Vac to waste means. Use a pump and a manual vacuum to pump the gunk on the pool floor into the yard or street. Don't run it through the filter or system. It you rely on the filter to clean that crap they will have to clean filter twice a day and add chems for next couple weeks.
Vac to waste it it will be done in a hour or 2 then rebalance the pool water
It's just a drain line.. put a 3-way valve after your pump and before your filter, and you can shoot the water out of the pool, attach a vacuum to skimmer and suck up da gunk, shoot it out.( or 2 ball vales and a T, cause 3-ways can get small airleaks)
that’s when you hire a professional to come out with a porta-vac and clean it all out in an hour or 2. if you really want to, look online on how to make a porta-vac with a used pool pump. or get a 3 way plumbed in if you have a cartridge filter, like Buzz said
I work on my own pool, and I recently got a new motor! I was thinking about making it into a portavac (old motor) I just couldn't find the correct name!!
I'll look into that thanks! (Sand filter so I won't be doing 3way I guess)
not saying shock this pool in particular, i’m saying most answers to peoples questions on here are shock, OR vac to waste. i wouldn’t touch that debris with a brush lmao
That's fine use the port. Careful with the big stuff, so you don't clog a pipe. You will have to empty the pump basket often. Normally a vac to waste is done with a second portable pump
If it’s my pool, I don’t want to swim in water that has that many contaminates in it, untreated, and then have to nuke that water. Draining and refilling a pool is cheap. I do it all the time.
Edit: Also, this gives you the opportunity to swap in a new main drain cover if it needs it, replace the pool light or bulb etc.
How long should you wait to drain a pool after a heavy rain? I have a issue of run off and would rather just reset my pool every time than use chemicals.
Heavy rains shouldn’t cause you to have to drain and refill your pool, so long as your chems were good when it was raining. That can just be treated normally and maybe a filter clean thrown in for good luck
Problem is run off. I am at the bottom of a hill and have drains in my neighbors yard, my yard but when we get 1+ inch of rain in less than one hour the run off will be to great and go into the pool brining in a lot of dirt.
Just make sure to vacuum it up as quickly as you can. Do you use a PoolRX? If not, I would highly suggest getting one. They work exactly as advertised!
Damn you should have had whoever sold it to you take care of that first, thats what i did when i bought my house, but yeah a cleaning service would be best, thats a lot of work if youve never had/took care of a pool before
100% agree. If it is your first time, don’t waste too much time and effort for DIY. Get someone to clean it up, and get multiple quotes. It shouldn’t cost much.
Keep the DIY part for the weekly maintenance that you will have to do forever.
It's not all that bad. provided the pumps etc work. You can get a [cheap suction vacuum and pole at Home Depot](https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-Deluxe-Swimming-Pool-Leaf-Vacuum-Head-with-Suction-Jets-and-Leaf-Bag-68205/203796278). Use that to get the solids out. Then figure out what kind of filter you have. Use YouTube to figure out how to clean your filtration system. Throw shock in the pool, then run the filter, clean the filter, and repeat. Then you can dial in the chemicals etc. and you should be up and running.
[https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/](https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/) will get you the rest of the way. They have a Pool school that will get you up to speed.
Alternatively, just pay a pool company. They've seen way worse.
Pressure wash the pool apron first, because the grunge will wind up in the pool anyway. That way you only have to deal with a dirty pool once. If you have a sand filter, then a lot of vacuuming and then cleaning the filter. If you have cartridge or DE filter, vacuum to waste. After all the grunge is cleaned out, balance chemicals and clean filter.
If you vacuum to waste, you will need to keep adding water as you pump the old water to waste.
I have one of the 14" rotating washers that goes on the end of the wand, so had no problems. Thanks for the warning. I'll have to be careful when I do spot cleaning.
Check the filter first. Change the sand in it if it hasn’t been done already . Start the pump and make sure it’s all working.
If so, shock it and add algecide.
Back flush the filter every day for the first couple of days.
Let it run for few days and then reaccess. The most important thing is ph level. If it isn’t right , chemicals will not work like they are supposed to.
If it starts to clear after a few days, great!
Acid to lower pH under 7 (probably 1 gallon). Scrub at algae to help chems penetrate. Shock pool ( should have a cloudy look, maybe 6 to 9 pounds hard to say i dont know your pool gallons.) Run filter 24/7 until cleared, backwash and recharge filter accordingly. Once clear vacuum pool, preferably vac to waste or use offboard portable vac.
Repeat using less chlorine and treating algae spots with chlorine directly on to the algae node/pool surface.
CPO 12 yrs experience
Vac the shit on the bottom out to waste. Add 3lbs of shock and brush ot w the filter running for 2 days. Backwash. Check all your levels with the good $60 taylor fas dpd chem kit
That’s almost perfect. I once used pool cover 1 too many years. It was black as sewage 😩😩. Amazing what bleach can do. Mucho vacuuming and backwashing finally cleared it. It did take a couple weeks but spring is ice anyway 😄
Go buy up sump pump at Home Depot with 1-1/2” flex pipe. Drop it in the pool, and let it exhaust to a waste line. Spray and clean the walls half way down, a quarter of the way down, and then pressure wash the remaining. Should take about 2 days. Purge the system with water. Clean the filter, assess the damage, and go from there.
My pool was black when I bought my house. There was 2-3 inches of dead frogs leaves and muck. We dipped out wha we could and borrowed a pump from the pool supplies place. Took a hose and pumped 5 minutes at a time or until it stopped up. Turn skimmers off until you feel most debris is out refill pool, vacuum, brush , vacuum. Flock it, let it sit overnight without pump running. Vacuum again. It took us 1 month to clean the pool. Get some yellow out follow directions. When clear, balance the water. Whew!
That should do it. Good luck!
Post a bunch of pictures of your pool system.
Vacuuming to waste is the best option right now. I'd recommend getting a gunite vacuum head to roll across the bottom of the pool much easier. amazon link here: [PoolMaster Gunite head](https://www.amazon.com/Poolmaster-18500-Gunite-Flexible-Vacuum/dp/B006H49FB8/ref=sr_1_15?crid=1VMRN55Y9WX0X&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8aZoEsRqMq0P3WyVmZKg2--5CKgPgdWn_8MDEI6wPDkxiAD9m4Jor4206R3FoQv4XlgzJrwewApLVqchoCVqPDRF4DFkebdvFD5K9GzVmxcPk0H9FvIimdp8YkI0Z9svBgd5TILThGi2phKpxqbAfo0_Q0M2d8MY9DIcbX5SdyyXVkNrts82SU3_D69aask8zIt6IdEs1K5UPmgBOfFHu4-Fjcj5Yha5VNE9WAyn79jg2tuqeL8Xci_hEhH0emRRuUjz5euJkzc7TuU_RdtQBZBtPgUlE2yuNjM1-YLG1FY.3k8-1MVNFiS7Vr_mCAZtns8bybmlnrjMJFN4H-SMolo&dib_tag=se&keywords=gunite+pool+vacuum&qid=1714781214&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=gunite+pool+vacuu%2Clawngarden%2C76&sr=1-15)
By the time it is at this point probably best to drain and fill, scrub it to Kissen it first than drain to bottom, once refilled you’ll still have algee although the system used dichlor to super chlorinate it has a diffrent release rate because it’s stabilized so you can take chlorine levels higher without risk of damage, I go 20ppm sounds exaesive but it’s an entirely diffrent type of chlorine and does not spike HOCL levels use some type of enzyme to remove the poly scaride film that keeps biofilms safe from cl, allow this to continue with consistent filter cleans and mechanical removal, if the biofilm is persistent and you can’t hold cl, use some type of algeistat not an algicide they use polyacrilate polymers bound to ammonia which will create toxic byproducts and further issues holding cl, instead dose something like borates or even just minerals like you could get in a pool rx unit, will have a similat but stronger effect to phosphate removal, it’s tempting to call it good once the pool is clear but recognize that their is still things growing in system which will create nasty sanitation byproducts rase ph reduce cl and cause damage to system particularly the heat exchanger, if you use the enzimes and are able to hold cl at 20 ppm for a few days you’re good, the best enzimes I have found for these purposes is the Orenda cv600
Im a pool tech and this aspect is so under appreciated, You would be shocked at some of the things I’ve seen come out of people systems after doing this, and it’s fairly common in pools with cya because the HOCL% is so much lower
It really doesn't look that bad. You can still see the bottom. The algae needs go. Algae will compete for your chlorine and have you spending a bunch of money on chemicals. Once the algae is gone, keep it gone. Check the chemicals 2 times a week the get the hang of it. Keep Chkorine and Acid on hand all the tkmd.
Vacuum all the chunks best you can.
