Help! It rained a ton last night.....
- Thread starter drsaxman
- Start date
Wow. Some storm, must have had run off from garden etc to muddy the water.
I would clean the filter, purchase 5 gals of liquid chlorine and go up to SLAM level based on your CYA.
Turn on pump and let continous circulation. It may take a while to clear but better than adding floc or other unnecessary chemicals.
You may need to vacuum if the dirt settles but you need to get LC in there soon and circulate to start.
I would clean the filter, purchase 5 gals of liquid chlorine and go up to SLAM level based on your CYA.
Turn on pump and let continous circulation. It may take a while to clear but better than adding floc or other unnecessary chemicals.
You may need to vacuum if the dirt settles but you need to get LC in there soon and circulate to start.
For clarity purposes: Do you mean "circulate" as in running it through the filter, or "recirculate" to bypass the filter?
Thanks!
You will need to do a 1, .2 punch for that muddy mess. Higher FC and yes floc it. The ONLY reason YOU can floc is you have a sand filter. As such you can vacuum to waste. The high FC will come in once the floc has done it's work. You will need to follow the directions to the letter for the floc. Until you get the floc keep your FC up towards SLAM level and run the water through the filter 24/7 to try to filter some of that mess out.
Make sure to have the water as high as it can be in the pool as you will lose quite a bit when you vacuum it to waste.
Note to all others: Do NOT use floc if you cannot filter to waste! It can gum up and ruin your filter cartridge or de grids. You can plumb in a line that goes before the filter with a valve to direct water out of the pool BEFORE it goes through the filter.
The next thing you need to do is see how/why this happened. Is there any way to keep it from happening again?
Make sure to have the water as high as it can be in the pool as you will lose quite a bit when you vacuum it to waste.
Note to all others: Do NOT use floc if you cannot filter to waste! It can gum up and ruin your filter cartridge or de grids. You can plumb in a line that goes before the filter with a valve to direct water out of the pool BEFORE it goes through the filter.
The next thing you need to do is see how/why this happened. Is there any way to keep it from happening again?
I would dump in some chlorine but otherwise let it settle for a day and then vacuum to waste. That will get the majority of the dirt our without messing with your filter.
Debris from the storm clogged up my french drain which is what caused the water to divert around it I imagine. I cleaned all the debris away from it.
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,813
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Does you sand filter have a multiport valve or a push/pull backwash valve?
If only a push/pull backwash valve, you can't vacuum to waste.
If only a push/pull backwash valve, you can't vacuum to waste.
It's a multi-port valve, but I don't think I'm set up to vacuum anything to waste. I have a polaris vacuum, and a submersible electric one, but I have no clue how to vacuum to waste.
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,813
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
With a multiport, you could vac to waste.
You would need a manual vac head and vac hose to vac to waste.
Any chance a neighbor or friend would loan you theirs to use for a few days? If not, keeping the water churned up and the pump on 24/7 should slowly clear it - but it will take time. You could run the pressure side Polaris to capture any big stuff for a day or two, then remove the bag and run it to help keep the stuff that settles out churned up until the pool clears.
You would need a manual vac head and vac hose to vac to waste.
Any chance a neighbor or friend would loan you theirs to use for a few days? If not, keeping the water churned up and the pump on 24/7 should slowly clear it - but it will take time. You could run the pressure side Polaris to capture any big stuff for a day or two, then remove the bag and run it to help keep the stuff that settles out churned up until the pool clears.
I am not a big fan of "vacuum to waste"......particularly in this instance. OP will be vacuuming blind and water will stay muddy until he drains the pool.
I would suggest you blindly scoop with a pool net to check for solid objects. Then, vacuum to filter and run a robot if you have it.
Yours is a difficult task. Run the pump 24/7 and carefully monitor filter pressure. Backwash each time filter exceeds by 25% of it's original pressure.
Plan on a lot of backwashing as the filter slowly clears the pool. Run the manual brush once or twice daily to pick up debris off the floor.
I would suggest you blindly scoop with a pool net to check for solid objects. Then, vacuum to filter and run a robot if you have it.
