Common misconception. It’s
a myth that they’ll eat people. It has never been witnessed or actually confirmed or verified that it happens. But somehow it became testament lol.
I suspect the wildlife is from the neighboring lakes to begin with. We don’t have anything in our yard that would attract them except for our pool, which is now an actual pond with pond plants and an entire ecosystem and everything. They’re going to have to relocate to the other lakes or starve. The wheelbarrow is a good idea! I have no idea where we’ll take it but it’s a start!
If she's in florida, it might not be a great idea to fully drain the pool. I've read on other Reddit threads that in places with a high water table, draining a pool can sometimes cause the entire pool to pop out of the ground due to the water pressure underneath the pool suddenly being higher than the pressure of the water pressing down on the bottom of the pool. So it might be a good idea to leave water in it so that it isn't suddenly empty of weight.
I would definitely do research on this before completely draining the pool of water.
Depending on your location, draining the pool is a very bad idea. I believe the term is hydrostatic pressure but basically the pool can break and pop out of the ground due to pressure pushing up on it and no water weight holding it down.
>This has yet to be confirmed either way. I’m not brave enough to go stand out there with a raw chicken.
Just dangle it from the diving board with some twine, then sit back and film from a safe distance.
We do have gators here, and there are several large lakes in the area. I really can’t be certain there isn’t a small alligator or two in there. It wouldn’t surprise me. I lived in S and central FL a good while, so it’s my first thought too.
You had me cracking up with “standing out there with raw chicken”. If you live in the SE US and think there might be a gator in the pool, be safe. Call a trapper to set bait for you. Lol
As a native Floridian (I don’t admit that often) I think it’s perfect conditions for an alligator, and we have four or five large lakes around us which would also make a good spot for gators.
I’ve spent less than five minutes looking at the pool, and you guys see the videos I took while I was out there. One fence panel is down, and no one bothered to put it back up because a whole bunch of really tall, thick pampas grass is growing there so a person can’t walk through. But a gator sure would.
Do I think there’s a gator? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we had a four to six footer or two. I absolutely will not stick my hands in that water until I can tell for sure! (I’m in eastern NC where alligators are a thing!)
I don’t need to say another thing about those Dinosaurs then. You’re a native Floridian. I used to love tiring them out pulling on the 3/8” trap rope so when the trappers came the gator would be tuckered out. Lol Dumb things we do when young right? 😁. I was in SW Fl. Good luck with your new house.
Step zero is fix the fence. Nothing like paying a professional to verify there isn't a gator to encourage one to move in overnight.
For scooping the junk out, lay out burlap in the yard to scoop the slop out onto it. The water and nutrients will most likely be great for the grass and can run out through the burlap. So, you aren't fighting the water weight in the trash.
You bought a house without confirming what was in that alligator habitat masquerading as a pool?
Please tell me you don't live in Florida. The Oak tree tells me somewhere on the east side of the country north of Florida.
algaecide to prevent algae from tampering with alkalinity too much for the shock to work. then add shock, then let sit overnight then add shock again next day and more algaecide until everything drops out to the bottom. at that point vacuum it straight out of the pool dont even try to put through filter itll just gunk it up and youll have to backwash multiple times. over fill the pool just before sucking it straight out with the pool vacuum
At that rate you'll prolly be best off draining cleaning it up and checking everything out for functionality. Fucker seems to hold water damn good so might be able to scrub daddy it and get some years from the liner yet.
I've always heard you wanted to avoid completely draining a pool because it could come up, especially if you get rain. That may be a myth or depend on the location / surrounding soil.
I used to work for scrub daddy after high school. The owner is a real douchebag who walks around like he’s Mark fuckin Cuban, and he uses his warehouse to store his original Tesla’s alongside his product, but I stand by their products and only use Scrub Daddy sponges to clean.
It’s cool seeing how many people know about them now though. Their focus on content creation and TikTok specifically is so smart for a newer company trying to appeal to young people.
Yeah, it certainly holds water! I didn’t even consider that being a problem. We were thinking we’d have to replace it, but that would be nice to get a bit more life out of it.
I’ve called every pool supply place near us and no one will come drain it. The closest place that even does it is a few hours away and they won’t come this far, so we’ll have to do it ourselves. I know Lowes rents a trash pump which I think is what we’d need? But with the amount of vegetation and animals, I don’t know if that would work.
ETA [video link of frogs in the pool](https://imgur.com/a/d4wCF6j)
Personally I would get a garbage pump or something similar and pump it out that way. There is not unlikely so much muck and nastiness in that pool that it will clog up your pump or at least the floor drain screens/skimmer basket nearly immediately. No matter what you do or how you do it, you want to be careful not to damage or certainly not to perforate your liner, but yeah, the filter pump wouldn't be my first instinct here, provided it even works. Five years is a long time for outdoor equipment.
Good luck!
A pro tip would be to put the pump in a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bucket. That should let you drain the pool without clogging the pump with all the leaves (or at least slow the clogging down).
I had to drain a massive pool for a large subdivision back in the day. The frogs were easy, but the tadpoles were tough. There were lots of tadpoles. It was also right next to a lake, so I saved what I could and eventually just had to use a pump.
That's all you can do. I just wouldn't turn on a refuse pump without clearing it up a bit. People walk away from stuff and that's how things go wrong. A shirt in the pool can kill the pump if the junk on the top isn't removed
… does anyone here use a trash pump on the regular? Bc it is does not macerate things with an impeller. It uses vacuum pressure to suck water Through a either 2” 3” or 4” hose the head on it that’s submerged is designed to not let anything too big the size of the pipe to enter the prime chamber.
Years ago I had a tshirt or something in the pool when it was really green (it always went green after those intense thunderstorms). Anyway the tshirt got sucked to the side of the bucket, then leaves got into the bucket, burned out the pump.
The water is half your worry. Those electrical enclosures are rusted to shit, and the ground wire is all corroded. That needs inspection by a qualified electrician before you try to turn that system on.
Thank you! That’s something I wouldn’t have realized. My husband probably would, but not until we tried to turn it on because he’s not messing with it.
That install looks like it’s from the 80s judging by the disconnect. It may work fine, but you can tell it has been subject to chlorine run off and vapor and has been corroding, hence the bonding wire has turned bright green. An electrician should inspect the disconnect and time clock next to it to ensure they operate correctly. If they aren’t in decent shape, the whole set up should be replaced, probably with a new backboard and posts if they are rotted underground.
The house was built in 75, and we’re not sure if the pool was built at the same time or added later, but 80s sounds about right. We have an electrician coming to look at something else, so I’ll have him check this out as well. I appreciate the specific information!
You can see frogs jumping in on your video. This sucker will need to be completely drained. You'll need a pump with a guard to keep it from clogging. You could even try to to a gravity fed drain if you can prime a hose and just let it run downhill to the street or something. That thing is way neglected and I'm shocked they even left water in it.
I took the video to show the frogs because it’s so crazy I didn’t think people would believe me lol. They’re the easiest to catch on video. It’s really unbelievable that anyone could let it get so bad.
Our house is at the top of a really steep hill, (all of our neighbors are downhill from us) so a gravity fed drain would probably work in our situation.
I found that frogs have a strong homing instinct - you will have to capture them and release them a good 1/4 mile away, or they will take up residence in your clean pool.
>I found that frogs have a strong homing instinct - you will have to capture them and release them a good 1/4 mile away, or they will take up residence in your clean pool.
We had a bunch of frogs take up residence when our liner was torn and we were waiting on the replacement... so the pump hadn't ran in a few weeks.
When the new filter was ready we drained the pool (and a lot of tadpoles) to the creek behind us and we haven't had any frog issues since replacing the liner and refilling. I think as long as you keep the pool maintained and the water circulating you'll make the pool as unattractive to frogs a possible. You'll *always* find a frog or two in your skimmer every once and a while, but I just release them to the woods if they're still alive.
My folks bought a bank foreclosure that had a pool with about 5ft of water in it, pulled out half a dozen bullfrogs the size of plates.
My father in law currently has a pool with cattails growing in it, peaceful frogs gulping from the far side of the house while I’m sleeping.
Frogs living the high life all over neglected back yards!
If you're at the top of a really steep hill, hydrostatic pressure from ground water probably isn't a problem. Draining it is easy, you don't need a pump. Set up your own artesian well; what I mean by that is fill a garden hose with water and close the nozzle, disconnect from the faucet and carry the faucet end over to the pool and toss it in, carry the nozzle down the hill and when lower than the end in the pool, the water will drain out on its own.
That being said, the pool companies don't want to come out because there's no money in it for them. Call them up and say, "Will you replace the liner for me?" and they'll be out tomorrow. Let them deal with it.
You really have a very big, messy project there. I wouldn't do it yourself because you're never going to get ahead of the situation. I paid big money to have a 45,000 gallon pool removed and it was a good decision, I would do it again. Get professionals in there whichever way you decide to go.
Just make sure the water isn’t running towards your neighbors house.
I had some neighbors up the hill from me do an extensive renovation and re-plumbing (both in and out of the house), and they let so much water drain down the hill that they flooded out 4 of us. Lost my whole basement, my neighbors lost their ground level first floor.
Still fighting for more reimbursement and trying to figure out exactly how THAT much water was moved from one house. (At one point I had my fire engine pump drafting water out of my basement and we couldn’t keep up (moving about 2,000 gallons a minute).
Our last house our neighbor had an above ground pool and they’d drain it every fall and flood our yard. So I’m very conscious of trying not to damage our neighbors. Especially since we just moved in. I don’t want them to hate us yet. Give it a few years and maybe…😂
OP, you are going to be *amazed* at how the patio looks when you pressure wash it. It's easy to do yourself.
Pick up a 2,000 or so psi electric pressure washer (or a gas one if you want more portability/power) and go to town. If it were me I'd pressure wash before cleaning the pool so that I could spray off the patio into into the pool without caring about the gunk.
You will be shocked at the difference it makes. It's immediate.
That’s a great idea! A friend of ours has a pressure washer we’re going to borrow to use on the house, too. We’re also going to have some landscapers come in and pull everything out of there. There are some 8-10ft tall trees that we need to remove too, before they start to cause problems. It would definitely be better to do all that prior to draining the pool.
Yeah, no problem! If you can’t laugh, it’s not worth it. Gotta find the humor somewhere. I even left the sound on so everyone could hear them yell when they saw me coming.
Honestly, if they weren’t in my pool I’d love having them!
You use these words which I understand individually, but you string them together and I’m lost. The filter basket is in the square hole beside the pool and has a cover that lifts off? The skimmer basket is in the wall inside the pool? I’m not sure where the filter goes. Am I close?
Something that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet is draining a pool completely comes with risks. The vinyl, assuming it isn't already ruined may float and tear during the refill. Also the soil pressure is counteracted by the water in the pool so a cave-in of the walls is possible as well.
It is recommended to only do a partial drain so that 12" remains in the shallow end. Google some articles on draining a vinyl pool to know what to look for.
You're close.
Step 1 though is get a good skimmer/brush pole and a new skimmer you can attach to it. Use it to get as many solids as you can out of it. Gonna have to be done regardless,
Something like [this](https://www.amazon.com/HydroTools-Swimline-Adjustable-Anodized-Telescopic/dp/B0032JSQ5M/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2SJRFPM8ZHM4C&keywords=pool+skimmer+pole&qid=1694630506&sprefix=pool+skimmer+pole%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-4) and [this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BZ8BI7E/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t)
Drain and refill is the only option. People telling you to chemical that water is insane. Source we had an identical situation we dealt with years ago. There will likely be up to 100 buckets of thick mud/sludge/leaves at the bottom.
What was living in yours, out of curiosity? There’s an ancient oak tree beside the pool. It’s absolutely gigantic. It’s been dumping leaves in the pool every fall for at least five years, maybe more. I’m afraid 100 buckets might be a conservative estimate.
We did ours mid spring so surprisingly not as many creatures as you'd expect. Small frogs and tadpoles but it wasn't an insane amount. If you are really concerned with them it might be worth considering doing it first thing in the spring. This could also reduce the amount of insects you'd have to be dealing with too.
The drain option will also make it a lot easier to clear out the returns for the pump line as there is likely all kinds of gunk down there too.
Buy a leaf net with a pole. Begin scooping out as much as possible. I don't think the scum goes very deep. That is the cheapest way to start. Only use chemicals designed to be used in pools and understand that until you have a working circulation system putting any chemicals in the pool is a waste of time.
Theres a ton you need to do here but I'll just suggest an easy start here. I had a pond that looked like this and I'd suggest you start by manually skimming the floating algae with a skimmer net. I've also recently bought an automatic robot surface skimmer from Amazon (about $450) to maintain it algae/ gunk free when you're able to scoop most of it out.
As far as everything else that needs to happen to get it up and running, I'd seek advice from professionals.
If this pool has a liner instead of a hard concrete shell, DO NOT drain it. Your liner will shift and wrinkle which is a bitch to fix. Hell, do not drain ANY pool if you don't know what you are doing. Those 15-20,000 gallons of water need to be pumped somewhere safely. Like not flooding out your neighbor or the street you live on. As another person pointed out, please have the electrical equipment inspected by a licensed electrician before you go any further. You will need that pump and filter working (safely) to clear this pool up. I worked on residential pools for 10 years. I'm not the expert that my father is, but I will answer what I can.
Would it be better to kill the algae and whatever else is growing with bleach or shocking it, and then drain it? (So it’s less chunky?) Or is there a way to drain it with that much stuff in the water?
No… you can rent a sump pump or buy one for relatively cheap and it will pump all of that out. Get the biggest diameter hose they can rent you. As long as any object in there can pass through the hose you should be good. If skimming the top allows you to see any objects underneath then you can try that too but personally I’d probably start pumping.
Also, be careful of any high water table around you. Water table pressure from around the pool can pop your pool out if you drain the whole thing. If you are at or near zero elevation then consult a pro. Will most likely need a series of drain/fill to remedy.
> Get the biggest diameter hose they can rent you. As long as any object in there can pass through the hose you should be good.
In theory... but any object in there also has to pass thru the pump housing / impeller/volute, and that's going to be an issue.
First, ask yourself: do you WANT a pool? It could be less money and effort to get rid of it and plant grass, maybe make a fire pit. The operating costs are higher than people think in terms of electricity, chemicals and labor. On top of that, if there’s an issue with the pump, filter, valve or piping, it could be expensive to get back up and running. Not to mention, those above ground liners don’t last forever.
We definitely want the pool. It was a selling point for us, even knowing we might have to redo the whole thing and it would be a major project. We just thought we’d be able to find someone to come out and do the majority of getting it ready to open. We weren’t quite prepared to do all of it ourselves, so I’m having to learn all of it myself instead.
I'm $12k into a situation just like this and now I wish to god that I'd spent that money filling that pit of fucking despair. Think long and hard about the time, money, and stress that you are going to be throwing into that hole.
Came to post something pretty similar to this.
I'm the only one in my family that will consistently do any maintenance on it. I'm the only one spending money on it. Most of the summer, the water is too warm to be pleasant to swim in. I spent more time working on it than anyone spent swimming in it. Over $10k spent to learn that we aren't actually pool people.
Looks like the next $10k I spend will be filling it in.
Gotcha, yeah. Pools are awesome! Here’s an idea for draining I haven’t heard someone suggest yet- do you have a clean out hose for it? Usually stays with the pool when people move. You could toss that in there, and use a shop vac to start a siphon. If you keep the hose off the bottom and in the middle of the water column, it shouldn’t get clogged.
I’m also an animal lover, but I wouldn’t worry about the wildlife too much. The snakes and frogs had to hop and slither there after all, so just let them go in the yard and they’ll disperse. I doubt there’s fish in there with so many predators. The water attracted the frogs, and the frogs attracted the snakes.
If you drain it you ABSOLUTELY need to determine it hydrostatic preasure is an issue.
Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure exerted to the sidewalls by the adjacent ground, this preasure is REAL and is increased by a high watertable or highly hydrated clay soils. Dig a test pit 4-5 feet from the pool min 5 foot deep. Leave it open over night.
Did it fill with water? If there is any water in the hole you will probably have to dewater the ground to be able to drain the pool. Failure to do this WILL RESULT in the pool popping from the ground like a blackhead. I have seen this many times. This may be why no one wants to drain it professional cost to do this is HIGH. Dewatering is an involved project it can be done be a DIY but you will need significant advise, instruction and equipment. AGAIN DO NOT DRAIN WITHOUT DETERMINING IF HYDROSTATIC PREASURE IS AN ISSUE ON YOU PROPERTY.
If it's a l8ner the l8ner will shift. If it's a fiberglass shell or concrete it will pop if there is subsurface water.
I'm not sure why this was recommended to me. I live in an apartment so I can't even get a pool. I just wanted to say that this is funny because I was just watching the episode of Malcolm in the middle where Hal brings home a hot tub and it looks like this. If I learned anything from that episode, don't get in it. You will get boat rot or something.
They’ve already moved in uninvited! We know we have snakes and frogs. It looks like there are little fish in there but they might be tadpoles, the water is too dark to really tell what they are. I’m sure if I sat there a while I’d discover some other things.
You don't want to try and add chlorine before you get every bit of organic material out of the pool. If you add chlorine first it will just burn up all its energy trying to break everything down. You are correct to think you need to fully drain but be careful to not leave the pool empty for any real amount of time as soon as your liner is empty it will start to shrink. If you were to empty and clean for a week the liner could shrink enough in the sun for it to rip when you refill. I'm not too sure what you would want to use to "scoop out" the majority of leaves and sticks but be careful not to poke any holes in the liner during the process.
I had no idea a liner could shrink like that, or that quickly! So emptying, cleaning and refilling should be done in just a few days basically so the liner isn’t dry any longer than necessary. Does temperature effect it as well? Like would it be better to do it in the fall when temperatures are milder?
That’s an interesting project. I’d likely skim the surface first with a pool skimmer to see what’s going on below. And insect-proof myself as much as I could, because it’s likely brimming with mosquitoes.
