First time poster with cloudy water

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I made some calls this morning and I can get a truck on Friday that will deliver 6,500 gallons or I can get one that will deliver 9,000 gallons. I believe my pool is around 22,000 so should I'm thinking I have a few options. Option 1 is to drain 6,500 gallons and refill with the possibility of having to do another 6,500 and second time. Option 2 is to drain 9,000 gallons and refill. Option 3 is to drain 13,000 gallons and refill by having 2 trucks of 6500 show up. First question is which option is best or is there a better option. Also, when do I start to drain. Thursday morning? and how long can pool a sit with anywhere from 6,500 to 13,000 emptied. I'm scared to death of pool pop. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that draining 6,500 gallons and refilling will get me through the rest of the season and then I can do another drain and refill in the spring. When closing the pool for the winter we usually take it down about 16 inches and the winter snow will fill it back up but I have no idea how many gallons 16 inches is. Doesn't seem like more than a couple of thousand.
 
So from the draining perspective, If you fill and drain again, You’re throwing out a known % of the new water too. But you have to protect the pool from floating as well so it’s not an easy answer either way.
 
I would like to do the no drain water exchange as described in the article but the truck loads water at a rate of about 100 gallons per minute so I don’t think that is a method I can use.
 
The no drain exchange uses water weight (higher calcium, etc in one) and / or temperature to keep the 2 mostly separated.

filling with a fire hose like truck pump would mix it too much and undo the process.
 
If you have a shallow water table the shell can be compromised.

You said you normally drain down 16 inches for winter without issue. Unless your pool is very deep you likely have about 400 gallons per inch of water depth at the surface. So that would be about 6500 gallons.
 
My pool is about 3.5 feet on the shallow end and 9.5 feet deep on the deep end. I can’t remember the length and width. I think it’s about 32 feet by 16 feet but thats an estimate.
 

Attachments

  • 9E54172E-4312-4EDB-BE15-5ABBAB8E97D3.jpeg
    9E54172E-4312-4EDB-BE15-5ABBAB8E97D3.jpeg
    696 KB · Views: 23
We are reticent to predict pool popping issues in areas of shallow water tables. So the safest thing to do is do what you do when you close for winter. That will drop your CYA by 20-25%. or do more, but that is at your own risk.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Here is an update. I drained 6500 gallons and had it replenished today. Thanks to a pool calculator, I was able to come really close to draining 6500 gallons. The water line is now about a 1/2 inch higher than normal so the pool calculator was extremely accurate. I will say the water is a little clearer as I can see the bottom in the shallow end and even though I still can’t see the drain in the deep end, I can see R2D2 (we call the robot R2D2) in the deep end where I couldn’t before. I did a CYA test as soon as the refill was complete and it came out at 80. Since I missed yesterday due to draining, I just put 2 gallons of liquid chlorine in and started the filter. Even thought the refill probably circulated the water pretty good, I’m thinking to run the filter for a couple of hours then perform another CYA test. Am I on the right path?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Snoobug
Vitto09 said:
Here is an update. I drained 6500 gallons and had it replenished today. Thanks to a pool calculator, I was able to come really close to draining 6500 gallons. The water line is now about a 1/2 inch higher than normal so the pool calculator was extremely accurate. I will say the water is a little clearer as I can see the bottom in the shallow end and even though I still can’t see the drain in the deep end, I can see R2D2 (we call the robot R2D2) in the deep end where I couldn’t before. I did a CYA test as soon as the refill was complete and it came out at 80. Since I missed yesterday due to draining, I just put 2 gallons of liquid chlorine in and started the filter. Even thought the refill probably circulated the water pretty good, I’m thinking to run the filter for a couple of hours then perform another CYA test. Am I on the right path?
Click to expand...
Water would need an hour of mixing before you can get some accuracy for the CYA
 
I’m not sure if I can manage it at these levels. The water does look better but it is still cloudy as I cannot see the floor drain in the deep end. With the CYA at 90, I’m not opposed to doing another 6500 gallon drain and refill if that is the best option.
 
That should get your CYA to about 60. SLAM level FC would then be 24 ppm. Target FC for maintenance would be around 8 ppm or so.
 
I will do the overnight test and post the results tomorrow. If I am correct, you are Marty, and I appreciate your advice and quick replies. My name is Tori. Also, at this point I’m thinking I should place another order for 6500 gallons to be delivered on Monday.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mknauss
Vitto09 said:
Another truck of 6500 gallons will be here Monday. Enjoy your weekend.
Click to expand...
Tori,

You are making the right decision. I was at 70 and given the feedback I got, it is a much harder slam at anything over 60.

I swapped 13K gallons in my pool to get it to 40. I'm glad I made the decision to go big. My life since then has been super easy care for this pool.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply