I Know I Screwed It Up But How Do I Fix It?

[ladeveyah]

I should mention we've only been here a few months and this is our first pool.

Where do I begin?...It all started last fall when I went into the hospital to have a baby. Around that time we noticed a leak in the pool. Well, I called a leak detection company and they told me they would come out to look at it but that the pool needed to be clean. Believe it or not, I was responsible for keeping the pool clean and since I was going into the hospital soon I was not maintaining the pool. Well, I called to cancel because I actually went in a few days before they were to come out.

When I got home with the new baby and toddler, I didn't have much time or energy to clean the pool. My husband is absolutely no help. Well, we let the pool go to crap. No cover, nothing. All we did was turn the pump off because of the leak.

So here it is springtime and I am desparately trying to revive the pool. I scrubbed, vacuumed, shocked, and raked my butt off. I could not get the pool clean. Then I decide it's best to drain the pool and start over so I set the pump to waste and emptied the pool. Then I read somewhere that that is the wrong way to drain a pool.

So now, I have cleaned the pool and I am trying to start the filter and when I do the initial start-up no water is coming out of the backwash line which is always open. Any ideas what could be causing this. Oh, I should also mention that last time the filter was running sand was returning to the pool and I know we need to change the laterals but I don't know how. I am thinking of replacing the entire filter with a DE filter. If I do so, would that solve both problems? any help is greatly appreciated.

One more question, is it okay to call a regular plumber to see about this because the only pool equipment people I can find around here aren't very helpful and the last guy charged me $95 per hour and didn't even fic the problem.

Thanks

[Sparkmaster]

Plumber.. dont think so.. But, i think some pumps required to be primmed... Did u try that..

[Sparkmaster]

Plumber.. dont think so.. But, i think some pumps required to be primmed... Did u try that..

[jkusmier]

1) Cut your husband off until he starts helping - that's what my wife would do!

2) You need to address the leak but I wouldn't recommend a plumber - find a local pool builder or even a pool supply store and ask them to send someone out. Or call the leak detection company again. But I suppose you need to get your pool clean first... Finally, you can always contact the prior owner and ask who they used...

3) Is your pool green? You can add an algaecide, but most people here recommend heavy shocking -and by heavy, I mean lots of liquid bleach (regular household bleach or something like Vertex, which is twice the concentration) every day for several days until the pool clears. You should also vacuum and backwash at least once/day, every day, until the pool is clean. You can then get your water tested and start adding chlorine stabilizer (cyanuric acid, or CYA) and a flocculent or clarifier to eliminate the fine particles that the filter isn't removing. That's all down the road - but initial cleanup can easily take a week, even two. You've got to be patient and diligent - it will clear up, I promise. My pool was a green pond when I opened a month ago, but it cleared up after a week of regular cleaning and shocking - only took 90min/day.

4) Not sure why your backwash line is always open - you should have a valve atop the filter. Given your sand problem, you may also have a broken valve and a leak in the filter - possible the sand, leak and difficulty cleaning the pool can all be traced to the filter, and replacing that might be necessary. DE filters will remove finer particles than sand filters, but a good quality, properly maintained sand filter does just fine.

[ladeveyah]

Plumber.. dont think so.. But, i think some pumps required to be primmed... Did u try that..

Yes, I was trying to prime it but after several minutes no water was coming out. Should I just wait longer?

[ladeveyah]

1) Cut your husband off until he starts helping - that's what my wife would do!

2) You need to address the leak but I wouldn't recommend a plumber - find a local pool builder or even a pool supply store and ask them to send someone out. Or call the leak detection company again. But I suppose you need to get your pool clean first... Finally, you can always contact the prior owner and ask who they used...

3) Is your pool green? You can add an algaecide, but most people here recommend heavy shocking -and by heavy, I mean lots of liquid bleach (regular household bleach or something like Vertex, which is twice the concentration) every day for several days until the pool clears. You should also vacuum and backwash at least once/day, every day, until the pool is clean. You can then get your water tested and start adding chlorine stabilizer (cyanuric acid, or CYA) and a flocculent or clarifier to eliminate the fine particles that the filter isn't removing. That's all down the road - but initial cleanup can easily take a week, even two. You've got to be patient and diligent - it will clear up, I promise. My pool was a green pond when I opened a month ago, but it cleared up after a week of regular cleaning and shocking - only took 90min/day.

