Suggestions for lots of leaves

Because of various circumstances, this is the first time I'm opening my pool in a few years. I have a 28000 gallon inground pool. I have had a mesh winter cover on it this whole time. The cover had lots of leaves on it and had sunk down into the pool a ways. I couldn't get the cover off with all the leaves on it so unfortunately most of them dumped into the pool. The pool and the water are filthy. I want to drain the pool most of the way down and use my pressure washer to clean it. The problem I'm having is I'm now below the skimmer and there's too many leaves and junk at the bottom for my main drain that's in the deep end to work. The leaves and junk keeps stopping up the drain and causing my pump to lose suction. I can't see down to the drain and can't drain the pool without having that main drain to work. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

Sounds like you have some manual labor ahead of you. You'll have to scoop them out with a leaf net. Be prepared for a smelly job with even smellier results.

You can remove them from the pool, pile them in heaps in the yard so the water can drain off, then put them in garbage bags and dispose of them. If you have access to a pickup truck or a utility trailer and your municipality has a green waster dump, so much the better.

Some of the water can be removed by using a garden hose as siphon, or you can try a sump pump if it provides adequate lift. Once you get the water level low enough you can get in the pool wearing waders and scoop some more. But the upshot is manual labor.

Thanks for the reply, Anna. I managed to get the pump to run. Turns out that my valve to the skimmer doesn't close airtight so that is what was causing the pump to lose prime. All of the leaves from the cover ended up in the shallow end. I drained the pool so that the deep end is the only end with water in it. Then I got my snow shovel and garden cart and got the leaves and gunk out. I've never seen so much yucky stuff in a pool. It was very disgusting. I used my presser washer to clean everything I could get to and am now filling the pool back up again. Hopefully with some scrubbing and lots of bleach, it'll be ready before too long.

You've been very busy this weekend!

Do you have a drop-based test kit yet? I would test the fill water for base line information on TA and CA. Depending on where you live you might even be able to get a chlorine reading. Stock up on bleach or, better yet, liquid chlorine if you can find it, stabilizer (CYA), washing soda or borax, and baking soda.

You're right: lots of brushing and bleach with the pump running 24/7 until the water is clean and balanced.

Every gallon of 6% bleach will add about 2ppm of chlorine to your pool.
Every gallon of 12.5% Liquid Chlorine will add about 4ppm of chlorine to your pool.

Bleach and Liquid Chlorine are the same thing, only LC, when it's 12.5% strength, is twice as concentrated as bleach. It's what I use because, in my area, it's actually cheaper than bleach and the containers are reusable, but in other areas, bleach is cheaper.

You should add 5 gallons of bleach to your pool as it's filling and keep the chlorine level at at least 10ppm. Meanwhile, you'll need to watch your pH level (it should be between 7.2 and 7.8). You raise pH with 20 Mule Team Borax (you can use Washing Soda, but this raises "Total Alkalinity", good if you need to raise it, bad if you are already at the target level), and lower it with either Muriatic Acid or Dry Acid. You will also need to get some CYA (also called stabilizer) into your water. It acts to prevent rapid UV breakdown of chlorine. Start by hanging 2 lbs in an old sock or stocking near the return and plan on it taking 48 hours to a week to dissolve.

You need to get a proper test kit. We recommend the Taylor K-2006 and K-2006C. You can buy them by finding Watermom's or PoolDoc's posts and clicking on the link to test kits in their signature. Barring that, Leslies on-line sells their Chlorine FAS-DPD Service Test Kit, which is the K-2006 re-branded and a bit pricey. For the $50 to $70 it costs, it will pay you back 1000x over the years.

Carl

Thanks for the replies. I have one of Ben's kits from a few years ago. I used the BBB method when I was regularly using the pool. I need to get some replacement materials for my kit though. I found a sale on 12.5% liquid chlorine....$9.99 for a 4 gallon case. I got some and will get some more before the sale ends. I'm gonna get that water clean soon, hopefully. Thanks again.

Glad to see you back on the forum!

The kit that I have from a few years ago is the PS233 from Ben. I still have plenty of the solutions and test reagents. Which ones should still be good and which ones do I need to replace? Thanks.

If it has been stored in a cool dry place, then many of them are probably fine. Probably the first one to go would be the DPD powder. It probably isn't any good any longer. If it is old and gray and clumpy, I'd toss it out and buy some new. Maybe take a water sample to a reputable pool store and have them test your water and then you test, too and compare and see if you are close to what readings they get. Your test and their test need to be within a short amount of time of each other to make the comparison.

Grey and clumpy DPD powder can still be used as long as it turns the water sample pink in the presence of chlorine. You may have to swirl a little longer to get it to dissolve, or use a little more if it's really caked. This according to a person at Taylor in a telecon last year.

Thanks, Watermom and Anna. I have a lot of DPD powder left, but it is gray and clumpy. I'll try it to see if works.