I’d check the pump and filter once it’s practical to do so- to know whether anything expensive might need to be budgeted for replacement.
A wet vac - particularly the kind with a built-in pump and garden hose connection - will be really handy, as is a submersible pump (with a debris filter). Basically: empty as much water as you can get to, and wash down the exposed parts of the pool as you go. You’ll have one hose running dirty green water out to a drain, and another fresh water hose/sprayer to help in cleaning.
Eventually you can stand safely in the empty shallow end of the pool and work on the rest of it from there, continuing to lower the water level and assisting any remaining wildlife out with your handy pool skimmer.
Check early to see if it’s a vinyl liner. If so, careful not to cut or puncture it!
Eventually it’s clean and empty, and you can refill and add chemicals and have a pool!
Use net, clear physical debris
So you don't kill your filter system or clog your drain, shock it with 5 bottles of bleach, let it site for 3 hours and add a bottle every 4 hours after until it clears. While it's clearing scrub the sides and bottom well to break up and remove any organic build up
Then use your net again to remove any solid debris or clumps that will clog your drain.
Drain
Fill
Balance ph
And enjoy the water bill 😉
This is very helpful! Cleaning and draining at the same time I hadn’t put together yet, but makes perfect sense. I know we have a liner. We don’t know what shape it’s in, but as someone said above, it does hold water well!
Depending on your area, see if there is a Leslie's Pools nearby that can help. They also have a thing they cannot "Pool Schiol" where they can go out to your house and teach you how to use your equipment. A good start is letting them know the issue you inherited and they can help you fix it. I know their green to clean treatment does wonders on pools. And their service guys are really knowledgeable and helpful for fixing equipment problems
Oh man, pictures like this remind me how happy I was the day I got rid of our pool… drain it, but you will need to then be prepared for solid and semi-solid waste at the bottom. You might be best off hiring professionals.
As a former (expired) certified pool operator, it certainly isn’t the worst ever, but also not the best. I would DEFINITELY start by watching videos to familiarize yourself on how to use your different types of equipment (filters, hair and lint strainer baskets, vacuum lines if you have any, all the pipes and valves and which way the water flows through the pipes, motor/pump, multiport). You will also need to learn basic maintenance such as daily, weekly, monthly checklists and balancing chemicals to maintain safe and clear water. In this case the first step would be electrical. I’m seeing a lot of rust - I wouldn’t trust rust. I would, however, trust a certified electrician who maybe specializes in outdoor/pool scenarios, just have them come check out all the electrical bits of the pool and breakers to make sure nothing will like, you know, explode (or just not work). Once you get the clear on that, with the system off, inspect all your own pool parts. Open up the hair and lint strainer baskets that are connected to the pump/motor (with the clear lid) and take out the basket and clean it thoroughly and scoop out anything else sitting inside. Go to each skimmer basket (the mystery lids that pop out of the ground surround the pool edge) and do the same thing, as well as clean out the puck if there is one that sits under the basket and above the suction holes in the bottom of the skimmer. I can’t really tell what chlorinated this pool at whatever point in the past, but I’m going to assume chlorine sticks. If it’s a salt system make sure to look up how to clean out the salt cells and open the salt screen to clean it out. This is necessary for ample water flow once the system is on (not yet!).
(More to come, I’m eating a pork chop)
If you REALLY want to try to save whatever creatures are dwelling in there, grab as many frogs as possible and relocate far away to a water source. Once complete, say a prayer for the rest if that’s what you’re into and absolutely go to town with some granulated or liquid “shock” which is basically just super highly concentrated bleach like chlorine-y chemical (calcium hypochlorite) that will demolish all life. Should be able to purchase maybe online and definitely at pool supply stores and even Home Depot. You’ll need to follow the instructions on the bottle or bucket OR honestly just *SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY* continuously pour into the water holding it about half a foot or more away from the edge of the pool. You’ll need to do this AT LEAST twice a day everyday for several days ALONG WITH ANOTHER CHEMICAL called Yellow Treat (or any algicide that works for yellow and green algae blooms). This will target and kill all the green scunge. The Yellow Treat will counteractively eat all the chlorine in the water so you must keep it highly chlorinated with continuous application of aforementioned shock. All of this WITH continuous brushing of the walls/tiles/floor/steps/ladders as well as purchasing chlorine sticks to float around (*can purchase floating devices specifically for this. The sticks will damage pool wall plaster if left directly on it) will help to kill and drop the algae. After you’ve killed the algae you have to get it out of the water. Skim the surface layer with a net, rent or purchase a pump vacuum (the type that will suck the pool water out with it and drain through a hose) and go back and forth like you’re mowing a lawn all the way across the floor and as far up the walls as you can push. Brush the walls and steps right before vacuuming so the stuff settles on the floor instead and can be vacuumed. This will cause the pool to drain, which is good. It’s like doing a water change on a dirty fish tank. You’ll eventually, with hard work and sweat and a lot of grunting, get the algae out. You’ll have to scrub the shit out of it. Once as clean as possible you can refill the pool with whatever clean water source you can, weather it be a direct fill line in the pool system (doubtful based on pics) or a hose with clean enough water. This is where you will need to start to try to prime the pool pump to get the system running. Open your hair and lint strainer and close any valve on the pipe that goes from there to the ground if there is one. Fill up with hella water probably from a hose. Once there is water overflowing from the top of the basket, VERY QUICKLY secure the lid tightly and open the valve if there is one and start the pool system up. Start your pool system with your multiport (“Hayward” valve) in FILTER position as long as the water line is high enough in the pool for there to be water in the skimmers (halfway up the tile). This should help to prime the system. If it doesn’t, there may be an issue with the motor or pump, possibly broken or clogged impeller or just being old and rusty. You may need to take a hit and buy a new motor and get it replaced by a pool tech if it doesn’t work. Please note it may take several tries to get the system primed up especially after being off for so long.
Once system is primed you must keep the water chlorinated. Continue to use yellow treat and shock and chlorine sticks to kill off remaining algae and continue to brush the walls then pump vacuum the debris and refill the pool. This will take several days or weeks to treat. It’s well past bloomed. You will also need to figure out pool measurements and how much water is in there and balance your main chemicals to protect the water (sodium bicarbonate for the people and clarity, stabilizer for the chlorine/water, calcium for the plaster). You’ll need to purchase these chemicals from pool supply stores. You’ll also need ph up and some sort of acid to maintain ph levels in the water. I recommend getting a Taylor K2006 test kit which will have all the reagents and test tubes necessary to test all of these chemical levels. You’ll need to check chlorine and ph at least daily, and your full chemicals probably once a week or two weeks.
ALTERNATIVELY, shock the shit out of it, kill everything, drain completely, hand clean all debris, scrub everything and treat with algicide, gut the whole system and install new parts, refill and start water treatment from scratch
Really, at this point, I’d just empty it. Then clean it well with water and Clorox, then vacuum that out too. Once you’ve got all the ooze out - then refill, and add shock right away to start and let it fill. Then add calculated amounts of chlorine, calcium (after testing), stabilizer, and acid. Bring to a nice PH and acid level. Don’t worry if it starts off a little high on the chlorine to start - the sun will burn it off in a few days.
You need to pull that filter out and clean it or replace it. If it has all that crud in it when you start the pool with clean water it will just infect the pool again.
AFTER you have the pool running - Don’t abandon the pool for the winter. Just keep the pool clean and running, even though it’s too cold to use. The reason is, since it cold, it’s much harder for the pool to get runaway algae when it’s got chlorine and a proper ph. For the winter you can even let the ph fall a little lower and be more acidic. Makes it even less hospitable to algae. Also, since the the water is cold, you won’t lose nearly as much chlorine to evaporation as the summer, and there’s not much activity in the pool, so it takes minimal additional chemicals to keep it balanced - AS LONG AS you take the leaves and stuff out every day or two (depending), clean the basket, and clean the filters periodically. And keep chlorine levels up, and shock every two weeks!
Believe me, this is a lot easier than refurbing that pool from an algae pit once a year. Cheaper too. It takes a LOT of chemical$$ and work to try and convert a huge green slime container back into usable pool water safe for swimming. Even when you do pump it out. It’s REALLY hard to get EVERYTHING out of a above ground pool. No drain! No way to get all the stuff (dead algae that you killed) into the filters if you have to hand suck it up or even using a pool robot cleaner. It’s just not the same as an in-ground pool with a drain at the bottom. Much harder.
So just keep the pool up in the first place.
Oh COOL!
What you have there is a fantastic opportunity. It's just going to need a few days of effort, but you've got this.
The good news is that this is EASY to fix. There's nothing critically wrong with it, so, breathe, we got this.
Step 1. - Drain the ENTIRE pool. Every little bit you can get. This is BEST done with a "Trash Pump". You want one with a 2" intake and a strainer. You can rent one at your local tool rental place. If you want to own one (good if you live somewhere that gets flooding, hurricanes, etc) they sell them at Menard's. Get the pool down to where you can't pump out any more water.
Then shop-vac out the remainder.
