New Home Purchase With Filthy Abandoned Filled Pool?

Question

We purchased a home, I love the house its in ok shape but needs some work. With our budget since the purchase, will only allow for the indoor repairs and labor leaving our pool in real bad shape and no additional funds to have a proffessional clean it.
I am not afraid to do it myself but have not found an article that tells me how to clean it. My local pool people wont give advice until they come out to evaluate for a cool 300.00! So, Here is the condition of the pool...any advice is surely welcomed!
1. the entire pool is filled top to bottom with fall leaves.
2.the water is a dark green cannot see the bottom.
3. we have all the gadgets and tools to do it ourselves the previous owners left behind. Last time the pool was used was July of this year.
Where do we start? do we have to empty it? or can the water be salvaged? if we empty it, will it kill the filtering system with all the debris? theres like a half dump truck full in it.
Please Help ! Marie...

Answer 1

I am a certified pool operator. I have been in the business for about 20 years. It is possible to save your water.
I would recommend you go ahead and dip out all of the leaves you can. If this is an inground pool, you need to keep it as clean as possible or the pool surface may be stained. From leaves and algea.
After you remove the leaves, you need to shock (superchlorinate)the pool with granular chlorine. One pound per 10,000 gallons I believe.
I will send you a sight to help you along your way.
Pool companies only want you to buy their "exotic"chemicals and that is a waste of money.
Get a good test kit and study the book in it. Follow the directions and you will have a beautiful sparkeling pool.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

You can try filling it and adding lots of super shock and algecide but You are probably further head to pump it out, Use a 2"or 3" mud sucker pump from your local rental store (about $50 -$60) with the hoses) and pump the existing water & organic debris onto the yard or into the the storm sewer if you you are in a developed area. Pool filter is not designed for this! Take the strainer off the intake hose and it will suck out the leaves and crap right to the bottom in an hour for a full 24' above ground pool. If you live where it freeezes in the winter (in northern NY it normally starts freezing in october) do not empty the pool b4 spring as you do not want to leave it empty and risk damaging the liner. After you get 95% of the muck out start to refill with a garden hose to set the liner. You can refill all the way with a garden hose (figure an inch of height an hour for 24' pool) or have H2O delivered ($300-400 /7500 gallon tanker) and fill the pool the easy way. Pool filter and chlorine will handle any debris left in the pool at this time.

Answer 3

I have had a lot of experience with pools and yours, believe me, is a nightmare.. The first thing you have to do is to rent a discharge pump and pump out all the water from the pool onto the front of the house ... or if t hat is against the law.. then run the discharge down the sewer line at your house.. the entry is either in the front or the back of the house.. Once emptied of water(you could in no way use t he same water) you would have to scrub down the sides of the pool with chlorine mixture to kill the algae that has undoubtedly GROWN into the pores of the cement of the pool..... Clean the pool filter by hand and replace any filters pads as needed... then refill the pool

I pity you and know exactly what you are going thru

Answer 4

This is what I would do:
Rent a "fire pump" from the tool supply store, this is a gasoline powered pump that will pass a bunch of debris thru it with the water.
When the pool is empty, clean out he rest with a shovel.
Now use a powerwasher and clean from the top to the bottom, use the fire pump to remove the water. Reverse flush flush the pipes to the filter and pool back into the pool.

Get as much of the dirt and stuff out.

Fill the pool with fresh water.

Add 2-5 gallons of chlorine and adjust Ph. This superchlorination will kill whatever is left behind from the MESS and cleaning.

Start and run the filters.

Clean filters as needed.

Adjust chemicals as needed.

Enjoy once the season starts.

Good luck.

Answer 5

First of all -- do you have SHOCK for the pool in the stuff that they left behind (Depending on the size of the pool in gals -- that will determine how many bags of Shock you will need to put in the pool -- start with 4 bags ... but buy at least DOUBLE that amount)? That will help kill the algae and the other green/brown/nasty color of the water -- takes a couple of days, but it will do the job.

Next -- start with the pool skimmer (the thing with the long handle that you hold -- not attached to any power equipment -- attachment at the end with the netting on it) -- and use it in the meantime to start scooping out the leaves and other yard debris that has fallen into the pool. This can be done while the shock is working -- just put it in, scoop some of the trash out .. and dump it into a large lawn/leaf or trash bin that you place poolside.

You will need to get as much as possible of the lawn/leaves and large branches, whatever out as possible BEFORE you vacuum the pool. Leaving that stuff there will only DAMAGE your filtering system.

HOPEFULLY it is not as bad as it seems right now -- and this simple start will help you decide whether you need to really drain the pool and do more major cleanings and/or repairs.

Answer 6

I'm assuming that if this pool has a filtering system, that it is relatively large pool ....more than 10,000 gallons.

First things first, remove all the leaves that you can, using the pool net.

