shhhhhhhhhhhhh but sneak over there under the cover of night???????????? BUT the pump not running and turning the water over could cause problems so better not 
Kim
Kim
Pool has been unused at least 2 years....
- Thread starter armsdealer
- Start date
It sure wouldnt hurt your pool. Go for it! I would if it was mine. Just be ready for your filter to pick things up and keep an eye on it.
Arms, I'm not sure because I'm not on site, but the thing with that plan is if there's a lot of debris your filter/pump is going to choke a lot initially with your pressure skyrocketing. Eg. I had a sand filter and at first was backwashing every half hour and cleaning out the pump basket. You might be better off when you start up the pump only pulling from the drain, half open, not the skimmer, simultaneously adding chlorine while leaf raking/removing debris -- because you're stirring the water to circulate the chlorine (which normally filtration would do) but getting any big stuff away from the drain.
And if the water has gone "anaerobic" (no oxygen, ammonia build up, etc.) in this case the open air will help despite the sunlight for the algae.
Is the cover a makeshift one or a real winter cover with bolts in the cement? If its the latter, there is a special tool you need to remove. I'm guessing its the ake shift type.
And if the water has gone "anaerobic" (no oxygen, ammonia build up, etc.) in this case the open air will help despite the sunlight for the algae.
Is the cover a makeshift one or a real winter cover with bolts in the cement? If its the latter, there is a special tool you need to remove. I'm guessing its the ake shift type.
Make shift cover with a wooden frame, steel wire supports and a double layer of blue tarps.
Ok, I've seen that type of set up. (Ours was a winter cover but god knows wh anyone didn't put in on for a few years til fanny Mae took over!)
I'm a little concerned about the idea of turning on the equipment without removing at least enough of the grate structure to have access to the skimmer and main drain to try to clear around it even though you'd be working blind.
Our fear had been clogging the lines with debris and then having a second and more difficult problem.
I discussed your situation with my husband yesterday and asked him, knowing what we now know, he'd advise you to do. We pretty much agreed that if we were to do it over again, it would have been easier to use the sheet method with a trash pump to expedite getting a majority of crud off the bottom.
You'll still have to SLAM (shock and maintain) the mixture of new and old water and whatnot, but it would dramatically reduce labor and time span of recovery, we think. That way, the trash pump is getting the bottom crud out enough to safely run the filter, but the visqueen sheet would damp down the smell in the interim. Just a thought.
You have some time to decide before closing, so here's a thread you can read from the guy who tried it a few years ago.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/52373-Foreclosure-Swamp-in-Pensacola-Florida!/page4
With all that said, enough chlorine and scooping will in fact do the job. Here's a pic of my swamp recovery across twelve days of shock and awe...you will note there is one image where you can see the water has become pretty clear but there's still a big pile of leaves in one corner that we'd missed....which is how I know that with enough chlorine, it will still clear even with some organic matter left behind we hadn't wanted to vacuum blind, as we only had the vac that connected straight into the skimmer.
I'm posting this so you can see the color change progression. That is a big clue that its working
I'm a little concerned about the idea of turning on the equipment without removing at least enough of the grate structure to have access to the skimmer and main drain to try to clear around it even though you'd be working blind.
Our fear had been clogging the lines with debris and then having a second and more difficult problem.
I discussed your situation with my husband yesterday and asked him, knowing what we now know, he'd advise you to do. We pretty much agreed that if we were to do it over again, it would have been easier to use the sheet method with a trash pump to expedite getting a majority of crud off the bottom.
You'll still have to SLAM (shock and maintain) the mixture of new and old water and whatnot, but it would dramatically reduce labor and time span of recovery, we think. That way, the trash pump is getting the bottom crud out enough to safely run the filter, but the visqueen sheet would damp down the smell in the interim. Just a thought.
You have some time to decide before closing, so here's a thread you can read from the guy who tried it a few years ago.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/52373-Foreclosure-Swamp-in-Pensacola-Florida!/page4
With all that said, enough chlorine and scooping will in fact do the job. Here's a pic of my swamp recovery across twelve days of shock and awe...you will note there is one image where you can see the water has become pretty clear but there's still a big pile of leaves in one corner that we'd missed....which is how I know that with enough chlorine, it will still clear even with some organic matter left behind
we hadn't wanted to vacuum blind, as we only had the vac that connected straight into the skimmer.I'm posting this so you can see the color change progression. That is a big clue that its working
jcowart
0
You got a lot of good advice so far and it sounds like your on the right track. I will be following this one. I like green to clean posts. Take pictures and ask questions. I can tell you your filter will be your thorn. A DE is great at keeping a pool clean. You said everything had unions. If your not good with plumbing, find a friend willing to help. If all the unions face the same way. Get a union and flex hose. Make a bypass from the pump to the pool return. The first stage of the slam your killing the algae. Once it's white and settles, you can vac to waist. Then you can start the filtering to get it clear. It will also give you time to open the filter and do a good clean and inspection.