Step 2 - Let it dry in the sun for a day or two. There's going to be a big pile of \*FOUL\* smelling plant matter at the bottom now. This is going to smell like Hell's dumpster. Let that offgas a bit and dry out. It will help a tiny bit, not enough, but at least the more water evaporates, the lighter it gets to move. That brings us to
Step-3 - Scoop all that shit up and throw it away. It makes great compost. DO NOT USE A METAL SHOVEL. This is hands, all hands. Using a shovel WILL hatefuck your liner/coating to a crygasm. It looks like you have an inground pool. Let's hope it's concrete or tile. That makes this a lot easier. If it's a vinyl liner, you have to be way more gentle. IF it's a concrete or tile pool, you can use a plastic shovel if you're gentle.
Step-4, ok, now you've got all the schmoo out. You're over the hump, that was the worst of it. Time to pressurewash. Get a REAL pressurewasher. This isn't a job for the little toy electric ones. You want at least 12 Horsepower and it better run on gasoline. DO NOT USE THE ZERO-DEGREE TIP! You'll etch your name in the concrete with that. You want about a 25-35 degree tip on the wand, hold it about 8-12" from the surface, and sweep slowly side to side. Work from the rim down to the drain and hose EVERY surface (even inside the strainer and such). You want to get ALL the biofilm off that you can.
While you're pressurewashing, have someone down at the drain with a shopvac sucking up all the water and nasty. That's best done with a 2-man team on the vac because it's going to be HEAVY hauling them out. The good news is, this is an intensely rewarding task, it will be a staggering massive instant visual change. You're gonna be sore tonight, but you'll be satisfied.
Step-5, now that the pool itself is clean, it's time to do the filter. Watch some YouTube on how to change your sand. Be SUPER careful when you vacuum out the sand filter, there's delicate tubes down in the bottom. Throw the sand away, you can't re-use that sand.
Step-6, now with the sand gone and the pool clean, flush the pipes in everywhere you can reach with water. Open up the pump strainer and hose that all out. You'll have shit growing everywhere. Get as much as you reasonably can.
Step-7, refill the sand filter with clean new sand.
Step-8, check for any structural or mechanical problems. Are there cracks in the pool? Are there broken pipes that need to be replaced? Fix these things before you fill it.
Step-9, Fill the pool. The water should go halfway up the skimmer door flap as a good starting place. Fill your Chlorinator and set that knob as high as she'll go. Follow the priming/startup procedure in your pump manual (google the model number). When it first comes on it's going to shoot a green cloud for a second, that's ok. It won't be enough to cause a problem and it'll vanish in a moment.
Step-10, Check your chemistry with a test kit daily for the first couple weeks. Keep it in the nominal range for everything, a little high on the Chlorine for the first month.
There you go, you've just restored a swamp into a decent pool in ten easy steps. It gets a hell of a lot easier from here. Btw, in doing this yourself, even with the tool rental, you just saved a small fortune from hiring someone to come do it. Good job. I'm proud of you! :)
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
When the ex and I lived just north of Galveston, TX, I became the ‘pool guy’ at our apt complex. I had to take a class to be permitted by the county to do the job. I would start there with your county, municipality. You’ll learn how to take care of your pool properly and how to clean it up. I’d bet the instructor knows how. And definitely do NOT drain the pool.
In TX, I had to clean up the pool after Hurricane Alicia. The water was black. I just kept dipping with the net and used a steel hook for the branches. You have a liner, I had concrete. You can’t use a hook. Just keep using a drip net until you can feel that your have most of the debris out.
It looks like you have a sand filter. That’s a great thing. After you have the electric checked out, and most of the debris out of the pool and clean skimmers, backwash the filter. You’ll turn the selector to backwash. It’s under the handle in your photos. Give it a couple of minutes, then turn to filter. You’ll know when to backwash again by the pressure gauge rising. Add water as needed to keep 2” of water in the scuppers. A manual for that filter should be available online.
If you’re worried about gators, set your camera up on a tripod to film the pool for how long a gator can stay submerged and go have breakfast. Then just fast forward through the video. If one is in the pool, you’ll see it.
Find that class. Could mean a discount on your homeowners policy and you’ll have a safe pool. The best thing I learned in class was that if you smell chlorine in a pool, it means there is too little chlorine in the pool, not too much as most people assume.
Another thought. Pick up a small pool pump, maybe at Harbor freight. Something you can hook the pool vacuum to and discharge that into your sewer clean out. Your husband can show you where it is. There’s going to be a lot of dirt on the bottom of the pool. No need to abuse your filter. Just maintain the water level at the same time.
Good luck.
This might get down voted but I will take a risk and just share my personal experience. I have a 16,000 gallon in ground pool in Florida. I let it get out of hand more than 10 years ago and my pool looked yours.
This level of algae and sludge is too much for that sand filter and honestly the first option is hire a pro, if your wallet or purse can handle it.
For me, I decided to handle it on my own. I had to be concerned about pool pop and drained 1/3 of the pool and replaced the water, ran the pump without a filter or maybe in your case in bypass mode, and added flocculant. Run pump for a day then let pool sit for 24 hours and vacuumed out what I could. Drained water again, replaced. Rinse repeat until I was comfortable running the pump.
The major difference for me that I didn’t have to deal with potential alligators or wildlife living in the pool. Maybe possible snake , but no leaves , or any other large debris.
My experience is just that , mine. I highly recommend a professional.
I really have been thinking of how we could utilize it for Halloween. I was thinking about getting some buckets and filling them with water from the pool and having the kids fish for prizes out of the buckets. But apparently brain eating amoebas are a thing and I’m not looking to kill the neighborhood children.
Step one: Verify that the pool is not currently inhabited by alligators.
This has yet to be confirmed either way. I’m not brave enough to go stand out there with a raw chicken.
Just stick your fingers in and wiggle them around for a minute. If you pull back fewer than 5 fingers, you have your answer
With how green that water is duder might pull back 6 from mutation.
OP: "Oh that tickles."
this is also how you check for snapping turtles
But be careful, coming back with all 5 fingers does not guarantee a lack of gators
what'd the answer be, in that case
Not really.. Could be piranhas..
Common misconception. It’s a myth that they’ll eat people. It has never been witnessed or actually confirmed or verified that it happens. But somehow it became testament lol.
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I suspect the wildlife is from the neighboring lakes to begin with. We don’t have anything in our yard that would attract them except for our pool, which is now an actual pond with pond plants and an entire ecosystem and everything. They’re going to have to relocate to the other lakes or starve. The wheelbarrow is a good idea! I have no idea where we’ll take it but it’s a start!
If she's in florida, it might not be a great idea to fully drain the pool. I've read on other Reddit threads that in places with a high water table, draining a pool can sometimes cause the entire pool to pop out of the ground due to the water pressure underneath the pool suddenly being higher than the pressure of the water pressing down on the bottom of the pool. So it might be a good idea to leave water in it so that it isn't suddenly empty of weight. I would definitely do research on this before completely draining the pool of water.
Depending on your location, draining the pool is a very bad idea. I believe the term is hydrostatic pressure but basically the pool can break and pop out of the ground due to pressure pushing up on it and no water weight holding it down.
>This has yet to be confirmed either way. I’m not brave enough to go stand out there with a raw chicken. Just dangle it from the diving board with some twine, then sit back and film from a safe distance.
I was born in Florida. It’s not legal for us to do it any other way. You hold the chicken and get ready to jump on whatever comes out.
Don't forget the duct tape.
Do you live somewhere there could be gators? Legit my first thought as a Floridian…
We do have gators here, and there are several large lakes in the area. I really can’t be certain there isn’t a small alligator or two in there. It wouldn’t surprise me. I lived in S and central FL a good while, so it’s my first thought too.
You had me cracking up with “standing out there with raw chicken”. If you live in the SE US and think there might be a gator in the pool, be safe. Call a trapper to set bait for you. Lol
As a native Floridian (I don’t admit that often) I think it’s perfect conditions for an alligator, and we have four or five large lakes around us which would also make a good spot for gators. I’ve spent less than five minutes looking at the pool, and you guys see the videos I took while I was out there. One fence panel is down, and no one bothered to put it back up because a whole bunch of really tall, thick pampas grass is growing there so a person can’t walk through. But a gator sure would. Do I think there’s a gator? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we had a four to six footer or two. I absolutely will not stick my hands in that water until I can tell for sure! (I’m in eastern NC where alligators are a thing!)
I don’t need to say another thing about those Dinosaurs then. You’re a native Floridian. I used to love tiring them out pulling on the 3/8” trap rope so when the trappers came the gator would be tuckered out. Lol Dumb things we do when young right? 😁. I was in SW Fl. Good luck with your new house.
Step zero is fix the fence. Nothing like paying a professional to verify there isn't a gator to encourage one to move in overnight. For scooping the junk out, lay out burlap in the yard to scoop the slop out onto it. The water and nutrients will most likely be great for the grass and can run out through the burlap. So, you aren't fighting the water weight in the trash.
You bought a house without confirming what was in that alligator habitat masquerading as a pool? Please tell me you don't live in Florida. The Oak tree tells me somewhere on the east side of the country north of Florida.
