Pump has not run for a week - need help salvaging the water

[CostaRicaRon]

This is my first post and it seems like a doozie....

My pool developed a leak on 12/30 and we have not run the pump since. The leak is still being addressed but as you can imagine, the water is horrible at this point (it's windy, hot and dusty here in Costa Rica).

My pool is about 12-14,000 gallons and on a sand filter.

Once I get the leak fixed. If I run the pump non-stop, shock it, vacuum it, and backwash, is there a chance to save the water?

If I have to drain the pool, it will literally take days to refill it due to low water pressure and the town shuts off water for conservation during dry season and holidays.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[ajw22]

Get the filter running, vacuum it, check the water chemistry and post it, begin balancing the water chemistry, then follow the SLAM Process process until you meet the 3 exit criteria.

What test kit do you use?

Do you have a supply of liquid chlorine?

 

[CostaRicaRon]

I don't have liquid chlorine only tablets, granular, and shock. I only have a basic testing kit as I unfortunately just took over my pool after the Tico pool guy caused the leak and quit.

So, I'm learning on the fly at this point. I'm hopeful to have the pump on today if the leak is located and capped until a repair of the line can be done.

I'm thinking run the pump constantly for a while and backwash frequently.

 

[ajw22]

Can you get a Taylor 2006C test kit? Basic test kits only can test up to a FC level of 5. You need to raise the FC way more then that. And you need to determine what your CYA level is to get the right FC level. See Pool School - Test Kits Compared

I suggest you review Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and Trouble Free Pool School . Also review the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] to get an idea of the relationship of FC to CYA.

If you have been using tablets good chance you have an abnormally high CYA level that will need to be dealt with by draining your pool. Depending on the tablets being used they add CYA/Stabilizer or Calcium in addition to chlorine to your water.

So CYA test is the first thing you need to do. Otherwise all the shocking you try will not work to kill all the algae if your CYA is too high.

Filtering will not solve an algae problem, if that is what you have. Only high doses of CL over a sustained time will totally rid water of algae.