First start up New construction pool

dgibby

Active member
Feb 21, 2025
25
Central Texas
Looking for feedback on starting my pool for the first time. Not so much on chemistry, but on cleaning due to the construction. It’s a fiberglass pool so it was filled while backfill, construction and concrete was going and is quite dirty. They pressure tested the system but have never ran the pump yet. Based on watching the process I’m sure the suction and return lines are filled with dirt and debris . Have been waiting for the pool company to send their guy out but I’m growing impatient. Was thinking of pulling the return jet eye balls and the nozzles out of the deck jets to get the best chance of flushing them out at start up. I have a cordless vacuum that I will use to try to get everything off the bottom and brush all the walls. Anything else I’m missing? Or should I just wait for the pool company to show up?
It’s still winter here so they are not in a hurry but I hate staring at a dirty pool turning greener every day.
 
I would vacuum out the debris that settled to the pool floor, then top off the pool water, before starting the pump.

You can do the same things the pool company will do.
 
I would vacuum out the debris that settled to the pool floor, then top off the pool water, before starting the pump.

You can do the same things the pool company will do.
That’s what I did but the water gets cloudy and hard to see the bottom when it kicks up the dirt on the bottom. At the point now when I think I need to run the filter and get the suspended stuff filtered out.
 
That is a toy.

If your Pool Service has a standalone vacuum rig let them clean it up.

You need a commercial grade standalone vacuum rig like the Riptide or this...

img_0004-jpeg.630704





 
That is a toy.

If your Pool Service has a standalone vacuum rig let them clean it up.

You need a commercial grade standalone vacuum rig like the Riptide or this...

img_0004-jpeg.630704





Yeah, those would get the job done.
Not sure what the pool guy has, guess I’ll see when he shows up.
 
That is a toy.

If your Pool Service has a standalone vacuum rig let them clean it up.

You need a commercial grade standalone vacuum rig like the Riptide or this...

img_0004-jpeg.630704





Well.. they showed up and just used a hose hooked to our skimmer and vacuumed it. Added chemicals and will be back in two days to vacuum again, clean the filters and check chemistry.
 
What model filter do you have that took all that dirt?

Did they clean the filter after vacuuming?
 
What model filter do you have that took all that dirt?

Did they clean the filter after vacuuming?
It’s a Hayward 4 cartridge filter.
Not sure if they cleaned it since I was gone when they finished. I do believe he said he wouldn’t clean it until after he came back on Wednesday. Seems like they half assed the cleaning after doing such a great job with the installation.
 

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The lower the better.

I want to get an idea how dirty it may be.
Just checked it and the speed is 1700 rpm.
0 psi and the pump basket had lots of air bubbles in it and not full of water. Lots of flow out of the returns in the pool and good suction at the skimmer. Shut it down and checked the pump strainer and it was clean.
Fired it back up and the pressure went to 11 psi in prime mode and dropped to 0 again when the pump dropped to 1700 rpm.
No air bubbles in the pump strainer and completely full of water and I bled the air out of the filter.
 
You have a suction side air leak.

Get the builder to fix it.

 
You have a suction side air leak.

Get the builder to fix it.

Sorry. I’m a knucklehead..
the pump strainer is staying full. Look at it with a flashlight and it looked empty but it wasn’t.
Should I be concerned about the 0 psi at low speed? Ran it through the settings and wouldn’t read pressure until 2000 rpm.
 
Should I be concerned about the 0 psi at low speed? Ran it through the settings and wouldn’t read pressure until 2000 rpm.
Yes, filter PSI should be proportional to pump speed.

It may read low at low pump speeds but you should see a few PSI by 1500 RPM.
 

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