4) Not sure why your backwash line is always open - you should have a valve atop the filter. Given your sand problem, you may also have a broken valve and a leak in the filter - possible the sand, leak and difficulty cleaning the pool can all be traced to the filter, and replacing that might be necessary. DE filters will remove finer particles than sand filters, but a good quality, properly maintained sand filter does just fine.

1) I would cut him off but then I have to suffer too.

2)The leak just went away! Weird, I know. But that is no longer an issue.

3)The pool is a little green now. I am sure that once I get the filter running again, I can clear it up in a day or two. I can see the bottom now and before I couldn't see a few inches below the surface.

4)When I say the backwash line is open I mean I don't have to do anything but turn the valve to backwash. I'm not real sure how to describe all of this stuff yet. I guess, I will replace the filter. I guess I can consider sticking with sand as they are less expensive and we don't use the pool that often.

[kamidoug]

How much liquid bleach should I use? My pool is 17, 000 gallons. I have already added 100 pounds of shock to it, but it is still chocolate brown---my pool company told me to only leave my filter on recirculate--but now after reading the board, I think I should move it to filter, then backwash every day.

[HandsHeal]

ok lade, this is how it works. Backwash runs the water the opposite direction through your filter and out of the pool, in order to clean the sand. Once this is done, you switch it to rinse. Run that for a few minutes also. This compacs the sand back down. Then you turn your valve to filter. Let it run. Sometimes 24 hrs.

[HandsHeal]

Kami, your turn

what is at the bottom of your pool? Can you see it. Try to vacuum and then if you get nothing run the filter and backwash often. I fthis doesn't help then you may need new sand. No more chemicals for now

[jkusmier]

Kami, your turn

what is at the bottom of your pool? Can you see it. Try to vacuum and then if you get nothing run the filter and backwash often. I fthis doesn't help then you may need new sand. No more chemicals for now

Actually, I don't see any harm in adding chlorine daily until you get your filter problem fixed. I don't know how large your pool is, but I'd recommend 2 gallons of concetrated (10%) chlorine bleach or 4 gallons of regular household bleach (5%) daily. That's alot of weight to lug around, but look on the bright side - it's cheap, generic household bleach only costs 50-60 cents/gallon.

You may just have a broken lateral - make sure you're present when a pool tech comes out to diagnose the problem - they may try to sell you a new filter when you may only need to replace the laterals. Should also replace the sand while you're at it. Also, you can always buy a new filter. I have a Pentair Sand Dollar SD80 - the largest sand filter Pentair offers, costs between $300-400. Just think of it as a long-term lifestyle investment. Keep us updated on progress...

[kamidoug]

Thank you all for the response---we are working hard on getting this pool ready for next weekend. My husband vaccumed it out and we realized that at the bottom of the pool was a TON of some sort of soot stuff. We are continuing this everyday.

Another question, on the sides of my fiberglass pool there is brown stains---how do I get this off?

[ladeveyah]

ok lade, this is how it works. Backwash runs the water the opposite direction through your filter and out of the pool, in order to clean the sand. Once this is done, you switch it to rinse. Run that for a few minutes also. This compacs the sand back down. Then you turn your valve to filter. Let it run. Sometimes 24 hrs.

So, if I understand you correctly, I need to put the filter on rinse to compact the sand back down and when I've done that the filter should prime again?

[jkusmier]

ok lade, this is how it works. Backwash runs the water the opposite direction through your filter and out of the pool, in order to clean the sand. Once this is done, you switch it to rinse. Run that for a few minutes also. This compacs the sand back down. Then you turn your valve to filter. Let it run. Sometimes 24 hrs.

So, if I understand you correctly, I need to put the filter on rinse to compact the sand back down and when I've done that the filter should prime again?

Actually, your pump should prime regardless of whether your rinsed the filter, and regardless of the filter valve position.

According to your prior posts, the pump is evidently working just fine when the filter is in the backwash position - you were able to drain the pool, correct? So you may have a broken filter valve. I think you need to consult a local pool professional to troubleshoot - and don't run the pump anymore, you can easily damage it if it sucks air for more than several seconds. No sense having to replace another piece of equipment. You could continue adding shock around the perimeter of the pool (adding more in the deep end) on a daily basis to keep algae under control until the problem is solved. If you have a vinyl liner I'd suggest using liquid chlorine (household at 5% sodium hypochlorite or a concentrated pool product like Vertex, etc. at 10%) instead of a powder shock because residual powder can settle on the liner and discolor it. As I said, generic household bleach is just fine - at 17K gallons, I'd use 3-4 gallons/day, just enough to keep algae from blooming.