wife got a quote for $100 to do that. That is worth it to me. We are going to schedule it for next week since they are pouring the rest tomorrow.

I am going to do some testing tonight to see where the water is at. I expect the calcium is going to be through the roof from the limestone that is sitting at the bottom. Hopefully that will eventually get back down.
 

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I have seen what look like custom constructed vacuum rigs mounted on a dolly. The key is a 120V pump with the appropriate hoses. And I have seen ones with leaf bags.
 
I ran some water tests yesterday and nothing was way out of wack. I added some salt and bleach to get where I need it to be. From there I will dial in pH and TA.

I am hoping they finish up pouring and touching up the coping today, so I can start cleaning things up.

Do I need to worry about when they stain and seal the concrete? I expect some of that will make it into the pool.
 
Welp, I've had to pool companies come out with auxiliary pump and both claim they burned out their pumps and barely made and progress. I've decided to just drain the pool and clean it myself. There is way too much in there too try to clean it with a leaf filter and a lot of the same would just go right through it.

Thoughts?
 
Fyi, I've started to drain the pool so if you think that's a bad idea, tell me quickly.

Also assuming I do drain it all the way down, any thoughts on what to clean off dried concrete with? My spa was empty when they poured and some got on the bench.
 
Draining a fiberglass pool is very risky. You might get away with dropping it a couple feet, but no more.

It can pop out of the ground if you have shallow surface water. The sides can bulge in if your soils are not stable.
 
mknauss said:
Draining a fiberglass pool is very risky. You might get away with dropping it a couple feet, but no more.

It can pop out of the ground if you have shallow surface water. The sides can bulge in if your soils are not stable.
Click to expand...

I have a 12 in pipe that goes down to the base rock. I was told to inspect that to make sure there was no water and if that was dry it was fine to drain. Is that not correct?

Obviously I don't want to cause more problems now that I have my concrete in. I'm just getting frustrated that these pool companies are worthless and don't want to damage my pump.
 
If your ground is very stable you can give it a try. Still lots of risk.

Are you using a submersible pump to drain? That is the wise way, rent one from Home Depot, drain in about 3 hours, and get refilling quickly.
 
I'm using a submersible pump that I bought from Lowe's but it's going pretty slow. Moved about 1 in per hour. Maybe they have bigger ones.

Also I just looked at the sight hole at my deep end and it's dry. Also my ground is limestone so it shouldn't move. They had to hammer to get the hole.

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
Better than expanding clay. Mine is in decomposed granite. Like gravel. But I do not drain, I exchange. Pump water out from the deep end while adding in the shallow end.

I would suggest getting a rental sub pump for this from Home Depot or Lowes. They can pump ~4000 gph
 

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