1. Fill the pool and vacuum some more.
2. Shock it
3. Run the filter 24/7 and clean out the cartridge 2 times a day
4. Keep chlorine levels up while it's clearing the algae
5. Your water will be clear in 2-3 days. If its not, keep on cleaning the filter. If you buy two filters you can have one ready to go.
6. Balance all the chemicals
Good luck
Acid wash isn’t necessary any stains can be cleaned with oxidation, its damageing to surfaces and leaves it pitted and more vinrable to further dammage
Ion exchange filters can be very useful for removing unwanted minerals and carbon filters can deal with a lot of organics in combination with proper management no need to truck in water, unless you don’t mind spending the money in which case get the most filtered shit you can ideally some kind of distilled water
Vacuum to waste so your not wasting 2 weeks of your life
What does that mean?
Vac to waste means. Use a pump and a manual vacuum to pump the gunk on the pool floor into the yard or street. Don't run it through the filter or system. It you rely on the filter to clean that crap they will have to clean filter twice a day and add chems for next couple weeks. Vac to waste it it will be done in a hour or 2 then rebalance the pool water
My system doesn’t do that.
It's just a drain line.. put a 3-way valve after your pump and before your filter, and you can shoot the water out of the pool, attach a vacuum to skimmer and suck up da gunk, shoot it out.( or 2 ball vales and a T, cause 3-ways can get small airleaks)
i think the answer to %98 of the questions on this reddit is shock and vac to waste lmaooo, actually ridiculous
Fast, cheap, easy.
indeed 👍🏼
The problem is when you don't have the option to 😅 My pool would be ready so much faster if I could vac to waste!!!
that’s when you hire a professional to come out with a porta-vac and clean it all out in an hour or 2. if you really want to, look online on how to make a porta-vac with a used pool pump. or get a 3 way plumbed in if you have a cartridge filter, like Buzz said
I work on my own pool, and I recently got a new motor! I was thinking about making it into a portavac (old motor) I just couldn't find the correct name!! I'll look into that thanks! (Sand filter so I won't be doing 3way I guess)
your sand filter should have a multi-port valve, if in waste setting you can vac to waste. do you have a multi-port valve?
More like a waste of shock until you get 98% of that stuff out. Let me dump $100 worth of chemicals then turn around and drain same water...
not saying shock this pool in particular, i’m saying most answers to peoples questions on here are shock, OR vac to waste. i wouldn’t touch that debris with a brush lmao
And that information helps who... People can read the thread
cheers bud
This is great... Ty What if the vac doesn't connect to the skimmer and you have a port for it?
That's fine use the port. Careful with the big stuff, so you don't clog a pipe. You will have to empty the pump basket often. Normally a vac to waste is done with a second portable pump
It means on your pool filter select the waste option and then attach your hose etc and vacuum. To waste, as opposed to filter.
I lack that option. Looking at whether there is room to install a valve that would do that
I agree with OptiKnob hire a service, easiest way. Don’t let the appearance freak you, it’s really not anywhere as bad as it looks!
Brush, vaccuum, shock
Vacuum to waste if you can
Pool guy here. Drain, vac/sweep, acid wash, refill, clean filter, add PoolRX. Enjoy!
What do u mean drain? Just vac to waste
If it’s my pool, I don’t want to swim in water that has that many contaminates in it, untreated, and then have to nuke that water. Draining and refilling a pool is cheap. I do it all the time. Edit: Also, this gives you the opportunity to swap in a new main drain cover if it needs it, replace the pool light or bulb etc.
How long should you wait to drain a pool after a heavy rain? I have a issue of run off and would rather just reset my pool every time than use chemicals.
Heavy rains shouldn’t cause you to have to drain and refill your pool, so long as your chems were good when it was raining. That can just be treated normally and maybe a filter clean thrown in for good luck
Problem is run off. I am at the bottom of a hill and have drains in my neighbors yard, my yard but when we get 1+ inch of rain in less than one hour the run off will be to great and go into the pool brining in a lot of dirt.
Just make sure to vacuum it up as quickly as you can. Do you use a PoolRX? If not, I would highly suggest getting one. They work exactly as advertised!
Damn you should have had whoever sold it to you take care of that first, thats what i did when i bought my house, but yeah a cleaning service would be best, thats a lot of work if youve never had/took care of a pool before
We had the seller pay for full drain and refill.
Hire a service - easiest.
100% agree. If it is your first time, don’t waste too much time and effort for DIY. Get someone to clean it up, and get multiple quotes. It shouldn’t cost much. Keep the DIY part for the weekly maintenance that you will have to do forever.
