Has anyone succeeded at shocking a green pool without using the pump to circulate?

[etbrown4]

My pump is out of service due to some major re-piping.

Curious if any Pros or others have ever tried to shock a pool with the pump off? Will it work?

My water level is drained down 30" for the winter and I want to get the water clear for some leak testing on the pool structure.

Please let me know if you have succeeded at turning a pool from green to clear with no circulation?

[Watermom]

You may be able to kill the algae with no circulation by just adding doses of chlorine, but then you would have no way to filter the dead algae out of the water so it would be cloudy, not clear.

[PoolDoc]

Just to add to what WaterMom said, you can do it.

BUT, without circulation, you want to take some care to avoid having added chemicals pool in one spot. So, use bleach to chlorinate OR pre-dissolve other forms of chlorine in warm water. Use muriatic acid, rather than dry acid (sodium bisulfate). Use a jet from a water hose to stir up any possible hot spots.

By the way, if you have sludge OR if you had stabilizer, but it's now gone . . . it may take a LOT of chlorine, possibly well over 100ppm, to clean up.

[etbrown4]

If I used Flock, after shocking the pool -with or without adding algecide, would that possibly cause the dead algae to fall to the bottom?

[Watermom]

We don't usually suggest adding flocs. And, even if it did fall to the floor, you wouldn't be able to get it out of the pool without your equipment hooked up.

[PoolDoc]

*If* you kill it,
*And* you have no circulation,
*Then* it will tend to settle out over a few days time.

What is the goal here? Are you wanting to get a head start on summer? Avoid having the slime 'eat' your stabilizer? Those are possible, though it may already be too late for the second.

Or, do you want your pool to look nicer, even though your pump is not running? That is pretty iffy. Floc -- alum -- might help, or you might make a mess. Poly aluminum chloride, in a number of the liquid flocs, is easier to work with (ie, less likely to make a huge mess), but it's no slam dunk.

It's your pool, so you can do as you like. If you do decide to use floc, follow the directions VERY carefully. And make very sure the algae is DEAD first. Nothing flocs live algae.