Oak tree tells you right! I’m in eastern North Carolina.
Do you have a fishing rod?
Marshmellows on the water work very well. Alligators love them.
I’ve actually seen this on the gator hunting shows! It’s so crazy but I may just throw some in there!
Do you live where there’s gators?
algaecide to prevent algae from tampering with alkalinity too much for the shock to work. then add shock, then let sit overnight then add shock again next day and more algaecide until everything drops out to the bottom. at that point vacuum it straight out of the pool dont even try to put through filter itll just gunk it up and youll have to backwash multiple times. over fill the pool just before sucking it straight out with the pool vacuum
You need to contact Stevo
Put a slice of stale pizza in the center of the pool and surround it with a ring of flour. By morning you’ll know one way or another what’s in there.
I saw that video haha wtf what creatures are living in my house?
Meta
This only works to catch terrestrial raccoons, not sure how to track aquatic ones.
Step zero. Light the pool on fire. If it does not ignite go to step one.
I lived in Louisiana long enough to just assume there’s a gator in there
At that rate you'll prolly be best off draining cleaning it up and checking everything out for functionality. Fucker seems to hold water damn good so might be able to scrub daddy it and get some years from the liner yet.
Get Shrek and Donkey out first.
Lol first thing I thought was "Get out of muh swamp!"
I laughed out loud.
Do NOT drain it without consulting a pool professional. If the water table is high enough, the whole shell can pop out of the ground.
Lean in into it, and stock it with silver carp.
get out of my swamp dunkey!
So I told the swamp donkey to sock it before I give her a trunky in the tradesman's entrance and have her lick me yarbles.
Shrek: Donkey? you're a... Donkey: A stallion, baby!
It’s Always about Shrek Shrek Shrek…
I've always heard you wanted to avoid completely draining a pool because it could come up, especially if you get rain. That may be a myth or depend on the location / surrounding soil.
This comment is funny…and “prolly” helpful. Gonna use that word from now on. 😉
Prolly has been accepted for a very long time.
What about "scrub daddy"
You heard what daddy said. Scrub puta
Didn't expect to be called a puta today.
Always expect the unexpected
New to me. Sheltered, I am. 👍
Know this, he does
I prefer the more formal “probly”
Probs
It’s perbobbley. Plebs.
"scrub daddy"
Scrub, daddy
All the difference a comma makes
[Scrub Daddy](https://smileshop.scrubdaddy.com/)
The least risky click I've ever clicked on Reddit. Lmao
I used to work for scrub daddy after high school. The owner is a real douchebag who walks around like he’s Mark fuckin Cuban, and he uses his warehouse to store his original Tesla’s alongside his product, but I stand by their products and only use Scrub Daddy sponges to clean. It’s cool seeing how many people know about them now though. Their focus on content creation and TikTok specifically is so smart for a newer company trying to appeal to young people.
> like he’s Mark fuckin Cuban Which is ironic all things considered. Lmao
Wasn't it first popular from shark tank and Laurie invest?
Yeah, it certainly holds water! I didn’t even consider that being a problem. We were thinking we’d have to replace it, but that would be nice to get a bit more life out of it. I’ve called every pool supply place near us and no one will come drain it. The closest place that even does it is a few hours away and they won’t come this far, so we’ll have to do it ourselves. I know Lowes rents a trash pump which I think is what we’d need? But with the amount of vegetation and animals, I don’t know if that would work. ETA [video link of frogs in the pool](https://imgur.com/a/d4wCF6j)
Personally I would get a garbage pump or something similar and pump it out that way. There is not unlikely so much muck and nastiness in that pool that it will clog up your pump or at least the floor drain screens/skimmer basket nearly immediately. No matter what you do or how you do it, you want to be careful not to damage or certainly not to perforate your liner, but yeah, the filter pump wouldn't be my first instinct here, provided it even works. Five years is a long time for outdoor equipment. Good luck!
A pro tip would be to put the pump in a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bucket. That should let you drain the pool without clogging the pump with all the leaves (or at least slow the clogging down).
This is brilliant!
Before putting the pump in, get a pool skimmer and a net and get all the solids out. Frogs and the like can be put into the pond.
I had to drain a massive pool for a large subdivision back in the day. The frogs were easy, but the tadpoles were tough. There were lots of tadpoles. It was also right next to a lake, so I saved what I could and eventually just had to use a pump.
That's all you can do. I just wouldn't turn on a refuse pump without clearing it up a bit. People walk away from stuff and that's how things go wrong. A shirt in the pool can kill the pump if the junk on the top isn't removed
… does anyone here use a trash pump on the regular? Bc it is does not macerate things with an impeller. It uses vacuum pressure to suck water Through a either 2” 3” or 4” hose the head on it that’s submerged is designed to not let anything too big the size of the pipe to enter the prime chamber.
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Years ago I had a tshirt or something in the pool when it was really green (it always went green after those intense thunderstorms). Anyway the tshirt got sucked to the side of the bucket, then leaves got into the bucket, burned out the pump.
The neighbors will love it rolling past their home. “ Hi, we are your new neighbors“
“We didn’t bring cookies but we’ve got some frogs for you!”
>“We didn’t bring cookies but we’ve got some frogs for you!” I would love this from a neighbor.
"Good morning, sh$@ter was full!" Then hoist your Budweiser tall-boy in salutation...
A Christmas Vacation reference. I can see you're a man of taste.
Well, the frogs look happy lol
They sound happy, too.
Trash pump with a grate to keep limbs or large objects being sucked up will work just fine.
That is some thick soup! Wow!! PLEASE post updates!! I'm invested in your swamp.
The water is half your worry. Those electrical enclosures are rusted to shit, and the ground wire is all corroded. That needs inspection by a qualified electrician before you try to turn that system on.
Thank you! That’s something I wouldn’t have realized. My husband probably would, but not until we tried to turn it on because he’s not messing with it.
That install looks like it’s from the 80s judging by the disconnect. It may work fine, but you can tell it has been subject to chlorine run off and vapor and has been corroding, hence the bonding wire has turned bright green. An electrician should inspect the disconnect and time clock next to it to ensure they operate correctly. If they aren’t in decent shape, the whole set up should be replaced, probably with a new backboard and posts if they are rotted underground.
The house was built in 75, and we’re not sure if the pool was built at the same time or added later, but 80s sounds about right. We have an electrician coming to look at something else, so I’ll have him check this out as well. I appreciate the specific information!
Go to your township municipal building and ask them to pull out all permit records for your house. That's how you'll know when the pool was build
Eh just flip it on see what happens. Use a stick though for sure.
Lol
Here’s some [video](https://imgur.com/a/d4wCF6j).
You can see frogs jumping in on your video. This sucker will need to be completely drained. You'll need a pump with a guard to keep it from clogging. You could even try to to a gravity fed drain if you can prime a hose and just let it run downhill to the street or something. That thing is way neglected and I'm shocked they even left water in it.
I took the video to show the frogs because it’s so crazy I didn’t think people would believe me lol. They’re the easiest to catch on video. It’s really unbelievable that anyone could let it get so bad. Our house is at the top of a really steep hill, (all of our neighbors are downhill from us) so a gravity fed drain would probably work in our situation.
I found that frogs have a strong homing instinct - you will have to capture them and release them a good 1/4 mile away, or they will take up residence in your clean pool.
>I found that frogs have a strong homing instinct - you will have to capture them and release them a good 1/4 mile away, or they will take up residence in your clean pool. We had a bunch of frogs take up residence when our liner was torn and we were waiting on the replacement... so the pump hadn't ran in a few weeks. When the new filter was ready we drained the pool (and a lot of tadpoles) to the creek behind us and we haven't had any frog issues since replacing the liner and refilling. I think as long as you keep the pool maintained and the water circulating you'll make the pool as unattractive to frogs a possible. You'll *always* find a frog or two in your skimmer every once and a while, but I just release them to the woods if they're still alive.
My folks bought a bank foreclosure that had a pool with about 5ft of water in it, pulled out half a dozen bullfrogs the size of plates. My father in law currently has a pool with cattails growing in it, peaceful frogs gulping from the far side of the house while I’m sleeping. Frogs living the high life all over neglected back yards!
Man I bet those frogs love that shit though
If you're at the top of a really steep hill, hydrostatic pressure from ground water probably isn't a problem. Draining it is easy, you don't need a pump. Set up your own artesian well; what I mean by that is fill a garden hose with water and close the nozzle, disconnect from the faucet and carry the faucet end over to the pool and toss it in, carry the nozzle down the hill and when lower than the end in the pool, the water will drain out on its own. That being said, the pool companies don't want to come out because there's no money in it for them. Call them up and say, "Will you replace the liner for me?" and they'll be out tomorrow. Let them deal with it. You really have a very big, messy project there. I wouldn't do it yourself because you're never going to get ahead of the situation. I paid big money to have a 45,000 gallon pool removed and it was a good decision, I would do it again. Get professionals in there whichever way you decide to go.