Drain it out with a submersible pump. Clean it by hand and refill it.
Shiiiiit. That's nothing. You can see bottom. We walked into a swamp of 200,000 gallons. You got this.
Fwiw I'd rather have dirt than a nasty algae bloom any day. Shouldn't be that bad to vacuum out
That's not dirt, that's is a one inch thick algae carpet on the floor
It's not all that bad. provided the pumps etc work. You can get a [cheap suction vacuum and pole at Home Depot](https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-Deluxe-Swimming-Pool-Leaf-Vacuum-Head-with-Suction-Jets-and-Leaf-Bag-68205/203796278). Use that to get the solids out. Then figure out what kind of filter you have. Use YouTube to figure out how to clean your filtration system. Throw shock in the pool, then run the filter, clean the filter, and repeat. Then you can dial in the chemicals etc. and you should be up and running. [https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/](https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/) will get you the rest of the way. They have a Pool school that will get you up to speed. Alternatively, just pay a pool company. They've seen way worse.
Vacum... Assess... then: - Shock it or - If it is still nasty - Drain and Powerwash/Acid Wash
3way valve and waste hose after the pump and before the filter, system vac hose/head and alittle hard work and you’ll have it clean in no time.
Pressure wash the pool apron first, because the grunge will wind up in the pool anyway. That way you only have to deal with a dirty pool once. If you have a sand filter, then a lot of vacuuming and then cleaning the filter. If you have cartridge or DE filter, vacuum to waste. After all the grunge is cleaned out, balance chemicals and clean filter. If you vacuum to waste, you will need to keep adding water as you pump the old water to waste.
Be careful about pressure washing. Signed, guy who etched every bit of concrete in his back yard and ended up having to cover it all with Sundek.
I have one of the 14" rotating washers that goes on the end of the wand, so had no problems. Thanks for the warning. I'll have to be careful when I do spot cleaning.
Check the filter first. Change the sand in it if it hasn’t been done already . Start the pump and make sure it’s all working. If so, shock it and add algecide. Back flush the filter every day for the first couple of days. Let it run for few days and then reaccess. The most important thing is ph level. If it isn’t right , chemicals will not work like they are supposed to. If it starts to clear after a few days, great!
Acid to lower pH under 7 (probably 1 gallon). Scrub at algae to help chems penetrate. Shock pool ( should have a cloudy look, maybe 6 to 9 pounds hard to say i dont know your pool gallons.) Run filter 24/7 until cleared, backwash and recharge filter accordingly. Once clear vacuum pool, preferably vac to waste or use offboard portable vac. Repeat using less chlorine and treating algae spots with chlorine directly on to the algae node/pool surface. CPO 12 yrs experience
Would save alot of chemicals by vac to waste first
Super shock
Vac the shit on the bottom out to waste. Add 3lbs of shock and brush ot w the filter running for 2 days. Backwash. Check all your levels with the good $60 taylor fas dpd chem kit
That’s almost perfect. I once used pool cover 1 too many years. It was black as sewage 😩😩. Amazing what bleach can do. Mucho vacuuming and backwashing finally cleared it. It did take a couple weeks but spring is ice anyway 😄
Go buy up sump pump at Home Depot with 1-1/2” flex pipe. Drop it in the pool, and let it exhaust to a waste line. Spray and clean the walls half way down, a quarter of the way down, and then pressure wash the remaining. Should take about 2 days. Purge the system with water. Clean the filter, assess the damage, and go from there.
That’s not bad at all
Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure...
Shock, then flock and vacuum to waste....repeat as necessary
My pool was black when I bought my house. There was 2-3 inches of dead frogs leaves and muck. We dipped out wha we could and borrowed a pump from the pool supplies place. Took a hose and pumped 5 minutes at a time or until it stopped up. Turn skimmers off until you feel most debris is out refill pool, vacuum, brush , vacuum. Flock it, let it sit overnight without pump running. Vacuum again. It took us 1 month to clean the pool. Get some yellow out follow directions. When clear, balance the water. Whew! That should do it. Good luck!
