My pool nightmare

[mjnorman]

Hi again guys. I have a horror story. We had a house fire about a month ago, luckily nobody injured, house was saved etc, so thanking our lucky stars. However, while construction and smoke damage cleaning is under way the house has been without power for over a month. That means no filtration, no SWG. So now we have a swamp as expected.

Now my question. Is it easier to do a full drain and start over? Or SLAM? I have slammed before when we started this year so am aware of the process, just wondering if it's easier to just start over? Thanks.

 

[Perpetual summer]

I think you would be in best position to answer that, cost of water for total refill vs cost of bleach for the total slam. You had a slam earlier, how much bleach did you use? I would think a drain and refill would be less time involved.

 

[zea3]

If there is a chance you have soot, fire debris, and construction debris in the pool, I think in this case you may want to rent a trash pump and empty it out. You may still need to slam once the pool is refilled. Do you have city water or well water?

 

[mjnorman]

It is city water, and I should have specified, the pool is merely just in a neglected state, no damage or debris other than dead bugs, leaves, etc.

So an easier way to state the question would be if you had a pool that hadn't been maintained for a month in any way, SLAM or drain?

Also here is a pic, Thanks!

 

[mjnorman]

That is a good point Summer. I can't honestly remember how bad the SLAM was since we were doing liquid chlorine at the time, kinda runs together. So it's just a cost analysis you think? I wasn't thinking about it in that way but was thinking more about scrubbing, cleaning filter every day, etc.

 

[zea3]

How long until you are back in the house? A slam requires frequent dosing and testing the first couple of days.

 

[mjnorman]

Well we are in a rental about 15m away, so thinking I could start it on a Friday allowing me to spend all weekend dosing, hoping it would slow by Monday and do morning/night dosing testing.

 

[zea3]

I guess you could bring a lawn chair, a good book, and a cooler of goodies! Start by testing & dosing hourly and see how it does.

 

[Teald024]

Sorry to hear about the house. I'm glad everyone is ok.

I assume the power is now available for the pump? The filter is gonna get a workout getting rid of the stuff in the water.

Have you done any testing? What's your CYA level? If your CYA is high, it would justify water replacement.

Keep in mind that I f you replace all or some of the water, you will have to replace or adjust the chemicals before you SLAM. It wouldn't be a reason not to drain but just something to remember to have on hand.

 

[kk_isme]

I would split the difference. Drain it down past halfway, refill then slam.

 

[ike0069]

I'm sure it will be cheaper to SLAM, but personally I'd drain it without a 2nd thought.