As someone with several green springs and debris filled pools under their belt, I can offer some suggestions
With a DE filter and leaves, the filter will plug within 5 minutes of starting the vacuum process. Find a way to remove the DE filter from the system until you have physically removed as many leaves/sticks/frogs/needles/**** as you can.
My pump and filter are directly coupled (no hose/pipe... just a special bullnose union). I removed my DE filter and replaced it with a bypass union made out of a bullnose union, a standard union, a hose fitting and connected to my return hose.
A leaf pre-filter will save you hours of time changing DE and money. I have a Hayward W560 but there are others. It connect into my manual vacuum head's hose between the hose and skimmer connection. With the leaf filter, and my DE filter removed and bypass fitting in place, you can filter out leaves and other debris without clogging up the DE filter body in place. Keep using the manual vacuum and leaf per-filter until you can vacuum the floor of the pool for 30 minutes and not fill the filter basket.
Once you get to a point where the leaves and other crud are out of the pool, then start the actual filtering with DE and testing of the water. A pool with leaves will never clear up and will consume chlorine faster than a college kid and beer.
With a DE filter and leaves, the filter will plug within 5 minutes of starting the vacuum process. Find a way to remove the DE filter from the system until you have physically removed as many leaves/sticks/frogs/needles/**** as you can.
My pump and filter are directly coupled (no hose/pipe... just a special bullnose union). I removed my DE filter and replaced it with a bypass union made out of a bullnose union, a standard union, a hose fitting and connected to my return hose.
A leaf pre-filter will save you hours of time changing DE and money. I have a Hayward W560 but there are others. It connect into my manual vacuum head's hose between the hose and skimmer connection. With the leaf filter, and my DE filter removed and bypass fitting in place, you can filter out leaves and other debris without clogging up the DE filter body in place. Keep using the manual vacuum and leaf per-filter until you can vacuum the floor of the pool for 30 minutes and not fill the filter basket.
Once you get to a point where the leaves and other crud are out of the pool, then start the actual filtering with DE and testing of the water. A pool with leaves will never clear up and will consume chlorine faster than a college kid and beer.
There are no accessories with the pool. I guess I will need to pick up a leaf rake and vacuum. The secondary pump is missing, can you run the vacuum off the main pump? Almost seems like a wast since I plan on getting a Dolphin M5 or Z5 as soon as I can see bottom.
I do not know what that other pipe was for, but I do not think it was another pump.
You have everything you need to get the water moving (and filtering). At the beginning it might be easier to run in recirculation mode until the algae is mostly dead and then start filtering it out.
You have everything you need to get the water moving (and filtering). At the beginning it might be easier to run in recirculation mode until the algae is mostly dead and then start filtering it out.
I wish I could get to work on it already! We are under contract waiting for a cash close... We where trying to get in before Friday, but now it looks like Middle of April
I did a lot of work on my pool before we closed :cop:
Although the house was vacant.
Ask if they care if you start trying to clean it up.
Although the house was vacant.
Ask if they care if you start trying to clean it up.
Contract is voided if we fix anything, make any improvements, bring any personal belongings to the property. All we can do is inspect... can't even remove pool cover to look under. Local ordinances and HUD rules conflict so bad we can't even get water and electricity turned on...
Oh man that would kill me LOL! I am the get in and get it done kind of person.
Oh well better to follow the rules. You have already learned so much so once you do get in you will hit the ground running or the water swimming!
Kim
Oh well better to follow the rules. You have already learned so much so once you do get in you will hit the ground running or the water swimming!
Kim
So I got a peek under the cover today, not much of one, but I am considering a partial drain with a trash pump. How much water can I remove safely with the trash pump? I want to rig it and try to vacuum most of the leave out with the trash pump.
What kind of pool is it? vinyl? plaster? fiberglass?
How deep is your ground water table?
Those are the things that determine how much you can safely drain.
How deep is your ground water table?
Those are the things that determine how much you can safely drain.
Concrete pool.
Creek behind the house looks to be lower than the deepest part of the pool. I am far enough from the Mississippi that it doesn't effect me. I am not talking a 100% drain, like a 2 foot or 3 foot drain so I can get in and suck up some crud.
Creek behind the house looks to be lower than the deepest part of the pool. I am far enough from the Mississippi that it doesn't effect me. I am not talking a 100% drain, like a 2 foot or 3 foot drain so I can get in and suck up some crud.