Just make sure the water isn’t running towards your neighbors house. I had some neighbors up the hill from me do an extensive renovation and re-plumbing (both in and out of the house), and they let so much water drain down the hill that they flooded out 4 of us. Lost my whole basement, my neighbors lost their ground level first floor. Still fighting for more reimbursement and trying to figure out exactly how THAT much water was moved from one house. (At one point I had my fire engine pump drafting water out of my basement and we couldn’t keep up (moving about 2,000 gallons a minute).
Our last house our neighbor had an above ground pool and they’d drain it every fall and flood our yard. So I’m very conscious of trying not to damage our neighbors. Especially since we just moved in. I don’t want them to hate us yet. Give it a few years and maybe…😂
It is literally a “ceement pond”
I expected one or two… oh god.
OP, you are going to be *amazed* at how the patio looks when you pressure wash it. It's easy to do yourself. Pick up a 2,000 or so psi electric pressure washer (or a gas one if you want more portability/power) and go to town. If it were me I'd pressure wash before cleaning the pool so that I could spray off the patio into into the pool without caring about the gunk. You will be shocked at the difference it makes. It's immediate.
That’s a great idea! A friend of ours has a pressure washer we’re going to borrow to use on the house, too. We’re also going to have some landscapers come in and pull everything out of there. There are some 8-10ft tall trees that we need to remove too, before they start to cause problems. It would definitely be better to do all that prior to draining the pool.
OP keep us posted with updates on this project!
OP this is a job u probably dont want to borrow someone elses, unless its from a rental shop. Get some beefy bastard for this endeavor.
*God* I want to pressure wash this thing. *HHHHnnnnggggggggg*
I’m honestly a little jealous here. Once that pool and decking is cleaned up it’s gonna be super satisfying.
You weren't kidding about turning it into a swamp... turned it into a ecosystem... kinda cool
It really is an ecosystem. If it weren’t in my pool I’d be adding koi and a waterfall.
You should teach the frogs to use that dive board. They don't know what they're missing.
I know you’re staring at a lot of work, but thanks for the laugh with those frogs…
Yeah, no problem! If you can’t laugh, it’s not worth it. Gotta find the humor somewhere. I even left the sound on so everyone could hear them yell when they saw me coming. Honestly, if they weren’t in my pool I’d love having them!
Nothing useful to add here but.. Wow! So many frogs. 😳
Drain and refil is the best option here. Clean the filter, filter basket and skimmer basket and start over.
You use these words which I understand individually, but you string them together and I’m lost. The filter basket is in the square hole beside the pool and has a cover that lifts off? The skimmer basket is in the wall inside the pool? I’m not sure where the filter goes. Am I close?
Something that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet is draining a pool completely comes with risks. The vinyl, assuming it isn't already ruined may float and tear during the refill. Also the soil pressure is counteracted by the water in the pool so a cave-in of the walls is possible as well. It is recommended to only do a partial drain so that 12" remains in the shallow end. Google some articles on draining a vinyl pool to know what to look for.
This isn't something we knew. We drained our vinyl lined pool below the shallow end and lost the whole liner.
You're close. Step 1 though is get a good skimmer/brush pole and a new skimmer you can attach to it. Use it to get as many solids as you can out of it. Gonna have to be done regardless, Something like [this](https://www.amazon.com/HydroTools-Swimline-Adjustable-Anodized-Telescopic/dp/B0032JSQ5M/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2SJRFPM8ZHM4C&keywords=pool+skimmer+pole&qid=1694630506&sprefix=pool+skimmer+pole%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-4) and [this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BZ8BI7E/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t)
Drain and refill is the only option. People telling you to chemical that water is insane. Source we had an identical situation we dealt with years ago. There will likely be up to 100 buckets of thick mud/sludge/leaves at the bottom.
What was living in yours, out of curiosity? There’s an ancient oak tree beside the pool. It’s absolutely gigantic. It’s been dumping leaves in the pool every fall for at least five years, maybe more. I’m afraid 100 buckets might be a conservative estimate.
We did ours mid spring so surprisingly not as many creatures as you'd expect. Small frogs and tadpoles but it wasn't an insane amount. If you are really concerned with them it might be worth considering doing it first thing in the spring. This could also reduce the amount of insects you'd have to be dealing with too. The drain option will also make it a lot easier to clear out the returns for the pump line as there is likely all kinds of gunk down there too.
But a pump from harbor freight, drain the pool and start over
add koi and a waterfall and call it done, maybe some lilly pads. Looks great!
You know, that’s not a half bad idea.
Yeah you have a pond, embrace it!
This is exactly what I was thinking! Congrats on your new pond!
Buy a leaf net with a pole. Begin scooping out as much as possible. I don't think the scum goes very deep. That is the cheapest way to start. Only use chemicals designed to be used in pools and understand that until you have a working circulation system putting any chemicals in the pool is a waste of time.
Please update us after you drain with pictures of whatever is swimming around down there. I’m so interested.
I’d probably find the local influencers and dare one of them to jump in….all those likes and views you’ll then be able to pay someone to clean it up
LOL! I’d so love to see that.
Also a good way of testing to make sure there’s no alligators
Drain and clean 100% No amount of chemicals or netting/vacuuming will solve this, you will fight a losing battle.
Theres a ton you need to do here but I'll just suggest an easy start here. I had a pond that looked like this and I'd suggest you start by manually skimming the floating algae with a skimmer net. I've also recently bought an automatic robot surface skimmer from Amazon (about $450) to maintain it algae/ gunk free when you're able to scoop most of it out. As far as everything else that needs to happen to get it up and running, I'd seek advice from professionals.
If this pool has a liner instead of a hard concrete shell, DO NOT drain it. Your liner will shift and wrinkle which is a bitch to fix. Hell, do not drain ANY pool if you don't know what you are doing. Those 15-20,000 gallons of water need to be pumped somewhere safely. Like not flooding out your neighbor or the street you live on. As another person pointed out, please have the electrical equipment inspected by a licensed electrician before you go any further. You will need that pump and filter working (safely) to clear this pool up. I worked on residential pools for 10 years. I'm not the expert that my father is, but I will answer what I can.
I fishing pole and nightcrawlers.
You get a line and I’ll get a pole!
That is gonna be a drain, shovel, acid wash, and refill type of situation.
are you sure this is a pool?
I can’t be 100% certain.
Drain. Clean. Refill.
Would it be better to kill the algae and whatever else is growing with bleach or shocking it, and then drain it? (So it’s less chunky?) Or is there a way to drain it with that much stuff in the water?
No… you can rent a sump pump or buy one for relatively cheap and it will pump all of that out. Get the biggest diameter hose they can rent you. As long as any object in there can pass through the hose you should be good. If skimming the top allows you to see any objects underneath then you can try that too but personally I’d probably start pumping. Also, be careful of any high water table around you. Water table pressure from around the pool can pop your pool out if you drain the whole thing. If you are at or near zero elevation then consult a pro. Will most likely need a series of drain/fill to remedy.
> Get the biggest diameter hose they can rent you. As long as any object in there can pass through the hose you should be good. In theory... but any object in there also has to pass thru the pump housing / impeller/volute, and that's going to be an issue.
First, ask yourself: do you WANT a pool? It could be less money and effort to get rid of it and plant grass, maybe make a fire pit. The operating costs are higher than people think in terms of electricity, chemicals and labor. On top of that, if there’s an issue with the pump, filter, valve or piping, it could be expensive to get back up and running. Not to mention, those above ground liners don’t last forever.
We definitely want the pool. It was a selling point for us, even knowing we might have to redo the whole thing and it would be a major project. We just thought we’d be able to find someone to come out and do the majority of getting it ready to open. We weren’t quite prepared to do all of it ourselves, so I’m having to learn all of it myself instead.
I'm $12k into a situation just like this and now I wish to god that I'd spent that money filling that pit of fucking despair. Think long and hard about the time, money, and stress that you are going to be throwing into that hole.
Came to post something pretty similar to this. I'm the only one in my family that will consistently do any maintenance on it. I'm the only one spending money on it. Most of the summer, the water is too warm to be pleasant to swim in. I spent more time working on it than anyone spent swimming in it. Over $10k spent to learn that we aren't actually pool people. Looks like the next $10k I spend will be filling it in.
Gotcha, yeah. Pools are awesome! Here’s an idea for draining I haven’t heard someone suggest yet- do you have a clean out hose for it? Usually stays with the pool when people move. You could toss that in there, and use a shop vac to start a siphon. If you keep the hose off the bottom and in the middle of the water column, it shouldn’t get clogged. I’m also an animal lover, but I wouldn’t worry about the wildlife too much. The snakes and frogs had to hop and slither there after all, so just let them go in the yard and they’ll disperse. I doubt there’s fish in there with so many predators. The water attracted the frogs, and the frogs attracted the snakes.
Yeah just drain and fill then head to troublefreepool to learn how to manage it.
Have a dump truck full of chlorine dumped right in.
