Long time, no post… help needed!

[riley00dog]

We are in Brisbane, Australia and have just endured the most devastating, unprecedented flooding. Fortunately our house is alright, with the exception of a small leak in the roof. The drainage around our pool is excellent, however yesterday it was unable to cope with the sheer volume of water coming from the house behind us. We’re now left with a muddy mess and I have no idea where to start as my pool has always been TFP perfection. I did manage to keep it from overflowing by backwashing to waste as needed (which was often). We have water but aren’t meant to be using it unless absolutely necessary. Also, all but grocery shops are closed so I can’t go and buy essential pool supplies. Any step by step instruction would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mknauss]

Filtering and chlorine.

This article has some guidance.

Precautions and Procedures During Floods - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[riley00dog]

Filtering and chlorine.

This article has some guidance.

Precautions and Procedures During Floods - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks so much. I’ll have a read. I’ve had the filter going and upped the chlorine but I’ve just got a low salt reading. Have liquid chlorine I can add. Concerned I really need to backwash put won’t be able to refill.

 

[mknauss]

A dirty sand filter will filter better, to a point. Monitor the return flow to the pool. When it slows, then backwash.

 

[Mdragger88]

Keep the fc up FC/CYA Levels
& filter, filter, filter as mentioned above. Watch your filter pressure & backwash as needed (when pressure rises 25% or so over clean pressure. Put your robot to work. It will take time to clear. Sand filters work a little better when they are dirty so hopefully that will buy u some time since u just backwashed.

 

[mknauss]

Run your robot, it should filter pretty well too.

 

[Charlie Bezzina]

Riley, I have an untested suggestion. I don't think the rain is over yet, so you could probably let some mud settle (if it does settle?) then vacuum straight to waste and save choking up the filter. Then watch the rain refill the pool over the next few days.

 

[mknauss]

(if it does settle?)

You can try that, though the pool does not look all that dirty. Comparatively to what we have seen in some other threads.

 

[riley00dog]

Just completed a full CCL panel. Sorry, I don’t remember if I’m listing these in the correct order.

FC - 3.5
CC - 0.5 (or 0)
TA - 20 (high sensitivity test)
PH - 6.8
CH - 225
CYA - <30
Salt - 800

Thanks for the responses so far.

 

[riley00dog]

Just completed a full CCL panel. Sorry, I don’t remember if I’m listing these in the correct order.

FC - 3.5
CC - 0.5 (or 0)
TA - 20 (high sensitivity test)
PH - 6.8
CH - 225
CYA - <30
Salt - 800

Thanks for the responses so far.

A dirty sand filter will filter better, to a point. Monitor the return flow to the pool. When it slows, then backwash.

Thanks. Seems to be filtering alright for now. If I backwash, I won’t be able to refill.

 

[riley00dog]

Riley, I have an untested suggestion. I don't think the rain is over yet, so you could probably let some mud settle (if it does settle?) then vacuum straight to waste and save choking up the filter. Then watch the rain refill the pool over the next few days.

Thanks Charlie. Our rain is over where we are. Maybe 10-20mm a day for the next few days. I was almost hoping if I vacuumed to waste (something I’ve never needed to do so need to YouTube) that more rain would refill.

 

[riley00dog]

Keep the fc up FC/CYA Levels
& filter, filter, filter as mentioned above. Watch your filter pressure & backwash as needed (when pressure rises 25% or so over clean pressure. Put your robot to work. It will take time to clear. Sand filters work a little better when they are dirty so hopefully that will buy u some time since u just backwashed.

Thanks so much! I was wondering if it was alright to put the robot in. Will put him to work and try to balance the water the best I can with what I have. I don’t have salt (maybe one bag) but can use LC. Have calcium, alkalinity, cya.

 

[riley00dog]

Thinking I won’t add any cya yet and just keep an eye on the FC. It’s not sunny and I’d prefer to use less LC for a SLAM.

 

[mknauss]

Thinking I won’t add any cya yet and just keep an eye on the FC. It’s not sunny and I’d prefer to use less LC for a SLAM.

Right. For now, chlorine is your only concern. The other items, CYA, CH, Salt, etc can wait a few days.

 

[riley00dog]

Right. For now, chlorine is your only concern. The other items, CYA, CH, Salt, etc can wait a few days.

Thank you.

 

[CRAD_oz]

Riley
Had a heap of rain down here over the last couple of weeks as well but not as bad as Qld. Hope all is good there!
My pool also filled with mud and rain water.
I found running the bot in the morning or after a period of no flow picked up athe heavy sediment off the floor best and then with the pump running I swept as much as I could to stir up the water and let the filter do its thing. (I have a cartridge filter so it only took five days to clear). I also topped up the FC with LC a couple of times to keep it higher than normal.

 

[riley00dog]

Riley
Had a heap of rain down here over the last couple of weeks as well but not as bad as Qld. Hope all is good there!
My pool also filled with mud and rain water.
I found running the bot in the morning or after a period of no flow picked up athe heavy sediment off the floor best and then with the pump running I swept as much as I could to stir up the water and let the filter do its thing. (I have a cartridge filter so it only took five days to clear). I also topped up the FC with LC a couple of times to keep it higher than normal.

Thanks. Sorry you’ve been dealing with similar. Robot is on its 3rd run and not doing much but likely because I have the filter running. First run was with extra fine cartridge. Second, regular, which collected almost nothing. It’s in again with the extra fine. Will try again in the morning before the pump comes on. Might be able to pick up some supplies tomorrow as I have to go in to work and hopefully more will be open. You know it’s a disaster when Bunnings is shut (not that I usually go there for pool stuff)!

 

[riley00dog]

Looking better. Hubby has just gone out to get pool supplies. I think running the robot early morning with the pump off help a lot. Frustratingly, it doesn’t seem to be picking much up so probably going to be a long process even after I get the water balanced. No idea how much dirt is on the bottom of the pool.

 

[mknauss]

You can see the third step. It really does not look all that bad.

 

[riley00dog]

You can see the third step. It really does not look all that bad.

Thanks. I’ll stop panicking I think. It’s just a shock to see.