Harvey Clean-up Help!

[BellyFlopBoy]

Honestly since Harvey left us, our priority had been with the house (sheet rock, floors, doors, kitchen, bathrooms, insulation, cars, etc) . But now the house is drying-out nicely and my mind is on the pool this afternoon.

Where should I start? Pumps, heater, and DE filter were all under water and have not run since we evacuated. We never lost power. I was thinking about draining the pool, but some say to wait until the water recedes so that it doesn't "float" out of the ground. How long should I wait? If I drain it, then what? I can spray it with disinfectant that we are using on the house and possibly pressure wash it, brush it clean, refill it, etc. Some say the drains and lines are likely plugged with mud. How do you clear those? How urgent is it to get the pool sorted? What's the downside if I let it go for a month?

Here are the steps I'm thinking:
1) replace 2xpump motors (can I do this myself?), clean DE filter
2) drain pool assuming drains are open (what if the drains are plugged?)
3) pressure wash, brush clean, spray with disinfectant
4) refill pool, treat as usual
5) replace heater (has not worked since we moved in)

What am I missing?

Thanks in advance for all of your suggestions. I've been reading TFP for about a year since we bought this house with a pool (not even in a 500 year flood plain ). Y'all are awesome! Hope you can see the pics.

 

[peirek]

Welcome to TFP BFB. Prayers with you and your family.

Not sure how to direct you on this mess. For sure you will need to start over with complete refill. My first thought is 10-20 gallons of bleach LOL.

First question you said you did not lose power. Did the motor breakers pop? How long were they under water. They might not be totally ruined. Very possible new bearings and good cleaning could get them in working order.

I might start with disassembly of the filter and then drain pool below skimmers and returns. You can then run water through the lines with a hose and check for any blockages. I would only think the bottom drain might be subject to mud accumulation. A rag and compressor (20psi) can aid in blowing out any blockage or mud.

These suggestions are my opinion as I am not an expert. Your results may vary.

As as for how long to wait to fully drain the pool I cannot say. Too many variables. I'll leave that to the experts.

 

[mknauss]

I would be very careful in removing water from your pool. The water table may still be very high and you could pop your pool out of the ground.

If you can find a trash pump, you could pump from the deep end pushing any solids to the pump, and add fresh water to the shallow end. This would at least dilute the murky water and do your best to remove the bulk of the solids.

After you get it cleaned to the point of restarting your pump systems (You will need to decide if you replace or repair your pump motors) you can do a conventional SLAM Process.

The sooner you can get some calcium in your water the better. The plaster is being attacked by the low CH water. Hopefully the pH is pretty high and that should help protect it.

Good luck --

 

[BigEinAZ]

I agree with the advice above. You may have some difficulty finding a trash pump right now since most of them in your region are probably already being used. Also keep in mind that a three or four inch trash pump is going to remove water much faster than you can replace it with a three-quarter inch hose. You'll have to position the suction and as soon as the pump takes prime, start pushing the mud on the bottom towards the basket. Pump down below the skimmer and then shut off to let the solids resettle and give your fill hose the opportunity to catch up. This will be a weeklong project just to get the majority of mud out. I'd be dumping gallons of bleach in during this time also.

 

[zea3]

Hi, I'm sorry you have so much damage from Harvey. Be very careful handling the floodwater. Be sure to wash/shower well after working on the pool, and wash any flood water contaminated clothing in hot water. There have been high levels of bacteria and ecoli reported in floodwater samples from the greater Houston area.
If you have been reading for a while then you know we are going to ask if you have a recommended test kit? I would get enough bleach to bring it to shock level for 24 hours first, just to kill off any bacteria and other nasties before I tried to empty the pool. You really don't want to pump contaminated water into the yard if you can help it. As far as clearing out any mud or debris I second the trash pump recommendation. If you can rig it up as a vacuum you can run it along the bottom, otherwise brushing mud toward it will work too. Make sure the pool stays at least 1/2 full while you clean out the mud. Stop and refill if you have too. You don't want to try and clear out mud with a pool pump. If there is a bunch of mud in there it will clog you pipes and then you will have the joy of trying to unclog or replace them. Its hard on the pump, too.

Once all the mud and debris is gone and the pool is full you can begin the SLAM Process process. The slam process will sanitize the pool so there is no need to powerwash and potentially damage you plaster.

Replacing pumps is not difficult. You probably only need the motors, so look into replacing the motors and it may save you some money.

 

[jnh896]

No advice, just wanted to say good luck and hang in there!

 

[SpringPool]

Check out the testing and balancing your water section.

Others have been in similar situations.

This is one took a week to clear up How long to clear pool after Harvey?

There is light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[Mcow]

No advice as well just anted to say we are thinking about you guys in the Houston area here in DFW and hope things get back to normal ASAP.

 

[BellyFlopBoy]

Thanks for the good suggestions. Circulation with trash pump while diluting with garden hose sounds like a good way to go. And the comment about Ca was something I hadn't considered. I have one of the better Taylor test kits (D?? 20???). Are the tests reliable when the water is this muddy?

Saw some fish swimming around in the shallow end this morning. Have not seen any alligators since the first morning back (in the bayou, not the pool).

I honestly have no idea where the circuit breaker is. I know it tripped (pumps switched "on" but not running obviously).

And thanks for the other Harvey recovery link. I'll update y'all as I progress.

 

[ntobik]

You can try to drain/refill with a tarp. It's been mentioned on here, but I don't have links.

Try this. Buy a giant blue tarp that's maybe 1.5-2x as big as the pool. Drape the tarp over the pool. Start to put fresh water on top while pumping from below. What will happen is the nasty water will stay under the tarp with the fresh water on top. If the pump is working at the same speed as the hose (use a sump or something similar) then there will always be an equilibrium. The tarp will sink lower and lower with fresh water on top. At some point the sump will run out of dirty water and you'll have maybe 1' of it under the tarp. Shut the pump off. Work to remove the tarp. This will be the hardest part. You might want to get in and cut the tarp up. You'll release the remaining dirty water to mix with your clean fill water. But at this point it'll be easy to treat.

 

[keithw]

If it were me I would buy a heavy duty fine mesh pool leaf net if you do not already have one. Something like this, Pool Leaf Rake Net | Buy Pool Supplies At MKM Pool Spa

Drag that from the middle towards you all around the pool and dump it after each run. It won't catch everything but it'll catch a lot even sediment. I use these to clean the bottom of my pond when sediment builds up. Do that then let settle and do it again. Can you isolate the main drains and turn them off? If so then after netting and getting the pump situation fixed I would fire it up an bleach it. Once clear, vacuum the bottom to waste. I would avoid draining it if possible.