Hello TFP,
What an adventure. We had our pool re-plastered last year because the original plaster was starting to scrape our knees. The company we used plasters one day, leaves the pool dry overnight, and then acid washes the next day before filling it. Not sure I'm a fan of that, but it's how they do it and we don't have a lot of choices in our area. The plaster company mistakenly forgot to plug one of our return jets and water leaked out while the plaster was curing but before they filled it. This, of course, left a nasty run in the plaster color. They assured me that it would fade as we used chemicals in the pool, but it didn't. This year I asked them to fix it, and after doing another acid wash and realizing it wasn't going to work, they agreed to re-plaster.
They drained the pool last week and are leaving it dry until they come back and chip out this Thursday (today is Sunday). We live in the desert, so the water table isn't an issue, and if the plaster cracks... so what? Anyway, I went out today to check the filter and make sure it would be ready for the new plaster start up and it was FILTHY. I guess I didn't have enough chlorine in the water when it was drained because it seemed like everything just festered in there. The plastic inside the pump is green, and I can only assume the pipes all the way back to the pool are green as well. Just FYI our filter is a DE filter and I've cleaned off the grid as best I can. Unfortunately I can't remove it because the PVC fitting inside is stuck completely and I think I would break it trying to get it off. I've tried a bunch to get it off without success and just spray it off with a hose inside the filter housing instead.
So... what do I do? I can't add chlorine to a pool with new plaster for a least a few days, but I don't want all that green stuff going onto my new plaster. How can I get it sanitized without re-filling the pool and running the pump? Is there any way, or do I need to bite the bullet and re-fill it just to clean things out, then drain it again? I'm not sure I can get that done by Thursday.
What an adventure. We had our pool re-plastered last year because the original plaster was starting to scrape our knees. The company we used plasters one day, leaves the pool dry overnight, and then acid washes the next day before filling it. Not sure I'm a fan of that, but it's how they do it and we don't have a lot of choices in our area. The plaster company mistakenly forgot to plug one of our return jets and water leaked out while the plaster was curing but before they filled it. This, of course, left a nasty run in the plaster color. They assured me that it would fade as we used chemicals in the pool, but it didn't. This year I asked them to fix it, and after doing another acid wash and realizing it wasn't going to work, they agreed to re-plaster.
They drained the pool last week and are leaving it dry until they come back and chip out this Thursday (today is Sunday). We live in the desert, so the water table isn't an issue, and if the plaster cracks... so what? Anyway, I went out today to check the filter and make sure it would be ready for the new plaster start up and it was FILTHY. I guess I didn't have enough chlorine in the water when it was drained because it seemed like everything just festered in there. The plastic inside the pump is green, and I can only assume the pipes all the way back to the pool are green as well. Just FYI our filter is a DE filter and I've cleaned off the grid as best I can. Unfortunately I can't remove it because the PVC fitting inside is stuck completely and I think I would break it trying to get it off. I've tried a bunch to get it off without success and just spray it off with a hose inside the filter housing instead.
So... what do I do? I can't add chlorine to a pool with new plaster for a least a few days, but I don't want all that green stuff going onto my new plaster. How can I get it sanitized without re-filling the pool and running the pump? Is there any way, or do I need to bite the bullet and re-fill it just to clean things out, then drain it again? I'm not sure I can get that done by Thursday.