If you have a pool brush then you should scrub the sides and bottom of the pool to free up as much algae as possible.

Then shock the pool with pool shock. This is sold in 1 lb bags in a concentration of around 45-60 percent calcium hypochlorite. This chemical is dry form of bleach.

I would start with 5 lbs of pool shock and 2-4 pints of muriatic acid. Be careful....muriatic acid will blind you if you get it in your eyes. You can buy a decent pair of goggles at any hardware store. Treat it with respect.

Depending upon the water condition, this pool shock and acid may make the water turn cloudy. That is because it is removing some of the hardness out of the water.

Circulate the water through the filter system, and be prepared to backwash the filter more than once. Depending upon the size of the pool and the pump/filter system, it may take a day or two to begin to clear up.

Check the chemistry of the pool. The chlorine should be off the scale high ...greater than 10 ppm. This is okay. It's not chlorine that stings your eyes....it's the pH.

The pH should be around 7.4 to 7.6. If it's a little high, add more acid. If it's a bit low, then add more pool shock.

The pool shock in combination with the muriatic acid will kill the bacteria and help to bleach the pool. Unfortunately, this time of year if you live in North America, you don't get as much sun as in the summer, so the reaction of the pool shock and acid will be slower. That's okay. It will take a few days to begin to get results.

If you see solid material settling to the bottom of the pool, you will need to vacuum this material out. If you don't have a vacuum system, then you can push it toward the drain, and divert you pool valve to the waste position.

It sounds like the pool is not in a screened enclosure. If so, you will have to keep the leaves out and the chlorine level a little higher to keep the water nice and sparkling.

And finally.....chlorine is good for the pool. It won't hurt you, and it won't your eyes sting. pH is important because the disinfecting action of the chlorine works best in a fixed range. That range also happens to be the most comfortable range for your eyes.

After you get the pool to begin to clear, you will need to adjust the alkalinity. Any pool chemistry kit will tell you the way to measure and the correct range. The alkalinity is increased by adding Sodium Bicarbonate.....baking soda. It will come down the reaction with muriatic acid in the presence of sunlight. Or you can dilute it down if it's really high by draining and adding some water to the pool.

If the pool has been neglected for 6 months, you will probably need to add 30 to 50 lbs of bicarb. The pool place sells it and it's not particularly expensive.

You didn't indicate whether the pool was inground or above ground, or if it was plaster or plastic lined. The plaster is of course more expensive, and is easier to maintain. Unfortunately, the plastic liners will degrade over time due to attack by the chlorine level. Even if it's not high.

Once you get the water clean, you will want to reduce the chlorine level to 5-10ppm depending upon whether it is plaster or plastic.

One final issue you may encounter. If the pool remains cloudy even after filtering for several days, it could be because the suspended particulate is too small to filter. You can a pool flock which is a powder that makes the small particle group together and fall to the bottom, where they can be vacuumed fairly easily.

You asked one other question about the filtering system if you elect to drain the pool. My pool has multiport valve that lets me route where the pump sends the water. Most large pools will have one. Shift the valve to the "waste" or "drain" position, and it should bypass the filtering system.

Answer 7

you can start by using a skimmer to get out all the leaves, if you have a hand vacum you can hook it up to the filter and vacum the bottom, but I wouldnºt recomend that because would clog the filter. make sure the filter works and clean the filter or backwash it if is a sand filter. after you get ride of the leaves and solid materials with the skimmer and a long pole, shock the water by adding about 5lbs of shock. Run the filter over nite and see the difference in the morning, clean filter and run it for another day or so, except for electricity and shock, it will probably cost about $50. If pool has a liner check for cracks and holes, you may need a liner soon if you notice water level going down without reason, shock again if needed.

Answer 8

I assume the pumps are all off.

Start by removing the debris. When you are down to just goopy water and can get at the pumps and hoses. Disassemble them and clean out all of the debris that you can.

Drain the pool, start scrubbing and cleaning it. Keep draining dthe crud out of it.

When it is cleaned out, do any PM it needs - IE Painting.

At this point, it might be reasonable to have someone come in, to test the pumps and do any fine tuning it needs.

Marie, I hope this helps. Wait until after the holidays and have a Merry Christmas.

Answer 9

Syphen that old water out of there and get all of the debris out of the pool. Once its drained, you'll need to take on the laborious task of scrubbing the tiles with a pool tile chemical ( I can't remember the name off hand) and checking the bottom for cracks. Once you've done that, you should be good to go with refilling it and reconditioning the water. It's a lot of work, but you'll feel good about not swimming around in someone else's scum.

Answer 10

Start by draining the pool and than the fun begins, clean it and refill it. Than you have to keep checking the water for chemical balance, there are kits for this. skim it for leaves or buy a vacuum for the bottom skimming.