Worth treating water if pump is out of commission?

[tko]

Just opened our pool a couple weeks ago and was vacuuming with intention of balancing when the breaker for the pump started tripping. Electrician replaced breaker, pool guy said pump is ok (2 years old) so another electrician will come to troubleshoot today. I have a grad party for my senior in a couple weeks, so hoping this gets resolved soon. (Deja vu - when I found this site 3 years ago, it was when we had first moved in and I was working against time for my older daughter's grad party). Anyhoo - without a functional pump (i.e. no filtering), should I still be balancing the water?
FC - 0
pH - 9+
CYA - 0 (I think - I am never confident on this test)
CH - 150

My plan had been to use muriatic acid to bring pH down, then SLAM, using dichlor to bring CYA up, along with 10% bleach from Walmart. Then worry about CYA and CH later. It's not very sunny here yet.
At this point, I don't think I can mix the chems well enough to put in the muriatic acid, and I plan to be vacuuming to waste quite a bit. Pool is quite green - should I just use the liquid bleach right now at SLAM levels, and mix and brush like crazy? Or do you think I should address pH first?

Also thinking of getting a portable pump to at least vacuum the gunk from the bottom to minimize stuff that algae can feed on. I can't tell if my signature still has my pool info, but it's an inground concrete (?) pool, 21'x40', 28k gallons. Thanks for the knowledge and kindness on this site.

 

[tko]

Also, is it worth floating some pucks in the pool?

 

[RonsPlc]

I would start by using some CYA to bring it up to 30. CYA is an acid, and should drop your ph down. That would give you the starting point to go with your SLAM.
Pucks are not going to give you the chlorine you need to SLAM with. If you bring your CYA to 30, it will still be low enough to use pucks later (In limited numbers) to bring the CYA up to where you want it at while maintaing a bit of chlorine in the water.

 

[mknauss]

While you are waiting for your pump to be operational, add liquid chlorine for 5ppm FC each evening and brush the pool vigorously.

The pH is tough. Would like to get that down but for now it is best to wait until you have the pump. You may get scaling depending on your TA.

 

[tko]

While you are waiting for your pump to be operational, add liquid chlorine for 5ppm FC each evening and brush the pool vigorously.

The pH is tough. Would like to get that down but for now it is best to wait until you have the pump. You may get scaling depending on your TA.

Thank you! So my husband has been doing it right and I told him he was wrong in my best know-it-all voice. It's crow for dinner tonight!

Is the portable pump idea worthwhile? It would cost me about $240 to get the pump, connectors, and hose.

 

[mknauss]

Pool owners should own a small sump pump to use for lowering the water level, exchanging water when necessary, etc. You could use one of those to mix the water fairly well.

Get a 1/2 hp from Amazon or Harbor Freight. Typically about $90.

 

[tko]

Thanks for the info - I have a 1/4 HP sump pump for my hottub. But electrician says all looks good and looks like pump is drawing too much amperage. The pool guy thinks it is because there is no ground wire but electrician says "Nonsense!". My home warranty is taking care of it so they are replacing pool pump but it won't happen til next week.

Do you think I'm foolish to spend $240 on a 1.5HP Hayward portable pump, with an intake and outtake hose attached to get the pool vacuumed and circulated in the meantime? I'm working against the clock here.
Also, with circulation but without filtration, should I work on balancing the water or just maintain FC of 5?

 

[tko]

I would start by using some CYA to bring it up to 30. CYA is an acid, and should drop your ph down. That would give you the starting point to go with your SLAM.
Pucks are not going to give you the chlorine you need to SLAM with. If you bring your CYA to 30, it will still be low enough to use pucks later (In limited numbers) to bring the CYA up to where you want it at while maintaing a bit of chlorine in the water.

Thank you. I just ordered CYA on eBay, as I'll need 7lbs or more.

 

[mknauss]

I would not buy the extra pump. You do not need to vacuum. Dirt is no biggie. You just need to keep the water chlorinated. And lower that pH, if possible.

Set the sump pump in with a short piece of water hose (without the metal end) in the outlet. Use it to move the water around. Brush. Add chlorine. If you do it in small amounts, add some acid. I would not do any CYA right now.

 

[JamesW]

Try replacing the capacitor. It's under the bump on top of the motor.

Run the capacitor to a local electric motor repair or pool shop for a new one.

If it's bulging, it's bad.

Does the shaft spin freely?

 

[tko]

I would not buy the extra pump. You do not need to vacuum. Dirt is no biggie. You just need to keep the water chlorinated. And lower that pH, if possible.

Set the sump pump in with a short piece of water hose (without the metal end) in the outlet. Use it to move the water around. Brush. Add chlorine. If you do it in small amounts, add some acid. I would not do any CYA right now.

Thank you. Will give that a go tomorrow.

 

[tko]

Try replacing the capacitor. It's under the bump on top of the motor.

Run the capacitor to a local electric motor repair or pool shop for a new one.

If it's bulging, it's bad.

Does the shaft spin freely?

It appears to run fine but I'm told that at times, it draws more than 22 amps (anything over 15 is too much is what I'm told), and trips the breaker. The pump is covered by my insurance so I'm just going to have it replaced. If I was paying out of pocket, I'd chase down an alternative solution - so thanks for that suggestion. It may help someone in a different position.

 

[tko]

I would not buy the extra pump. You do not need to vacuum. Dirt is no biggie. You just need to keep the water chlorinated. And lower that pH, if possible.

Set the sump pump in with a short piece of water hose (without the metal end) in the outlet. Use it to move the water around. Brush. Add chlorine. If you do it in small amounts, add some acid. I would not do any CYA right now.

Thank you for all the sage advice. It took so long to get this addressed while the electrician and pool guy pointed fingers at each other. Pump is now replaced and hubby hooked electrical back upsince deadbeat electrician stood us up 3x.

Keeping it at 5ppm while circulating the water helped keep things under control. Vacuumed to waste and 3 days of SLAM and we have it mostly clear. FC is holding overnight so I think today I can let it fall back to normal. I did use stabilizer to increase CYA and muriatic acid to bring down pH before starting the SLAM with dichlor and now bleach only.

Thank you so much!!!
Will try to attach before and after pics.

 

[tko]

Thank you for all the sage advice. It took so long to get this addressed while the electrician and pool guy pointed fingers at each other. Pump is now replaced and hubby hooked electrical back upsince deadbeat electrician stood us up 3x.

Keeping it at 5ppm while circulating the water helped keep things under control. Vacuumed to waste and 3 days of SLAM and we have it mostly clear. FC is holding overnight so I think today I can let it fall back to normal. I did use stabilizer to increase CYA and muriatic acid to bring down pH before starting the SLAM with dichlor and now bleach only.

Thank you so much!!!
Will try to attach before and after pics.

Before complete with mouse who took a swim. There were actually 3 of them. Ugh.