In-Ground Pool + Fiberglass Insulation = PROBLEM?

[rshady]

Ok, we just purchased this house back in February. The pool was "closed" at the time by the winterizing company (house was a foreclosure, but they didn't really destroy anything that we can tell).

At one point shortly after moving in, I noticed that there was NO water in the pool. So in the middle of February I started filling my pool (without really being able to see what was in there, etc). I've heard many horror stories of pools coming up out of the ground when not filled with water, especially in areas with a high water table and our water table is basically 3" above our lawn.

Long story short, I started opening the pool last weekend. The water was really dark green, I could not see the bottom of the pool so I thru in 25 lbs of power powder plus over the course of a few days to kick start things. I've had the filter running all week. I put in some stabalizer, 3" chlorine tabs, etc.

This morning I woke up and the water has cleared up enough I can see the bottom of the deep end clearly. I saw a bunch of leaves down there and a piece of something about 5 foot long. I fished it out and it turned out to be fiberglass insulation like you'd use in building your house.

The question is, at this point - Is the water going to be safe to swim in, or should I pump it and refill it. I've already spent over $250 on the chemicals I've put in the pool and it will cost me another $500-$600 to refill the pool so we're looking at $750-$850 out the window, but I have 2 younger kids plus the neighborhood kids that want to swim here.

Do you think the filter (D.E. Filter) will clean the fiberglass out of the pool, or should I not even chance it?

Thanks for your help!

[PoolDoc]

Your DE filter will remove the fiberglass particles, but only if they are in the water going through the pump.

To get 99% of the particles -- which after all are a threat to comfort, not health -- you'll have to run your pump continuously for 3+ days AND vacuum your pool carefully at least 2x. However, it sounds like it will take at least that long to get the pool sparkling clean -- so you might not have to do anything extra.

Ben

PS. Is it warm enough to swim in Michigan now? I've been hearing that the NE and north central states are cold, still.

[rshady]

It's been pretty cold in Michigan, however we've had a couple days in a row in the 90-95 degree range, so that's made it much more bearable. So after some more research (trying to figure out why my pool water is STILL cloudy after running the pump for 2 weeks x 24/7 straight, I find out that whomever owned the filter before me had converted it into a sand filter. I guess the filter I have is by some company that doesn't exist any more (Baker Hydro?).

Anyways, long story short - I think before I travel down the road of trying to get the sand converted D.E. filter hybrid of doom to work, I should probably just replace it with a good quality D.E. filter.

Our pool is approximately 35,000 gallons, our pipes are 1.5", which from what I can tell limits us to a 36 D.E. filter - now the question is, whose is better? Pentair? Hayward?

I know that I want to replace the pump with the Pentair Intelliflo series at some point (my electrical can't handle it right now, I'm going to have to make some new runs which I don't plan to do for at least another 4 months if not next year even).

[PoolDoc]

The Pentair TR series is good, but I think the Hayward Pro Sidemount is OK too.

Can you take photos of your pipes coming into the pump and filter location and send them to poolforum AT gmail DOT com ? I can't advise you without seeing what you are working with.

Ben