Storm surge, salt water flood, big mess

[Green Goblin]

In the recent hurricane a family member's pool was submerged in messy salt-water storm surge flood waters. This happened Thursday, and it's a mess at this point, as the pic shows

Currently the pump is inoperable, and it appears that the controlling electronics were destroyed too. Given the scope of the damage (every house for a few miles around has similar problems) getting someone out there to replace the pump/controller/etc in the next week or two is unlikely.

He has a dolphin cleaner that seems to be working, and a submersible pump.

My initial thought is use the submersible pump or dolphin to mix up the water a bit and start adding some chlorine if he can get it. If not he has some cal-hypo on hand, maybe add that?

His pool is 13,000 gallons. What do folks think about me shipping him an appropriately sized pump and filter setup for an above ground pool so that he can get working on the pool?

Also was thinking of using the submersible pump to do a no-drain water exchange to start diluting the mess down. Ideally would just drain and refill, but we do not know how to prevent the pool from popping if it's fully drained.

I have read some of the other available threads about recovering from a flood. Thanks for any additional help.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Green,

What kind of pump does he have? Single speed or VS??

What kind of automation system?

Could be that things just need to dry out first...

I'd want to at least drain down so the water is not above the coping..

If this were my pool, and I was worried about it floating, I'd drain half and then fill it back up.. I might do that 2 or 3 times, depending on the cost of water. Then I would start adding chlorine, and running the robot..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Mdragger88]

If its been inundated with ocean water it will certainly need some dilution as ocean water has a very high salinity level that can do damage.
If they have a submersible pump they can lower the pool level to a safe amount asap as Jim mentioned and get some chlorine going to keep things from getting worse. 5ppm/day, until a true clean up & slam can ensue with functioning equipment. It can simply be stirred in (away from the pool wall) and brushed around.
An above ground pump setup won’t lift the water as they aren’t self priming. They are designed to be below the water level of the pool.
He could however order a cheapish inground pump to use temporarily while he waits for his insurance claim or whatever to go through with the “good” equipment. Then reserve that as a spare later.
Other alternatives if the pool is a higher elevation than the rest of the yard are setting up a siphon with a hose to drain & using the siphon method to manually vac to waste.
The bot will likely fill up very quickly & get bogged down if theres sludge/silt at the bottom of the pool. Its best reserved for after the bulk has been manually removed.

 

[Green Goblin]

Green,

What kind of pump does he have? Single speed or VS??

What kind of automation system?

Could be that things just need to dry out first...

I'd want to at least drain down so the water is not above the coping..

If this were my pool, and I was worried about it floating, I'd drain half and then fill it back up.. I might do that 2 or 3 times, depending on the cost of water. Then I would start adding chlorine, and running the robot..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim.

It's a Jandy Aquiline type system. The pump is VS. It is possible that the system was running when it flooded with salt water as the home had a backup generator that was elevated from the storm surge. The system is described to me as "Fried" but I don't know if that is because it looks damaged or just won't start.

The half drain/refill move sounds good too.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

At the very least get that water level down to about the middle of tile line. You don’t want water sitting up to coping like that. Then follow the advice above.

Insurance, depending on the policy limitations, might cover some of the costs of replacing the damaged equipment.

You can definitely use a sub pump to circulate but remember that aren’t really designed for continuous use so you want to give them a rest. Circulate, add chlorine to keep the water under control, circulate some more and then shut it off. The robot can help get the sediment out a bit but it will needs lots of cleaning too to keep it from getting clogged. Get a leaf rake in there a blind scoop as much as you can to get any solids out.

 

[Green Goblin]

If its been inundated with ocean water it will certainly need some dilution as ocean water has a very high salinity level that can do damage.
If they have a submersible pump they can lower the pool level to a safe amount asap as Jim mentioned and get some chlorine going to keep things from getting worse. 5ppm/day, until a true clean up & slam can ensue with functioning equipment. It can simply be stirred in (away from the pool wall) and brushed around.
An above ground pump setup won’t lift the water as they aren’t self priming. They are designed to be below the water level of the pool.
He could however order a cheapish inground pump to use temporarily while he waits for his insurance claim or whatever to go through with the “good” equipment. Then reserve that as a spare later.
Other alternatives if the pool is a higher elevation than the rest of the yard are setting up a siphon with a hose to drain & using the siphon method to manually vac to waste.
The bot will likely fill up very quickly & get bogged down if theres sludge/silt at the bottom of the pool. Its best reserved for after the bulk has been manually removed.

thank you for this helpful information on aboveground pump systems. Do you know if there are any in ground pumps that simply plug in to a 110 outlet? Mine have always been wired in.

 

[Mdragger88]

Mine has a plug. You can always add a cord yourself instead as well. Be sure the wire size is large enough for the amps the pump draws & it isn’t too long. 5 or 6 feet. You don’t want to use an extension cord. Just plug it directly into a gfci protected outlet.