New Pool, I Should Say Pond Owner

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U

Ulfada

Member
May 11, 2019
5
Durham, NC
Hi All,

I've been reading through the forum for several days and decided to join. So far the advice here makes a lot more sense to me than the over priced products I've see at pool stores.

We bought our house last August with a beautiful pool. That all changed after 2 hurricanes and the pump failing. We live in a heavily wooded area and the pool quickly filled with leaves and basically turned into a pond. I was feeling a little overwhelmed so I covered it up and that leads us to were we are today.

This is on May 11th the day we got our new pump.
101269

I'll spare you the picture with the dead squirrel!

I've order my test kit and it should be here tomorrow. I also started adding liquid chlorine, I'm going to add 1 gallon of 10% per day. I'll be able to be more accurate once my test kit arrives and I'll do a proper SLAM.
The previous owner was a BaQuacil fan, so I am going to do the conversion.
So far I'm back flushing about twice a day and scooping more leaves than I care to mention. The pool no longer smells like death. I assume a mess like this is going to take a few weeks to clear.

Will back flushing/vacuuming to waste into the woods kill my trees? My hose is about 100ft short of making it the the road. (private road with no sewer) We are on a ridge so the water drains off fairly quickly.

Thank you for all that I have learned so far. I hope to have a clean pool soon!
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!

Looks you got have done a lot of reading! :goodjob:

And sounds like you have a good plan going forward.

Your trees should be fine, there is not much in your pool water to harm them.
 
Not too sure if the conversion will be cost effective as a green swamp. Try to find out how much it will cost you for a complete water exchange. Im sure it will be cheaper than all the chlorine you will need. Good luck and will keep an eye on this.
 
That's going to be a long haul to completion. Since you are on a well can you have water trucked in? Even a partial water change would speed up the process considerably.
 
Draining the pool would likely ruin the liner, so don't do that. You could do multiple partial drains to remove much of the Baq. I am not sure how long that stuff sticks around in a swamp condition.

I am going to move this into the Baq section as dealing with that is unique.
 
Thanks for the suggestions and support!

Draining the pool doesn't sound like a good idea. I might be able to do a half drain and fill. Would draining it by half be safe?

I got my test kit today!
Results of first test
FC = 15
CC = .5
pH = 7.4
TA = 200
CH = 200
CYA = 0
Temp = 66F

PoolMath suggests lowering the pH with acid and aerating to lower the TA. I also need to add Cyanuric Acid, but won't that lower the pH as well? I guess I could add the CYA first and wait awhile and retest the pH.

I'm off to the hardware store!
 
Forget about TA that is the last thing to be concerned about.

Have you read the Baq conversion process? You should follow that exactly. Do not add CYA until the conversion is confirmed complete.
 
FC of 15? Maybe there is no Baqua after all. Did you see all the rainbow colors/goo when adding your first gallons of Chlorine? Maybe just a regular SLAM is in order. Baq would consume your FC almost insantly, and adding 1 gallon a day just wouldn't do it. Also FC readings above 10 would render the PH test useless.
 
Ok, so I'll ignore the TA for now and I did not add any CYA.
I did not see any color change or the formation of goo when I added bleach. Maybe all the Baq was used up over the winter?

Currently my pool is at
FC 9.5
CC 1.5

I am still scooping leaves. It is hard to see how many are left as I can't see the bottom yet. The pool is getting clearer, slowly but surely. I'm thinking about add some DE to the filter to help speed the process.

This is what it looks like today. A few days a go you could barely make out the return.
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I would wait on the DE, your main target is to keep your FC up to SLAM level and scoop all debris out. Backwash your filter when pressure rises by 25% of clean pressure. Try to test more often like every 30 min, use the 10ml sample to save on reagents. Keep pump running 24/7. Since there was no goo formed, i would suggest adding CYA to 30PPM via the sock method.
 
I am not really sure what proper thing to do here is. You said it was a Baq pool, but the FC is sticking around, so not sure if still need to replace the sand? Or maybe just need to inspect / clean it to check for Baqa-goo? Maybe @Leebo can offer some thoughts, or he can tag others with Baq experience.
 
For now I'd assume you still have a Baqua pool, even though the odds you've got much Baqua left is slim. Keep scooping out any leaves you can and keep adding liquid chlorine targeting 15ppm. I wouldn't add DE just yet as it'll only clog up the filter as there's simply SO much gunk in the water. More details on the conversion can be found here.
 
I can see the bottom of the pool! I've been following everyone's advice and it is working.
Now that I can see the leaves scooping them will be much easier. Backwashing has become less frequent. This is great!

101572
I've created a leaf map. :smile:
 
  • Haha
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