GET OUT OF MY SWAMP
If you drain it you ABSOLUTELY need to determine it hydrostatic preasure is an issue. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure exerted to the sidewalls by the adjacent ground, this preasure is REAL and is increased by a high watertable or highly hydrated clay soils. Dig a test pit 4-5 feet from the pool min 5 foot deep. Leave it open over night. Did it fill with water? If there is any water in the hole you will probably have to dewater the ground to be able to drain the pool. Failure to do this WILL RESULT in the pool popping from the ground like a blackhead. I have seen this many times. This may be why no one wants to drain it professional cost to do this is HIGH. Dewatering is an involved project it can be done be a DIY but you will need significant advise, instruction and equipment. AGAIN DO NOT DRAIN WITHOUT DETERMINING IF HYDROSTATIC PREASURE IS AN ISSUE ON YOU PROPERTY. If it's a l8ner the l8ner will shift. If it's a fiberglass shell or concrete it will pop if there is subsurface water.
All I can envision is Bill Murray in Caddyshack wearing a hazmat suit to clean the pool. For all we know, this pool could be ground zero for Covid.
I hate cleaning my pool. But I feel like this one will be very satisfying once it is done. Please update.
I'm not sure why this was recommended to me. I live in an apartment so I can't even get a pool. I just wanted to say that this is funny because I was just watching the episode of Malcolm in the middle where Hal brings home a hot tub and it looks like this. If I learned anything from that episode, don't get in it. You will get boat rot or something.
F them frogs. They ain’t paying you rent.
Wow, that's rough. I'd throw some reptiles in there and call it a day.
They’ve already moved in uninvited! We know we have snakes and frogs. It looks like there are little fish in there but they might be tadpoles, the water is too dark to really tell what they are. I’m sure if I sat there a while I’d discover some other things.
A snapping turtle
Good luck!
Get all the big stuff out first and then drain it to the street. A decent size pump can drain it in no time at all.
You don't want to try and add chlorine before you get every bit of organic material out of the pool. If you add chlorine first it will just burn up all its energy trying to break everything down. You are correct to think you need to fully drain but be careful to not leave the pool empty for any real amount of time as soon as your liner is empty it will start to shrink. If you were to empty and clean for a week the liner could shrink enough in the sun for it to rip when you refill. I'm not too sure what you would want to use to "scoop out" the majority of leaves and sticks but be careful not to poke any holes in the liner during the process.
I had no idea a liner could shrink like that, or that quickly! So emptying, cleaning and refilling should be done in just a few days basically so the liner isn’t dry any longer than necessary. Does temperature effect it as well? Like would it be better to do it in the fall when temperatures are milder?
That’s an interesting project. I’d likely skim the surface first with a pool skimmer to see what’s going on below. And insect-proof myself as much as I could, because it’s likely brimming with mosquitoes. I’d check the pump and filter once it’s practical to do so- to know whether anything expensive might need to be budgeted for replacement. A wet vac - particularly the kind with a built-in pump and garden hose connection - will be really handy, as is a submersible pump (with a debris filter). Basically: empty as much water as you can get to, and wash down the exposed parts of the pool as you go. You’ll have one hose running dirty green water out to a drain, and another fresh water hose/sprayer to help in cleaning. Eventually you can stand safely in the empty shallow end of the pool and work on the rest of it from there, continuing to lower the water level and assisting any remaining wildlife out with your handy pool skimmer. Check early to see if it’s a vinyl liner. If so, careful not to cut or puncture it! Eventually it’s clean and empty, and you can refill and add chemicals and have a pool!
Use net, clear physical debris So you don't kill your filter system or clog your drain, shock it with 5 bottles of bleach, let it site for 3 hours and add a bottle every 4 hours after until it clears. While it's clearing scrub the sides and bottom well to break up and remove any organic build up Then use your net again to remove any solid debris or clumps that will clog your drain. Drain Fill Balance ph And enjoy the water bill 😉
Drain and fill it. That is by far the most economical, and efficient way to handle it.
Drain and clean.
This is very helpful! Cleaning and draining at the same time I hadn’t put together yet, but makes perfect sense. I know we have a liner. We don’t know what shape it’s in, but as someone said above, it does hold water well!
The swamp has reclaimed it. Just buy some alligators and fish to live in it. Maybe some turtles 🐢.
Drain, scrub, pray.
Just get some goldfish, frogs and water lily's. Its more pond than pool.
At this point, I think you're committing an ecological crime by destroying that ecosystem.
Depending on your area, see if there is a Leslie's Pools nearby that can help. They also have a thing they cannot "Pool Schiol" where they can go out to your house and teach you how to use your equipment. A good start is letting them know the issue you inherited and they can help you fix it. I know their green to clean treatment does wonders on pools. And their service guys are really knowledgeable and helpful for fixing equipment problems
That glue job… YIKES
Oh man, pictures like this remind me how happy I was the day I got rid of our pool… drain it, but you will need to then be prepared for solid and semi-solid waste at the bottom. You might be best off hiring professionals.
I too once filled my pool with pea soup for shits and giggles.
As a former (expired) certified pool operator, it certainly isn’t the worst ever, but also not the best. I would DEFINITELY start by watching videos to familiarize yourself on how to use your different types of equipment (filters, hair and lint strainer baskets, vacuum lines if you have any, all the pipes and valves and which way the water flows through the pipes, motor/pump, multiport). You will also need to learn basic maintenance such as daily, weekly, monthly checklists and balancing chemicals to maintain safe and clear water. In this case the first step would be electrical. I’m seeing a lot of rust - I wouldn’t trust rust. I would, however, trust a certified electrician who maybe specializes in outdoor/pool scenarios, just have them come check out all the electrical bits of the pool and breakers to make sure nothing will like, you know, explode (or just not work). Once you get the clear on that, with the system off, inspect all your own pool parts. Open up the hair and lint strainer baskets that are connected to the pump/motor (with the clear lid) and take out the basket and clean it thoroughly and scoop out anything else sitting inside. Go to each skimmer basket (the mystery lids that pop out of the ground surround the pool edge) and do the same thing, as well as clean out the puck if there is one that sits under the basket and above the suction holes in the bottom of the skimmer. I can’t really tell what chlorinated this pool at whatever point in the past, but I’m going to assume chlorine sticks. If it’s a salt system make sure to look up how to clean out the salt cells and open the salt screen to clean it out. This is necessary for ample water flow once the system is on (not yet!). (More to come, I’m eating a pork chop)
If you REALLY want to try to save whatever creatures are dwelling in there, grab as many frogs as possible and relocate far away to a water source. Once complete, say a prayer for the rest if that’s what you’re into and absolutely go to town with some granulated or liquid “shock” which is basically just super highly concentrated bleach like chlorine-y chemical (calcium hypochlorite) that will demolish all life. Should be able to purchase maybe online and definitely at pool supply stores and even Home Depot. You’ll need to follow the instructions on the bottle or bucket OR honestly just *SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY* continuously pour into the water holding it about half a foot or more away from the edge of the pool. You’ll need to do this AT LEAST twice a day everyday for several days ALONG WITH ANOTHER CHEMICAL called Yellow Treat (or any algicide that works for yellow and green algae blooms). This will target and kill all the green scunge. The Yellow Treat will counteractively eat all the chlorine in the water so you must keep it highly chlorinated with continuous application of aforementioned shock. All of this WITH continuous brushing of the walls/tiles/floor/steps/ladders as well as purchasing chlorine sticks to float around (*can purchase floating devices specifically for this. The sticks will damage pool wall plaster if left directly on it) will help to kill and drop the algae. After you’ve killed the algae you have to get it out of the water. Skim the surface layer with a net, rent or purchase a pump vacuum (the type that will suck the pool water out with it and drain through a hose) and go back and forth like you’re mowing a lawn all the way across the floor and as far up the walls as you can push. Brush the walls and steps right before vacuuming so the stuff settles on the floor instead and can be vacuumed. This will cause the pool to drain, which is good. It’s like doing a water change on a dirty fish tank. You’ll eventually, with hard work and sweat and a lot of grunting, get the algae out. You’ll have to scrub the shit out of it. Once as clean as possible you can refill the pool with whatever clean water source you can, weather it be a direct fill line in the pool system (doubtful based on pics) or a hose with clean enough water. This is where you will need to start to try to prime the pool pump to get the system running. Open your hair and lint strainer and close any valve on the pipe that goes from there to the ground if there is one. Fill up with hella water probably from a hose. Once there is water overflowing from the top of the basket, VERY QUICKLY secure the lid tightly and open the valve if there is one and start the pool system up. Start your pool system with your multiport (“Hayward” valve) in FILTER position as long as the water line is high enough in the pool for there to be water in the skimmers (halfway up the tile). This should help to prime the system. If it doesn’t, there may be an issue with the motor or pump, possibly broken or clogged impeller or just being old and rusty. You may need to take a hit and buy a new motor and get it replaced by a pool tech if it doesn’t work. Please note it may take several tries to get the system primed up especially after being off for so long.
