opening pool and the water is black - HELP

[LC5093]

I'm opening my pool for the first time since I had the liner installed late last summer. 36000 gal in-ground pool (L shape), I paid to have it closed properly as it was my first time in a newly purchased home.. and I lifted the corner of the cover this morning to see that the water is BLACK. I have a DE filter. My question is what steps should I take in regards to adding chemicals / hooking up pump and filter / cleaning etc. One person told me to add shock and don't hook up the filter until it's clear, but I wanted some more advice on that... also do I use shock only, then algecide once it's clear, or should I be using an algae killer like ALGATEC (I found this online)? And if so, in which order do I add them etc.... filter on or no filter?? ANY advice is appreciated - I'm reading up as much as I can but first timer here with zero pool knowledge! Also I will be taking a sample of the water to the pool specialists today. I live in New England so the weather has been all over the place hot and cold, and also the cover I have is slightly mesh so it allows sunlight in which I'm assuming has encouraged algae growth but I had no idea this was even possible Thanks in advance!

 

[Catrn]

oh boy I feel your pain. I do not have any advice but i want to follow this thread. I am also a newer pool owner and I am getting frustrated from hearing all kinds of different advice from these pool stores, thus I am here. Make sure you add your signature, looks like they need that here. What kind of pool - filter - pump. I am not that far from you in Shrewsbury. Does sound like algae to me. I would be on the phone with whoever closed your pool and demand free help as it couldnt possibly have been closed properly. thats my humble opinion.

 

[Richard320]

Stop!

Two things popped out at me that need to be addressed immediately.

1. No algaecide. Algaecide works better as a preventative than as a cure in the same way that Lysol stops the spread of germs but drinking it won't cure a cold. Some algaecides contain copper, which you really don't want in the water unless you like green hair. Some are ammonia compounds, which react with chlorine and deplete it.
2. Don't take a sample of the water to the pool specialists today. There may be exceptions, but for the most part, the pool store experts are mostly experts at selling you stuff.
   

What you'll be needing is a whole lot of bleach aka liquid pool chlorine, a good test kit, a brush, a vacuum, and a bunch of DE to recharge your filter after backwashing. Others will be along with long lists of links to how-to-articles, so I'll point you at some easier-to-read threads, with pictures: Recovering my old inspirational links Just do what they did. Newest ones are last.

 

[Demegrad9]

Looks like you have an Ocean State Job Lot close by you in Sturbridge, MA. They sell 'Super Shock' and 'Mega Shock' which is just 12.5% liquid chlorine from two different suppliers, and the cost is usually $2.99 per gallon.

 

[LC5093]

Thank you for the response! I edited my post - I mistyped, what I meant to ask was not actually about algaecide but a product I've seen online that is listed as an "algae killer" - are these useful or should I stick with good old fashioned chlorine alone. And also about starting up the pump and filter - should I shock the water first and then run filter once I can see through some of the water, or run it right from the start of the shock process?

 

[RobertScalchi]

Please use liquid chlorine or bleach only to "shock" the pool to SLAM or shock levels. Shock is not a product nor is it chlorine granules. Shocking a pool is raising and heightening the free chlorine levels in ratio with your CYA.

Below in my signature is a link for chlorine to cya ratios. Your first objective is to obtain a proper test kit such as the Taylor K - 2006 C or the TF-100. Find out what your CYA level is first. Then use the pool math calculator to bring the pool to shock level with liquid chlorine only. For the time being until you get your test kit it wouldn't hurt to add a gallon or two of bleach a day. Run the filter 24/7.

Please do not use algaecide as a contains copper sulfide and will complicate your water chemistry. Nor use packets of shock or trichlor tablets or pucks, as they will gradually raise your cya levels unawaringly.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

What kind of DE filter is it? Grid or Fingers?

If you have a multiport valve, set it to "recirculate" while you kill the algae, hold off on actually filtering. As the algae dies, it will sink to the bottom and then you can vacuum to waste and not deal with a clogging DE filter which will happen very quickly I'm afraid. You can do a few vac to waste/refill back up to the top of the skimmer or just do it once for the really nasty areas, and then vacuum manually as normal, and expect to go through at least three backwash/recharge DE cycles. Are you familiar with all of your equipment and how to vacuum manually?

Read the article in Pool School "Turning your green swamp into a sparkling oasis" and follow those steps. In the meantime order yourself the recommended test kit.

I'm starting a job today that is going to be very similar to yours, except they have a cartridge filter and no multiport valve. I'll be using submersible pumps to circulate the water and kill the algae before we begin the vacuum process.

 

[Rocco]

LC5093,

You will want to get your equipment up and running. My recommendation is to clean off the pool deck the best you can, remove the cover, and then work on getting the equipment running.

I am going to paste in a response that I typed up earlier this year in regards to a similar thread. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you need to.

Sounds like your pool was winterized and you are looking to open it by yourself. At this point I will describe my pool and some of the steps I perform during the opening process. Hopefully it will be useful for you.

