I'm a 1st time pool owner and during our vacation in May the cover blew off in a wind storm. The pool was LOADED with leaves. Now opening it for summer is a disaster! I don't even know where to start. We have vacuumed and vacuumed and have gotten most of the leaves off the bottom, but it is still so murky. What is the process to getting clear water again? Should we just have the pool drained and refilled, or is there hope? PLEASE, ANY ADVICE WOULD BE SOOOO WELCOMED! :confused:

Hi there,

That is too bad - unfortunate way to come home from vacation. I wish there was an easy answer to your questions - but there is not. You need to remove as much plant matter and debris from your pool as possible using leaf nets. Do not take the "good enough" approach, spend as much time as it takes to lean all the material out.

Once you have most of the solid and plant debris out of the pool, you can turn on your circulation system (if you have not already done so)

With the circulation system on, you can now add a liberal shock of granulated chlorine which you will pre-mix with water.

Next take your soft bristled brush and brush down every square inch of the walls and floor. This will help to get the filth mixed into the water where the circulation system can do its thing and start to clean up the water. You will need to monitor the pressure reading on your filter as the large amount of material in the water can cause your filter to get dirty much faster than you are used to. Be sure to backwash and rinse often until your pool is looking much better.

You should experience a noticeable difference in water quality within 24-48 hours. If you do not, shock it again with the granulated chlorine. If you still have murky water after this, it is likely that you have algae growth in your water which requires a specific algae treatment to remove.

Your local pool supplier will have algicide which you put in the water, brush down the walls and leave overnight. The next day you will vacuum the pool again as the algicide will cause the algae to coagulate and sink to the bottom of the pool.

At this point balance your chemicals as you would normally, and consider purchasing a better winter cover for your pool that will not blow off next year.

Good luck, and I hope this information was helpful.

Steve Goodale
Serendipity Pools

Thank you for your advice. We are still vacuuming the pool. The leaves are pretty much gone (one small patch that we missed theat will be gone tomorrow), but the water is still very murky. We have shocked the pool twice and still no luck. We will purchase the algacide to try this next. How long should it take to clear the water? Should we change the sand in the filter because of all the debris? Also, what is the chemical process? Should we work on the ph level first and then adjust the chlorine? The chemical levels are all out of whack. The company we bought the pool from has not been good in the customer service area. The only area they are good at is the purchase part (good at taking your money! ) Thanks again for your answer. Any more advice would be appreciated! :)

With water chemistry there is no point in guessing. If you take your water in to a pool store with a water testing lab they can tell you exactly what you need to do and what order to do it in.

I am a big fan of time saving choices and in the long run working with a water lab will keep you ahead of the curve - so long as you can find one that you like and trust.

You should not need to replace your filter sand just on the account of the winter cover blowing in. That being said if it has been 15 years - or an undetermined amount of time you may like to do so to help your system run efficiently.

I hope this information helps.

Steve Goodale
Serendipity Pools

For getting rid of the leaves, there is some new stuff that can disolve and float all organic material in your pool... might be something to ask your pool chemical store about... should be done before filtering...

Our water chemistry was perfect according to the pool retailer. It is still 'dirty' looking on the bottom and when you vacuum, it just pushes all the debris through the pool to make it look cloudy. The particles are too small for the filter to catch, so they keep getting recirculated. It's been a vicious cycle. We used a woman's knee high nylon and put it over the skimmer basket which helped get some of the debris out of circulation. The clarifier we used just helps settle the debris on the pool bottom but gets stirred up when vacuuming.

It has been very frustrating. I guess we will have to just keep vacuuming with the nylon knee highs as long as it takes. Any faster method for getting the sludgy debris out of the pool would be great. Any ideas, let me know. I'll try anything!

PS: Do you know the name of the additive you were talking about that causes organic debris to float to the top of the pool? I'd love to try it!

Thanks for all your help!

Kim:)

I think this is the stuff...

Pool Magic - Natural swimming pool chemicals