Storm Aftermath

[DRichter4764]

I live in the Kansas City area, and we had an unusually strong storm last week with tons of hail and about 3 inches of rain. With the ground still frozen, most of the rain ran off the ground and a great deal of it found it's way into the pool (16x32 vinyl liner, 20k gallons), underneath my solid cover.

The water is no longer pristine; I can still see the bottom in the shallow end, but not the deep end.

I'm not sure how to deal with this, so I am asking for input:

1. Since I don't normally open the pool until early May, do I need to start filtering now and can I do that with the cover still on?

2. Is it necessary to vacuum now, or as long as I can keep the water in balance, can that wait until I open the pool (there does not appear to be much sediment that I can see in the shallow end)?

3. The water temperature is currently 38 degrees F, but when the early spring sun hits the cover, the water temperature can rise quickly, and I fear that algae will take hold if I don't do something - will shocking the pool and then maintaining balanced water hold me until I am ready to open the pool?

4. If I don't run the filter, can I add chlorine directly to the pool and let normal dispersion take care of circulating the chlorine?

I tested the water today with the following results:

FC 2
CC 0
TC 2
Ph 7.2
Alk 80
Cya 55

I realize that the chlorine level is too low and I am thinking I need to shock it, but I have never done that without the aid of a filter.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

[CarlD]

I'm not sure what's best--at that temp algae won't grow, so you may want to simply wait till the water passes the 55 deg. mark, and then add chlorine.

What you can do is walk around the pool dribbling a little as far in as you can reach, trying to get the bleach as naturally distributed as possible. If you have a submersible sump pump you can put that in to circulate the water.

But I really would wait until the water warms up to add chlorine. At 38 deg algae shouldn't grow.

Poconos may be able to give you better advice than me. Al?

[Watermom]

I think Carl has given you good advice. But, my question is, wouldn't you have to unhook your cover all the way around to be able to dribble the bleach all around? Seems to me, that would be a big pain and not worth the trouble. If it can be done easily, then go ahead.

I agree with Carl that you are probably fine for now. Algae isn't likely to grow with water temp of 38. However, both Al and I had slight streaks of algae when our water temps were under 50. In fact, he has a pretty interesting picture on here somewhere where he had algae growing under ice in his pool. During the winters where I do cover my pool, (didn't this year), I will usually go ahead and start running the pump/filter with the cover still on probably in early April. This way I can add bleach through my skimmer if the cl level is too low and keep algae at bay until I do open. Still too early to swim, but like you said, springtime sunshine can cause the water temp to start to rise. That may be something you want to consider doing.

At any rate, I think you are OK for now. Maybe when Al sees this post, he will find his algae and ice pic. Pretty weird!

Welcome to the forum!

[DRichter4764]

Thanks for the thoughts on how best to handle this situation.

I like the idea of watching the water temp and then firing up the pump/filter in early April or whenever the temp starts to get up to 50 or so.

Unhooking the anchor straps for the cover one side at a time could certainly be done, but it would be a pain.

Also, this may not be the proper area to ask this question, do I understand that Ben is currently not accepting any orders, even for refills?

[CarlD]

Thanks for the thoughts on how best to handle this situation.

I like the idea of watching the water temp and then firing up the pump/filter in early April or whenever the temp starts to get up to 50 or so.

Unhooking the anchor straps for the cover one side at a time could certainly be done, but it would be a pain.

Also, this may not be the proper area to ask this question, do I understand that Ben is currently not accepting any orders, even for refills?

Well, it is off topic, but no, if you need quick response you'll need to get the refills from Taylor or Leslies on-line. If you have the ps-233, the refills are standard Taylor brand. If you have the PS-234, you'll have to check the testing forum for info on which Taylor refills are the equivalent. For example: T/A uses Taylor 0007, 0008 and 0009 as the reagents and I believe Ben calls them T/A 1 T/A 2 and T/A 3.