NEED POOL CLEAR QUICK

[DanielleEllison]

Hey all,
Just bought a fixer upper with a 50 year old pool that has not been taken care of for at least 10 years. It has never been resurfaced so we are under contract for replaster and re-tile. However we just received notice from our insurance company that the pool needs to be fixed in the next 30 days or we will be cancelled… the pool company is not able to complete it within that time frame.

I need any help/advice to clean this pool quickly to appease the insurance company. It will have to be drained once the pool contractor starts on it so more of a temporary fix. it is so murky we are concerned about putting all of that through the filter.

Please help!!

 

[TinFoilHat]

You have plenty of time to fix this up. Use a skimmer net to get as much out of it as you can. If the pump runs then you can start SLAMming the pool with lots of liquid chlorine. Links below. You will need to watch your filter pressure and backwash or clean the cartridges when the pressure rises 25% which will be very fast at first. Get a recommended test kit so you know what your water parameters are and because you can't SLAM without being able to get Free Chlorine levels of 10-20 ppm during SLAM. For example, you want PH in the low 7s. You might have to drain the pool first just to get a reasonable baseline for the water.
Pool Care Basics
FC/CYA Levels
SLAM Process
Test Kits Compared
PoolMath

 

[JJ_Tex]

Does your pool equipment even work?

What does your insurance company consider as "fixed"?

Start with those basics and we can guide you through the rest.

 

[setsailsoon]

How big is it? If you're in a hurry, it may be quicker just to do a water exchange with less stress on you.

 

[Aubie99]

It may not be the cheapest but I’d call an environmental hydro vac/pressure wash company (septic pump folks) and get them to drain it and pressure wash it like they do septic systems. Refill it with fresh water, then SLAM and run pump. Your filter media more than likely needs replaced and no telling what may come out of the pipes when you turn the pump on. If filter media is a sand filter, I’d backwash throughly first before turning to “filter” and then vacuum any junk to waste. If it’s a cartridge type filter, I’d probably remove and chunk the filter media in the trash and replace it with new and vacuum/remove/clean as often as necessary until DP quits rising. Just my $.02 but others may have better ideas.

DIY to save some money would be in lieu of enviro vac company would be to drain with a portable sump pump, sprayer with bleach on floors and walls and pressure wash yourself. Rubber boots, cheap rain suit, and go to town lol

 

[PoolStored]

First question is to ask your insurance company what "fixed" means?
Does the pool hold water? Or does it have a leak and that is why the water level is where it is at?
Does the pool have a vacuum?
Does the equipment work?

Those stains are not likely going to be removed with a power wash. Your plaster is old and stained and there’s little to do about it with a power washer. You are better off SLAM’ing the pool, getting the water cleaned and balanced and then investigating possible stain removal techniques.

Draining a pool, while a favorite of the pool service/pool store industry, is rarely ever necessary.

If the equipment works,
Get a good kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared
Get as much organic material out of the pool that you can mechanically. (i.e. long handled rake)
Get your SLAM on...Link-->SLAM Process

 

[Aubie99]

First question is to ask your insurance company what "fixed" means?
Does the pool hold water? Or does it have a leak and that is why the water level is where it is at?
Does the pool have a vacuum?
Does the equipment work?

Those stains are not likely going to be removed with a power wash. Your plaster is old and stained and there’s little to do about it with a power washer. You are better off SLAM’ing the pool, getting the water cleaned and balanced and then investigating possible stain removal techniques.

Draining a pool, while a favorite of the pool service/pool store industry, is rarely ever necessary.

If the equipment works,
Get a good kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared
Get as much organic material out of the pool that you can mechanically. (i.e. long handled rake)
Get your SLAM on...Link-->SLAM Process

I’m normally in agreement with all of your posts @PoolStored but the OP was asking for a “quick” solution, not a prolonged one. I’m not in the pool industry or a fan of draining a pool, but everything you just said seems to be the antithesis to “quick”. SLAM and “quick” with the pictures posted by OP are not synonymous in my experience (it takes time and constant due diligence to stay on top of). With unknown filter type, age, and even if it’s any good, it’s tough to recommend following SLAM right off the bat imo. Recirculating dead algae without filtering is not a best practice.

As far as stains go, I’d agree that they won’t all be removed by draining/pressure washing. However, it’d be a heck of a lot quicker to get there from current starting point and removing all the organics in the pool currently than just going straight to SLAM I would think. Then deal with staining afterwards, but OP said they are having pool retiled and replastered by a pool contractor. So staining really shouldn’t be a concern.

Hopefully OP was smart enough to ask the first question of what “fixed” means. I assumed that was the case but we all know what assume gets us.

 

[PoolStored]

I’m normally in agreement with all of your posts @PoolStored but the OP was asking for a “quick” solution, not a prolonged one. I’m not in the pool industry or a fan of draining a pool, but everything you just said seems to be the antithesis to “quick”.

No worries, lots of different opinions, all good.
My advice is based on a few factors. It is always a risk to drain a pool. Draining is a risk. Better to drain when you absolutely need to...like replaster. It cannot be left empty. If the plaster dries out too much it can easily crack, so it would have to be hydrated somewhat constantly, and while empty and filling. There is currently tens of thousands of pounds of water in the pool applying mechanical pressure to the surface that holds it in place. The water is also cool and doesn’t allow for much in the way of thermal cycling. If you empty it and leave it that way for a couple days, without constant hydration (being wet), the plaster will dehydrate, change temperature rapidly and have no inward mechanical force on it. That's a recipe for disaster.

I assumed Quick = 30 days. That is the time the OP has, this is plenty to clean it up. May take work, but can be done.

I would agree on hiring someone with a commercial vacuum to get all the organics out.
These all have 4.7 or above Google ratings, and at least 50 or more ratings...see if they can get the organics out, then you can slam...they likely can get the equipment up and running.

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With unknown filter type, age, and even if it’s any good, it’s tough to recommend following SLAM right off the bat

I'm making the assumption that "Fixed" includes working equipment. No matter what route they go, it is going to include working equipment (so get started on that now), and will include a SLAM.

 

[PoolStored]

Oh, yeah, given that it is tiled, and tiles are falling off, I'd be concerned about the damage from power washing...

 

[Aubie99]

No worries, lots of different opinions, all good.

No problems, was just thinking of "quick" solutions for OP to satisfy insurance company before they cancelled their policy given they are under contract for retiling and replastering pool, but contractor can't do it in time to satisfy insurance company.

 

[Bperry]

I’m assuming “fixed” means that there’s either clean water in the pool or the pool is empty. Interested to hear what happens.