I have a heater, DE filter, and standard pump. All have valves or plugs that are removed during the winterizing process. The pool has several plugs that are put in.

For my equipment:
The pump has two plugs, one at the base below the pump basket and another at the base of the propeller. I put these in my pump basket so that I know where they are when I open. These will need to be put back into place or the pump will not be able to hold water, prime, or run for very long without damage.

The filter has a single plug at the bottom (DE Filter), this can be left off or put back on once the water is drained and filter has been cleaned. I put it back on so that small animals cannot make it their home. I also remove my pressure gauge in the winter, as a result it must be installed when opening the pool.

For the heater, there is a valve that I can open to drain any water from the system. This will need to be closed, if left open you will see water spraying out once the pump is turned on.


That is about it for the equipment side.

For the pool:

There are two plugs in each of my skimmer baskets, one is a standard rubber stopper that plugs the opening that goes to the pump. The other is a large bottle like plug (green) that is almost as tall as the skimmer itself. This is screwed into the second hole in the bottom and is used solely for the purpose of releasing the stress of ice freezing in the skimmers. Instead of pushing against the walls when it freezes it pushes against this bottle. This can be turned and removed. For the rubber stoppers there is a metal wing nut at the top that squeezes the stopper when tightened. This expands its once it is inserted to seal off the opening, to remove the plug turn the wing nut and pull out the stopper.

I have three returns besides the main drains in my pool, two are in the shallow end and are plugged with rubber stoppers. Loosen the wing nuts and pull out to remove, this is the worst part if the water is dirty as I have to reach down pretty far.

The last return is on the side wall for a pressure side cleaner and also uses a rubber stopper.

Now that the equipment has been plugged and the plugs from the pool has been removed it is time to start the equipment. Please let us know if you are OK up to this point and ready to move forward or if you have any additional questions.

As mentioned above you will want to sent your filter to recirculate, this move the water through the pump and pipes but avoids the filter.

Once the pump has been running for 30 minutes to an hour the water should be sufficiently mixed to take a water sample for testing. The full set of test numbers will be needed in order for us to provide accurate advice on what to do next.

 

[LC5093]

It has fingers which I will be cleaning out today after work before starting anything! However- unfortunately I don't have a multiport valve, I have a hayward perlex DE filter which was inherited with the purchase of the home.. Is there any way to bypass the filter and just run the pump with the type that I have? Also - vac to waste? I believe this isn't an option for me with this filter either but if I'm wrong could you explain how to do this too! I have seen in some of your other posts you mention a portable pump to run, is this something that could be rented for temp use while I try to tackle this nightmare?! LOL thanks again for all the input!

 

[LC5093]

So: good news (i think) my swamp is green and not black! Having some electrical issues with the pump (pump and filter have been abandoned with the house i bought for at least 8 years- but they were able to last me the end of last season so I’m hoping to get one more season out of them before having to buy new!) but it’s up and running! Making some progress overnight - next pic is from this morning..

all I’ve done so far is brush what i could and I’ve dumped in 20 gal of liquid chlorine the strongest percent i could fine. Because of all the algae i haven’t been able to get a good test reading so i just was winging it and hoping for the best.. definitely some progress overnight which I’m happy to see

- - - Updated - - -


This morning.. still can’t see into the water very far but it’s definitely not as green and scary

 

[Casey]

Buy a TF100 so you can SL AM the pool appropiately.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

It has fingers which I will be cleaning out today after work before starting anything! However- unfortunately I don't have a multiport valve, I have a hayward perlex DE filter which was inherited with the purchase of the home.. Is there any way to bypass the filter and just run the pump with the type that I have? Also - vac to waste? I believe this isn't an option for me with this filter either but if I'm wrong could you explain how to do this too! I have seen in some of your other posts you mention a portable pump to run, is this something that could be rented for temp use while I try to tackle this nightmare?! LOL thanks again for all the input!

That's what I was afraid of. Ugh, I do not understand why that filter was designed the way it was. A multiport valve makes things so much easier.

It can't hurt to check on renting a sub pump - but you seem to have made a lot of progress manually. The other thing to consider is you'll have this issue every year when you open, so I'd bite the bullet and get a good one.

The only way to vacuum to waste is to open the drain at the bottom (hopefully you have a shut off valve with a hose adapter attached already ) but you will lose a lot of water that way.

If I missed it, I'm sorry, but did you open and clean out the filter really well before you started? The DE will get clogged up at the top in the middle of all those fingers like a giant clump of clay.

You'll go through a fair amount of DE at the beginning but once it's clear you should be able to go most of the season with only one or 2 DE changes.

