icky pool mess

I usually just use something like "The Works" or some other scale busting bathroom cleaner; however, I'm not sure that's going to cut it this year. Year before last, I had the good sense to (finally) buy a winterizing kit. Come the following spring, my pool was still virtually pristine. This past winter, I failed to get the winterizing kit. It is a huge mess this year. The water is pretty much brown, scale deposits on the side are horrible, and a new liner isn't in the budget this year. I was hoping you could offer some suggestions better than what I’ve done in the past. There's no shade and it is super hot out there (I'm in Texas) and I've gotten older since I used to get out there and scrub it down for days...just not holding up to that anymore. What do you think/suggest?

You don't have enough information for us to help you.

The BBB method is based, not on our doing it for you, but on you being willing to let us teach you how to do it yourself: testing, treatment, and maintenance. We can help YOU take care of your pool more cheaply and easily than what you've experienced before, but you have to learn stuff, and then use it.

Start like this:

1. Go to Walmart, and get 10 gallons of PLAIN 8% household store brand bleach & 2 boxes of 20 Mule Team borax for each 10,000 gallons of pool water in your pool.

2. Also, get a gallon of *DISTILLED* water and a cheapo OTO / phenol red drops kit. If they have the HTH 6-way drops test kit, get that instead.

3. Test your chlorine and pH, and then add 2 gallons of bleach per 10k gallons of water. Report the test results here.

4. Go to Lowes or Home Depot or a hardware store, and get 1 gallon of plain 31% muriatic acid. If you don't have any, get some blue/purple nitrile gloves, and then read http://pool9.net/muriatic/ to learn how to use muriatic safely.

5. If the pH is less than 7, add 1/2 box of the borax per 10k gallons, slowly, to the skimmer with the pump running. If the pH is more than 8, add roughly 1/4 gallon of muriatic acid, per 10k gallons . . . but ONLY after you've read the muriatic acid page!

6. Retest that evening. If the chlorine level is clear to medium yellow, repeat the dose. If it's dark yellow, cut the dose in half. If it's orange, skip the dose.

7. Go to the testkit page: http://pool9.net/tk/ and read about kits. If at all possible, order a K2006 kit. With scale problems, you WILL need it. Watch the videos BEFORE using the kit. If you got the HTH kit, watch the alkalinity and stabilizer videos. (Taylor makes the HTH 6-way)

8. Once you've tested and done your first bleach dose, fill out the info forms: http://pool9.net/pf-equip-form/ http://pool9.net/pf-hist-form/

. . . and then we'll go from there.

BUT, if you're not willing to learn, and simply want a 1-stop 'dump it in and you're all good' solution . . . we can't help you. Managing swimming pools with well water fill is tricky. There are plenty of pool stores, local and online, who will more than happily sell you a simple easy solution, with only 2 drawbacks:
a. They will cost a bunch of money, and
b. They won't work.

Best wishes,

It perhaps was not clear from my message... My pool is a simple 15 x 4 ft above ground model. My concern was for saving "the pool liner." The liner is covered in scale. The water will have to be drained; it's brown ( not green??) it smells horrible and it's disgusting. It holds approximately 5,300 gallons of water. I wanted to learn if there was a safer,( for the liner) simpler (for me) way of removing the scale from the liner. Having just received my master's degree, I found it helpful to watch many videos during my studies. Therefore, the suggested videos are greatly appreciated, and yes, I have a test kit. I also "fill" from community well water and it is extremely hard water. I did consider adding bleach this afternoon while I was out there with a nylon scrubbing pad and a CLR type lime scale remover, normally used in bathrooms. I did not know how much bleach to add for a pool that size, and it is about 2/3's empty from evaporation over the winter. Thank you for your reply and suggestions.

Please note my inquiry was in response to a response thread to someone that came up on Google when I did research to resolve my issue. What I wanted to "learn" was most likely the same response you gave these folks. I did not assume there was a simple 1-stop 'dump it in and you're all good' solution. I did however hope it was something better than me out there with a scrubby sponge for a week. You answered the other folks by saying: If it's what I think, you can go ahead and refill, and start your pool. I can help you get rid of it over the next few weeks, without damaging your pool. You do NOT want to use a heavy brush, or acid, on a vinyl liner.

Ben