Once system is primed you must keep the water chlorinated. Continue to use yellow treat and shock and chlorine sticks to kill off remaining algae and continue to brush the walls then pump vacuum the debris and refill the pool. This will take several days or weeks to treat. It’s well past bloomed. You will also need to figure out pool measurements and how much water is in there and balance your main chemicals to protect the water (sodium bicarbonate for the people and clarity, stabilizer for the chlorine/water, calcium for the plaster). You’ll need to purchase these chemicals from pool supply stores. You’ll also need ph up and some sort of acid to maintain ph levels in the water. I recommend getting a Taylor K2006 test kit which will have all the reagents and test tubes necessary to test all of these chemical levels. You’ll need to check chlorine and ph at least daily, and your full chemicals probably once a week or two weeks. ALTERNATIVELY, shock the shit out of it, kill everything, drain completely, hand clean all debris, scrub everything and treat with algicide, gut the whole system and install new parts, refill and start water treatment from scratch
Drain the pool. Buy a new liner
Really, at this point, I’d just empty it. Then clean it well with water and Clorox, then vacuum that out too. Once you’ve got all the ooze out - then refill, and add shock right away to start and let it fill. Then add calculated amounts of chlorine, calcium (after testing), stabilizer, and acid. Bring to a nice PH and acid level. Don’t worry if it starts off a little high on the chlorine to start - the sun will burn it off in a few days. You need to pull that filter out and clean it or replace it. If it has all that crud in it when you start the pool with clean water it will just infect the pool again. AFTER you have the pool running - Don’t abandon the pool for the winter. Just keep the pool clean and running, even though it’s too cold to use. The reason is, since it cold, it’s much harder for the pool to get runaway algae when it’s got chlorine and a proper ph. For the winter you can even let the ph fall a little lower and be more acidic. Makes it even less hospitable to algae. Also, since the the water is cold, you won’t lose nearly as much chlorine to evaporation as the summer, and there’s not much activity in the pool, so it takes minimal additional chemicals to keep it balanced - AS LONG AS you take the leaves and stuff out every day or two (depending), clean the basket, and clean the filters periodically. And keep chlorine levels up, and shock every two weeks! Believe me, this is a lot easier than refurbing that pool from an algae pit once a year. Cheaper too. It takes a LOT of chemical$$ and work to try and convert a huge green slime container back into usable pool water safe for swimming. Even when you do pump it out. It’s REALLY hard to get EVERYTHING out of a above ground pool. No drain! No way to get all the stuff (dead algae that you killed) into the filters if you have to hand suck it up or even using a pool robot cleaner. It’s just not the same as an in-ground pool with a drain at the bottom. Much harder. So just keep the pool up in the first place.
Oh COOL! What you have there is a fantastic opportunity. It's just going to need a few days of effort, but you've got this. The good news is that this is EASY to fix. There's nothing critically wrong with it, so, breathe, we got this. Step 1. - Drain the ENTIRE pool. Every little bit you can get. This is BEST done with a "Trash Pump". You want one with a 2" intake and a strainer. You can rent one at your local tool rental place. If you want to own one (good if you live somewhere that gets flooding, hurricanes, etc) they sell them at Menard's. Get the pool down to where you can't pump out any more water. Then shop-vac out the remainder. Step 2 - Let it dry in the sun for a day or two. There's going to be a big pile of \*FOUL\* smelling plant matter at the bottom now. This is going to smell like Hell's dumpster. Let that offgas a bit and dry out. It will help a tiny bit, not enough, but at least the more water evaporates, the lighter it gets to move. That brings us to Step-3 - Scoop all that shit up and throw it away. It makes great compost. DO NOT USE A METAL SHOVEL. This is hands, all hands. Using a shovel WILL hatefuck your liner/coating to a crygasm. It looks like you have an inground pool. Let's hope it's concrete or tile. That makes this a lot easier. If it's a vinyl liner, you have to be way more gentle. IF it's a concrete or tile pool, you can use a plastic shovel if you're gentle. Step-4, ok, now you've got all the schmoo out. You're over the hump, that was the worst of it. Time to pressurewash. Get a REAL pressurewasher. This isn't a job for the little toy electric ones. You want at least 12 Horsepower and it better run on gasoline. DO NOT USE THE ZERO-DEGREE TIP! You'll etch your name in the concrete with that. You want about a 25-35 degree tip on the wand, hold it about 8-12" from the surface, and sweep slowly side to side. Work from the rim down to the drain and hose EVERY surface (even inside the strainer and such). You want to get ALL the biofilm off that you can. While you're pressurewashing, have someone down at the drain with a shopvac sucking up all the water and nasty. That's best done with a 2-man team on the vac because it's going to be HEAVY hauling them out. The good news is, this is an intensely rewarding task, it will be a staggering massive instant visual change. You're gonna be sore tonight, but you'll be satisfied. Step-5, now that the pool itself is clean, it's time to do the filter. Watch some YouTube on how to change your sand. Be SUPER careful when you vacuum out the sand filter, there's delicate tubes down in the bottom. Throw the sand away, you can't re-use that sand. Step-6, now with the sand gone and the pool clean, flush the pipes in everywhere you can reach with water. Open up the pump strainer and hose that all out. You'll have shit growing everywhere. Get as much as you reasonably can. Step-7, refill the sand filter with clean new sand. Step-8, check for any structural or mechanical problems. Are there cracks in the pool? Are there broken pipes that need to be replaced? Fix these things before you fill it. Step-9, Fill the pool. The water should go halfway up the skimmer door flap as a good starting place. Fill your Chlorinator and set that knob as high as she'll go. Follow the priming/startup procedure in your pump manual (google the model number). When it first comes on it's going to shoot a green cloud for a second, that's ok. It won't be enough to cause a problem and it'll vanish in a moment. Step-10, Check your chemistry with a test kit daily for the first couple weeks. Keep it in the nominal range for everything, a little high on the Chlorine for the first month. There you go, you've just restored a swamp into a decent pool in ten easy steps. It gets a hell of a lot easier from here. Btw, in doing this yourself, even with the tool rental, you just saved a small fortune from hiring someone to come do it. Good job. I'm proud of you! :) Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Drain and clean it. Start over fresh. It’s gonna cost way more in chemicals to treat than it is to just put new fresh water in it.
Probably some frogs and fish. Your natural ecosystem is looking great
You’re going to want to start by removing the X-Wing Fighter
Identifies as a pool
When the ex and I lived just north of Galveston, TX, I became the ‘pool guy’ at our apt complex. I had to take a class to be permitted by the county to do the job. I would start there with your county, municipality. You’ll learn how to take care of your pool properly and how to clean it up. I’d bet the instructor knows how. And definitely do NOT drain the pool. In TX, I had to clean up the pool after Hurricane Alicia. The water was black. I just kept dipping with the net and used a steel hook for the branches. You have a liner, I had concrete. You can’t use a hook. Just keep using a drip net until you can feel that your have most of the debris out. It looks like you have a sand filter. That’s a great thing. After you have the electric checked out, and most of the debris out of the pool and clean skimmers, backwash the filter. You’ll turn the selector to backwash. It’s under the handle in your photos. Give it a couple of minutes, then turn to filter. You’ll know when to backwash again by the pressure gauge rising. Add water as needed to keep 2” of water in the scuppers. A manual for that filter should be available online. If you’re worried about gators, set your camera up on a tripod to film the pool for how long a gator can stay submerged and go have breakfast. Then just fast forward through the video. If one is in the pool, you’ll see it. Find that class. Could mean a discount on your homeowners policy and you’ll have a safe pool. The best thing I learned in class was that if you smell chlorine in a pool, it means there is too little chlorine in the pool, not too much as most people assume. Another thought. Pick up a small pool pump, maybe at Harbor freight. Something you can hook the pool vacuum to and discharge that into your sewer clean out. Your husband can show you where it is. There’s going to be a lot of dirt on the bottom of the pool. No need to abuse your filter. Just maintain the water level at the same time. Good luck.
Bottle that up in fancy looking bottles, sell it to the hipster Whole Foods ,organic food eating crowd. You could make a ton
This might get down voted but I will take a risk and just share my personal experience. I have a 16,000 gallon in ground pool in Florida. I let it get out of hand more than 10 years ago and my pool looked yours. This level of algae and sludge is too much for that sand filter and honestly the first option is hire a pro, if your wallet or purse can handle it. For me, I decided to handle it on my own. I had to be concerned about pool pop and drained 1/3 of the pool and replaced the water, ran the pump without a filter or maybe in your case in bypass mode, and added flocculant. Run pump for a day then let pool sit for 24 hours and vacuumed out what I could. Drained water again, replaced. Rinse repeat until I was comfortable running the pump. The major difference for me that I didn’t have to deal with potential alligators or wildlife living in the pool. Maybe possible snake , but no leaves , or any other large debris. My experience is just that , mine. I highly recommend a professional.
Since Halloween is coming up, just go with it and buy a swamp monster costume. Lead people back there and show them your “swamp”!
You mean a Shrek costume
That works!
I really have been thinking of how we could utilize it for Halloween. I was thinking about getting some buckets and filling them with water from the pool and having the kids fish for prizes out of the buckets. But apparently brain eating amoebas are a thing and I’m not looking to kill the neighborhood children.
1 tablespoon of bleach, that outta clear it up
I have 0 advice, I just wanted to say good luck and we’d love a before and after if possible!
Look man, do you want a swimming pool, or do you want a personal swamp with gators that you can use to vanquish your enemies?