 

[zea3]

The problem with the fingers is that you can't remove them and close up the filter like you can with grids or cartridges. Sorry to say you are going to have to run the filter with DE in it unless you get a submersible pump to recirculate. You can use the siphon method to vacuum to waste, which doens't involve the pump at all.

when I had a Intex, I used a standard vacuum head and hose, and set a syphon over the side instead of using the pump at all- as long as you don't mind watering the grass, and replacing water (same as vacuum to waste!)
fill hose with water- start at one end, attach to vacuum to weight/hold underwater.
push hose underwater along the length, so it fills entirely
when you reach the other end, water should bubble out of it
Hold both ends under water
grab the middle of the hose, throw it over the side so a loop is hanging lower than the water level in the pool
work back the length of the hose away from the vacuum head
throw the end on the ground where you want the water to drain
start to vacuum!
when done, lift vacuum out of water to break suction, and drain to other end so gunk doesn't come back into pool

For an inground pool you may need to find the lowest part of the yard to start the siphon.

 

[LC5093]

That's what I was afraid of. Ugh, I do not understand why that filter was designed the way it was. A multiport valve makes things so much easier.

It can't hurt to check on renting a sub pump - but you seem to have made a lot of progress manually. The other thing to consider is you'll have this issue every year when you open, so I'd bite the bullet and get a good one.

The only way to vacuum to waste is to open the drain at the bottom (hopefully you have a shut off valve with a hose adapter attached already ) but you will lose a lot of water that way.

If I missed it, I'm sorry, but did you open and clean out the filter really well before you started? The DE will get clogged up at the top in the middle of all those fingers like a giant clump of clay.

You'll go through a fair amount of DE at the beginning but once it's clear you should be able to go most of the season with only one or 2 DE changes.

I cleaned out the fingers as much as i could, they were black and fullllll of gunk has m! And there were a few small areas that the fibers were bulging / almost torn.. (the house and all pool equipment was abandoned for at least 8-9 years) so it was pretty gross in there... i was hopeful it would be enough to get me out of the woods, but the pressure keeps rising within an hour or two.. starting pressure once clean was 10, after bumping and backwashing and adding DE again the pressure still is climbing rapidly up to 15/20, and at that point there are leaks around all the attachments until i bump/ backwash again. All my skimmers are clear, the backwash water is running clear, there’s very little debris or things clogging, would buying new fingers help me hold off on the big purchase of a whole new system? I don’t see this working all summer as it’s only been one full day and already not holding pressure down

 

[zea3]

As long as the water in the pool is not crystal clear the filter is collecting debris from the water and will clog quickly. If you have the perflex filter with the big handle on top, you should be bumping the filter when the pressure rises 20% over clean pressure. You do not add DE after a bump. This filter isn't designed for backwashing. Other than bumping you have to open it up and hose everything off. When bumping doesn't result in a significant drop in pressure, or the pressure rises 20 % very quickly it is time to open up and clean out the old DE and put in fresh. DE filters are very good at what they do. They collect fine debris very well. That's why you have to constantly clean one during a slam.

It sounds like it is time to replace the fingers. You need to find out what model and size filter you have so you can get replacements. Is any of the label on the filter legible?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I cleaned out the fingers as much as i could, they were black and fullllll of gunk has m! And there were a few small areas that the fibers were bulging / almost torn.. (the house and all pool equipment was abandoned for at least 8-9 years) so it was pretty gross in there... i was hopeful it would be enough to get me out of the woods, but the pressure keeps rising within an hour or two.. starting pressure once clean was 10, after bumping and backwashing and adding DE again the pressure still is climbing rapidly up to 15/20, and at that point there are leaks around all the attachments until i bump/ backwash again. All my skimmers are clear, the backwash water is running clear, there’s very little debris or things clogging, would buying new fingers help me hold off on the big purchase of a whole new system? I don’t see this working all summer as it’s only been one full day and already not holding pressure down

Sounds like the fingers are clogged. I would first suggest you soak it in a powder dishwasher solution overnight. Then soak in a diluted muratic acid solution. See instructions in pool school. The fingers should come out looking a lot whiter.

Dropbox - 2013-05-14 14.00.38.jpg
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Now, when you do a fresh fill, you add the required DE. If you have to "bump" more than 3 times in 24 hour period, you should flush out the DE. The way I do it on my clients with those filters, is open up the drain plug at the bottom. I have shutoff valves on them, which are capped. Remove the cap and insert a hose adapter. Attach (with a clamp) a backwash hose to direct the dirty DE and water away (and towards where you want it to go). Turn off the pump, bump the handle 4-5 times to loosen the DE, and then open the shut off valve. Then turn on the pump and the water will start to push all the dirty DE out through the bottom. Turn off the pump and bump the handle, turn it back on. Repeat this a few times and each time you'll see more DE flow out. So now most, if not all, of the DE is out, and you can close the shut off valve. When you go to add fresh DE to the skimmer, you only add 80% of a "fresh" fill. Rarely, if ever, have I had to completely open the filter back out to clean off the fingers again. I've done it this way on these filters for years and it does the trick.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

The later perflex can be sprayed rather well cleaned inside the tank via the 1.5” pressure gauge port with an appropriate nozzle...

But I much prefer to service the perflex line with my reciprocating saw..