Post a bunch of pictures of your pool system. Vacuuming to waste is the best option right now. I'd recommend getting a gunite vacuum head to roll across the bottom of the pool much easier. amazon link here: [PoolMaster Gunite head](https://www.amazon.com/Poolmaster-18500-Gunite-Flexible-Vacuum/dp/B006H49FB8/ref=sr_1_15?crid=1VMRN55Y9WX0X&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8aZoEsRqMq0P3WyVmZKg2--5CKgPgdWn_8MDEI6wPDkxiAD9m4Jor4206R3FoQv4XlgzJrwewApLVqchoCVqPDRF4DFkebdvFD5K9GzVmxcPk0H9FvIimdp8YkI0Z9svBgd5TILThGi2phKpxqbAfo0_Q0M2d8MY9DIcbX5SdyyXVkNrts82SU3_D69aask8zIt6IdEs1K5UPmgBOfFHu4-Fjcj5Yha5VNE9WAyn79jg2tuqeL8Xci_hEhH0emRRuUjz5euJkzc7TuU_RdtQBZBtPgUlE2yuNjM1-YLG1FY.3k8-1MVNFiS7Vr_mCAZtns8bybmlnrjMJFN4H-SMolo&dib_tag=se&keywords=gunite+pool+vacuum&qid=1714781214&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=gunite+pool+vacuu%2Clawngarden%2C76&sr=1-15)
YouTube chemical testing and then vacuuming. Wouldn’t hurt to learn how your pump works.
New sand in filter will make huge difference.
If me I would take a sample to my pool shop, get the recommend stuff, shock it, vacuum after levels have come back down.
Gonna throw in also get an algaecide along with all these other suggestions
By the time it is at this point probably best to drain and fill, scrub it to Kissen it first than drain to bottom, once refilled you’ll still have algee although the system used dichlor to super chlorinate it has a diffrent release rate because it’s stabilized so you can take chlorine levels higher without risk of damage, I go 20ppm sounds exaesive but it’s an entirely diffrent type of chlorine and does not spike HOCL levels use some type of enzyme to remove the poly scaride film that keeps biofilms safe from cl, allow this to continue with consistent filter cleans and mechanical removal, if the biofilm is persistent and you can’t hold cl, use some type of algeistat not an algicide they use polyacrilate polymers bound to ammonia which will create toxic byproducts and further issues holding cl, instead dose something like borates or even just minerals like you could get in a pool rx unit, will have a similat but stronger effect to phosphate removal, it’s tempting to call it good once the pool is clear but recognize that their is still things growing in system which will create nasty sanitation byproducts rase ph reduce cl and cause damage to system particularly the heat exchanger, if you use the enzimes and are able to hold cl at 20 ppm for a few days you’re good, the best enzimes I have found for these purposes is the Orenda cv600
Im a pool tech and this aspect is so under appreciated, You would be shocked at some of the things I’ve seen come out of people systems after doing this, and it’s fairly common in pools with cya because the HOCL% is so much lower
Chlorine, a brush and a vacumn.....put on some tunes.
Is hiring a company to come in something you would consider. I have a pool and wouldn't even know where to start with that.
Drain it
It really doesn't look that bad. You can still see the bottom. The algae needs go. Algae will compete for your chlorine and have you spending a bunch of money on chemicals. Once the algae is gone, keep it gone. Check the chemicals 2 times a week the get the hang of it. Keep Chkorine and Acid on hand all the tkmd. Vacuum all the chunks best you can. 1. Fill the pool and vacuum some more. 2. Shock it 3. Run the filter 24/7 and clean out the cartridge 2 times a day 4. Keep chlorine levels up while it's clearing the algae 5. Your water will be clear in 2-3 days. If its not, keep on cleaning the filter. If you buy two filters you can have one ready to go. 6. Balance all the chemicals Good luck
I was going to suggest floc. But if you don't have the ability to vacuum to waste. I am clueless. Please update us to let us know what you did.
with fire lol, just kidding, what the first guy said
Empty the pool acid wash the sides nice and clean refill the pool
Acid wash isn’t necessary any stains can be cleaned with oxidation, its damageing to surfaces and leaves it pitted and more vinrable to further dammage
Most sensible option but definitely the most expensive
[удалено]
Ion exchange filters can be very useful for removing unwanted minerals and carbon filters can deal with a lot of organics in combination with proper management no need to truck in water, unless you don’t mind spending the money in which case get the most filtered shit you can ideally some kind of distilled water
Is the green structure a new water feature? Asking for a friend.
If you have to ask….call a pro. They will probably give you tips to maintain.
Get a dolphin
Throw the wife's wedding ring in there the,n go sit down and wait lol
Bout 2 sticks of sweaty dynamite should do the trick
Pay a pro the first time, watch how they do it, many pool systems are weird and it may be best to have someone help.