Yours is a difficult task. Run the pump 24/7 and carefully monitor filter pressure. Backwash each time filter exceeds by 25% of it's original pressure.
Plan on a lot of backwashing as the filter slowly clears the pool. Run the manual brush once or twice daily to pick up debris off the floor.
I’d be more of a fan of this method. Floc seems to not be needed yet. See if the filter will clean it up first.
Is there a link somewhere with how this whole vacuum situation works? First time owning a pool, the previous owner didn't leave much stuff behind besides a broken polaris. I figure that the "vacuum" part has something to do with the skimmer basket, but it would lead me to believe that I'm missing some pieces to draw vacuum so it doesn't just skim.
Here are the parts you will need. Make sure to check the SIZES you need for your pool. The skimmer plate and hose are the main ones for proper size:
lowes.com/pd/Pool-Central-Blue-Blow-Molded-PE-In-Ground-Swimming-Pool-Vacuum-Hose-with-Swivel-Cuff-25-ft-x-1-5-in/1002974296
Getting the hose filled with water AND getting it on the skimmer plate is the hardest part.
lowes.com/pd/Pool-Central-Blue-Blow-Molded-PE-In-Ground-Swimming-Pool-Vacuum-Hose-with-Swivel-Cuff-25-ft-x-1-5-in/1002974296
Getting the hose filled with water AND getting it on the skimmer plate is the hardest part.
Thank you for providing this info. I had no idea what I was looking for and I managed to track down these various parts around the basement.
All better now! Thanks for everyone's help @kimkats @Bperry @duraleigh @proavia @flynwill @HermanTX !
Day 1: Found the parts for the vacuum and sucked up what I could to filter before the water clouded up, then backwashed.
Day 2: Slam and ran filter all day - 4 hours on high, 20 hours on low, ran Polaris for a few hours - brushed sides and bottom, backwashed.
Day 3: Things started to clear up very nicely Maintained SLAM, ran polaris, brushed sides and bottom, backwashed.
Day 4: Almost perfect, ran pump on high 4 hours, overnight on low, maintained SLAM, backwashed.
Day 5 (today): Pool looks perfect, no more mud on floor or bottom. Lost zero FC overnight.
I have some strange stains that I'll likely ask for some help with that were there before. I don't think they are metal, but will test once the FC drops to acceptable levels.
What was "strange" is that I didn't need to run through a ton of bleach to maintain the SLAM. All in, I think I used about 2.5 gallons and I expected to use a ton more due to the contaminants. Apparently the mud was fairly clean and free of microbes.
Day 1: Found the parts for the vacuum and sucked up what I could to filter before the water clouded up, then backwashed.
Day 2: Slam and ran filter all day - 4 hours on high, 20 hours on low, ran Polaris for a few hours - brushed sides and bottom, backwashed.
Day 3: Things started to clear up very nicely Maintained SLAM, ran polaris, brushed sides and bottom, backwashed.
Day 4: Almost perfect, ran pump on high 4 hours, overnight on low, maintained SLAM, backwashed.
Day 5 (today): Pool looks perfect, no more mud on floor or bottom. Lost zero FC overnight.
I have some strange stains that I'll likely ask for some help with that were there before. I don't think they are metal, but will test once the FC drops to acceptable levels.
What was "strange" is that I didn't need to run through a ton of bleach to maintain the SLAM. All in, I think I used about 2.5 gallons and I expected to use a ton more due to the contaminants. Apparently the mud was fairly clean and free of microbes.
Attachments
Great work. It looks wonderful. You maintained the FC level, continued to brush and backwash, all of which contributed to a speedy recovery to a clear pool.
reggiehammond
Gold Supporter
- Oct 4, 2020
- 2,253
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
When I get really heavy, sustained rains, I get runoff into my pool as well. You're imparting dirt, mostly, into an already clean pool. By maintaining just "normal" FC levels, you don't have a suitable environment for algae growth. It's really just the basic TFP philosophy.
Filter does it's job, dirt gets removed, and you're back to where you started.