Last year thanks to TFP and this forum we were able to enjoy our pool. This year we actually hired a pool guy to take care of it. That was a mistake! Now I am dealing with a black/green pool….AGAIN!! My question is, would it be beneficial to drain some of the water and fill with clean water before I start?
Starting All Over
- Thread starter Herrington Homestead
- Start date
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,813
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Post a few pictures of your pool.
Based on how bad it is, we may be able to provide advice on whether draining some pool water would help or not.
Post a full set of current test results
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt (if using a SWG)
Water temperature
Based on how bad it is, we may be able to provide advice on whether draining some pool water would help or not.
Post a full set of current test results
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt (if using a SWG)
Water temperature
With a clear path to drain and cheap/clean fill water, it's always cheaper and easier to start over.
Vinyl pools need 12 to 18 inches in the shallow end to keep the liner in place so you could drain that far and fight what was left, or drain/fill that far twice and then fight what less left.
Vinyl pools need 12 to 18 inches in the shallow end to keep the liner in place so you could drain that far and fight what was left, or drain/fill that far twice and then fight what less left.
We have 36 acres and not enough rain so I have plenty of room to drain the water, but will have to get another section of drain hose to reach the pasture. I would rather pay the water bill than fight it for two weeks! I really should have just kept up with it myself instead of trusting it to someone else who had every excuse under the sun on why it wasn’t balanced! Bottom line is we live in the country and he just did not come often enough.
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok it's bad and it's not going to be a quick slam. Say you use 50 gallons on the low side ($300?) and 2+ weeks fighting it. It's nowhere near the worse we've seen and we haven't lost one yet, but just like IRL, the easiest way to win a fight is not to fight in the first place.
Drain twice leaving enough water in the shallow end and only have 30%(?) of the battle left, or consider a no drain exchange listed in the wiki below :
www.troublefreepool.com
Drain twice leaving enough water in the shallow end and only have 30%(?) of the battle left, or consider a no drain exchange listed in the wiki below :
Draining - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
I say heat the water so you get a good delta t for a no drain water exchange but with one caveat that after its heated you pump off as fast as possible to the safe height per @Newdude above then do the no drain exchange with the water left. This should be similar to almost all fresh water.
@Newdude @wireform @proavia
Okay, below are my numbers. Some thoughts on that. I see my PH needs to come down before I SLAM.
FC-0
TC-0
TH-250
PH-8.4
TA-40
CYA-0
However, I was very intrigued by the No Drain Exchange option. I did call a couple pool companies to see if they would do it for me to no avail! That’s okay, I ain’t “skeered”!! I’m kind of a jump in head first kinda girl! Here are a few questions first though.
1. Why is the temp of the effluent and fill water so important?
2. How do I determine the TDS and why is that important?
3. Seems to me you just get a sub pump and pump it out and fill it up simultaneously, making sure your rate of fill water matches or exceeds your rate of effluent?
Okay, below are my numbers. Some thoughts on that. I see my PH needs to come down before I SLAM.
FC-0
TC-0
TH-250
PH-8.4
TA-40
CYA-0
However, I was very intrigued by the No Drain Exchange option. I did call a couple pool companies to see if they would do it for me to no avail! That’s okay, I ain’t “skeered”!! I’m kind of a jump in head first kinda girl! Here are a few questions first though.
1. Why is the temp of the effluent and fill water so important?
2. How do I determine the TDS and why is that important?
3. Seems to me you just get a sub pump and pump it out and fill it up simultaneously, making sure your rate of fill water matches or exceeds your rate of effluent?
Yes. Lower Ph by 0.4 at a time to a low 7 if you decide to slam. Large adjustments get wonky so it's best to do it in stages.
The heavier pool water (TDS total dissolved solids) will dance with the cooler hose water over who gets to be on the bottom. The calculation helps you guess where to drain and fill for less mixing. The goal is to get as much of the old out, with little new water getting drained too.
You add up all the parameters and add 1000 assuming there is some salt in there. So yours is pretty low around 1300