Storm blew smoker into pool

[shawnandjenn]

A strong thunderstorm blew our large iron grill/smoker (150 lbs.) into our pool.
With help we were able to get the smoker out of the water.
Now the water is greasy and the is filled with charcoal and wood ash from the smoker.
Any advice on how to clear the water without draining and starting over would be great.

18000 gal
Vinyl liner
Chlorine

Thanks,

Shawn (Georgia)

[Watermom]

Wow! That must have been some storm! What kind of filter do you have? Have you been running it and is it making any progress towards the clean up? I'm not really sure what to advise you about the grease in the water. I'm not sure if bleach would break it down or if skimmer socks would help or if your filter will just get it cleaned up with time. I'm going to ask Ben to take a look at this post and see what he thinks would be the best plan for you. Sit tight for now.

Welcome to the Pool Forum by the way!

[shawnandjenn]

Thanks for the quick reply. It was a strong storm. The filter is a typical hayward sand filter. We are running the filter but so far has not made much difference in making the water less cloudy from the ash.

[Watermom]

While we are waiting to get input from Ben, go ahead and give us some more information. Can you run a current set of water testing results taken with a drops-based kit. Also, tell us what all you have put in your pool -- meaning ingredients. It might be helpful to buy several skimmer socks to see if they will absorb some of the grease and trap some of the ash. I'd get several and rotate them.

[PoolDoc]

For the most part, I'm not sure what you should do. Here's what I would recommend.

#1 - Check your pH, and make sure it's between 7 & 8. High or low pH can damage your liner, and ashes can affect pH, possibly dramatically.
#2 - Operate your filter 24/7 . . . but be prepared to replace your filter media when you are done. Not sure if you'll have to do so, but it's a possibility.
#3 - Get some polyquat (www.poolsolutions.com/gd/polyquat.html) and use it. It will BOTH prevent algae AND act as a filter aid.
#4 - Call Natural Chemistry:

Natural Chemistry Inc.
40 Richards Avenue / 2nd Floor
Norwalk, CT 06854
1-203-295-2300

and ask what they would recommend. If anyone has fielded calls like this, they probably have. This may be a situation where "enzymes" are actually the best solution.

I'm going to ask Chem_Geek -- who posts on and reads just about every pool forum in existence -- if he's seen anything like this.

[AnnaK]

Oil absorbing pig mats may help with the grease. They proved useful to a pool owner who had motor oil dumped into his pool.

[CarlD]

The ash is likely to be HIGHLY alkaline...wet ashes are known to be potentially corrosive for that reason. So watch the pH. Plus, grease tends to be fatty acids...so..
The skimmer socks may well save your filter. Skimmer socks are cheap and easy to replace.

I expect you'll need a lot of chlorine to break down the grease, so the more you can physically remove, the better, and it should float on the surface.. Obviously, you cannot use detergents.

While I'm sure it was very traumatic at the time, look at the bright side: You'll have GREAT stories for years!

Carl

[AnnaK]

Don't be surprised if you get some foaming: the combination of wood ashes and animal fats are the basic ingredients in the soap making process. It is possible that the grease won't float to the surface (and pig mats won't work) because any saponification that occurs will act as a surfactant, keeping the grease in suspension.

[chem geek]

There have been several people who got motor oil and other products in their pool, but I've never heard of getting an entire grill into the water. The ash is something that has to be physically removed, probably through a combination of skimmer socks and circulation/filtration/backwash/clean. As for the organics, including grease, I'd suggest using an enzyme product such as Natural Chemistry® Pool First Aid™. If there's a LOT of oily substances on the surface of the water, then you can use absorbent mats from New Pig or AbsorbantsOnline.

[waterbear]

Water leaches lye from ashes and then that can saponify fat to make soap but I don't think it will happen in the pool. The ashes, as it has been said, can cause pH to go up so you might need to add some acid and physically filter them out. and the best way to get out the fat is skim off what you can and then use an enzyme as Chem Geek suggested. IF there is a problem woith persitant combined chloramnes possibly the use of a strong oxidizer like sodium percarbonate might be in order. If nothing else it can make any debris that has sunk to the bottom rise to the surface for easy skimming.