Wild Kingdom Swamp Pool

[kaytiedgrace]

Hi! I need some advice about how to get my pool opened.

According to my Dad the pool is 20’ x 40’ the deep end is 8’ and the shallow end is 4’. He’s never checked to see what kind of material the pool is made of but we assume it’s concrete. It’s always been vinyl lined. A new liner was installed about 15 years ago and during that instillation piping was replaced and my Dad says that the pipes he put in prevent animals and debris from getting inside them.

We haven’t opened the pool for 4 or 5 years and as you can probably tell by the picture, we don’t have a great system for closing it up. For the past few summers it has been a wild kingdom out there. There are tons of giant frogs and snakes & who knows what else living in the water. All night long we are serenaded by frogs. And it really stinks during New England heat waves.

I don’t even know where to begin to open it. My Dad pretty much listened to whatever the pool store told him my whole life & he has always been the one to take care of it. It stopped being opened once my brother and I were in college because no one used it. We want to open it but my Dad can’t help with anything because he’s going through high dose chemo all summer. Also, with his chemo a swamp in the backyard really isn’t safe for him to be around and getting him to stay inside isn’t an option.

My Mom and I were thinking to just hire a pool company to drain and scrub the liner and put new water in and start from a clean slate but after reading posts on this forum and some of the articles here I’m not sure that’s the best option. My Mom and I are also daunted at this task since we are both tiny and the pool is so big haha. We are also both nurses and work crazy hours plus have to bring my Dad to lots of doctors appointments so just hiring someone to get it to a manageable level is very appealing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I couldn’t post my photo in its normal file size so I apologize if it’s hard to see.

 

[clambert1273]

Step 1. You need a good test kit either the TF-100 or taylor k2006C, the tf is my preference
step 2. Run water tests from that kit snd post results here like:

fc
Cc
PH
TA
CH
CYA

step 3 in conjunction with first two is scoop out as much from the pool as possible

step 4 find a source for liquid chlorine or bleach ( same thing different concentrations). I prefer the stronger liquid chlorine

post any questions in this thread and we WILL want pics of the swamp lol

 

[clambert1273]

Is your equipment hooked up and does it work?

 

[clambert1273]

Your pool type is vinyl, try to fill out signature like ours it helps people when they try to help you

 

[clambert1273]

You can do this yourself easily, hiring "professional" will cause a whole host of other problems and how most end up here on this forum, we love pond to sparkle stories!!! Dont be afraid we got you @YippeeSkippy @Texas Splash @Newdude

 

[Texas Splash]

Kay, welcome! We can help you, but this will take some effort. Here are a few things I see happening:
1. No doubt you will need a proper test kit once you start treating the water. I also recommend the TF-100. Avoid the pool store and test strips at all costs.
2. Be prepared to exchange water - lots of it. Sure, we can sure you how to kill algae, but that's not the only issue in your case. We've seen deer and all kinds of things end-up in the swamp, so you have some heavy lifting ahead of you. You'll need to lower the water level enough to where you can try to scoop debris out of there.
3. Once you have the chunky stuff out, you'll need to fill it up and maybe exchange water a second time. I say that because you have a lot of crud in there. The more you can exchange the less chlorine we would hope is required in the end. Remember you can never empty a pool completely. Keep at least a couple feet in there to stabilizer the shell and vinyl.
4. Once water has been changed quite a bit, it's time to start the equipment to make sure it works. The pump needs to move water and the filter and other parts not have a leak.
5. Then we show you how to do a SLAM Process to kill and remove algae. You can do it with the proper test kit.

I suspect most of your hardest work will be steps 2 thru 4, but we're be here to answer any questions you may have.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kaytiedgrace]

Thanks for the quick replies! & my signature is updated.

I believe everything works but we haven’t even tried turning the pump or anything on for 4-5 years.

I figured I’d have to get a test kit and see what’s going on with the water- should I do that right away or wait until we’ve cleared out all the debris?

As for clearing all the big stuff out of the pool should I be using the normal pool nets we have or something more heavy duty?

How do I exchange water? Is that just draining a lot of water out and scooping the junk out?

The snakes and frogs dive under the water when they notice people coming haha I’ll try to get some better pictures

 

[clambert1273]

I would order kit pronto, while waiting start draining and scooping, you can find heavy duty pool nets on amazon, I have one & really strong poles

 

[YippeeSkippy]

WWW.TFTESTKITS.NET for the better buy price wise on the TF-100 test kit. Yes, it isn't cheap but trust me when I say it will save you a fortune in the long run.

We have helped quite a few swamps turn around..... it takes elbow grease and a lot of liquid chlorine. Liquid chlorine is preferred because it contains nothing but chlorine. You do NOT want to use any granular or puck type products as they contain either stabilizer (CYA) or calcium which build up and cause problems.

You can find liquid chlorine at pool stores (often called "Liquid Shock") or farm & feed stores, Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart at times (in the pool section). But you can also use PLAIN, UNSCENTED, NON-THICKENED, NON-CLOROX type bleach. The kind you find on the bottom shelf as it has no additives. Its a bit weaker so you use a bit more to get the same result.

You have a vinyl lined pool so you do NOT want to empty it all the way. An older liner can shift or tear. Be careful scooping out debris so that you don't tear it by accident. A pool net on a long pool pole is good for this. Once you have removed all the solids you can find it will be time to Zap it with liquid chlorine for the algae kill.

We will walk you thru the entire process and get that pool sparkling like its never sparkled before!

Maddie

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com