Where to empty a pool?

[Gus]

We have recently purchased a house near Cognac that came with an above ground pool ( approx 4ft high x 12ft across).Although is has a cover on it (torn in places) it doesn't look as if its been used for some while.If I shine a torch into the water I can see the bottom so its not full of algae as I expected.

I am considering emptying it ,cleaning it and then refilling (local regulations permitting).My query is:  as we have a Fosse Septique could the water be pumped into it or would that be too much.

Previous owner has left some equipment for the pool so we may well have filter etc so I'm not sure whether we have what we need to clean the water without emptying.

If there is anyone out there with any snippets of help or info on how to look after these things I would be much obliged.

[Poolguy]

Certainly there are many issue here.

One is dumping water

the other is filtration

I would query the need to dump water on a whim without first testing it see if it is contaminated or 'unsaveable'.

Even so I would hesitate at this time to be dumping an entire pool of

water. In this time there are many regions where it is still forbidden

to top

up your pool due to a shortage of water -if in doubt check with the

Marie. It would be more sensible to change half of it at a time I would

have thought. If the pool seems to have been operative then there

should be filtration and sanitisation equipment available in which

would be useful to get the water back to condition. .

If you do jetison water I would be reluctant to aim for the fosse

septic as I am sure that it would flood it. You could however aim

directly for the soak away so long as you take your time and don't dump

too quickly. Having said that the salt content should be tested first

and if it is above 500ppm or so I would not attempt this as it will

salinate the soil and cause considerable environmental damage. However

I dont expect that to be the case as there are very few salt systems

attached to above ground pools mainly due to cost.

At any rate it is possible in most cases to get water back to condition

so long as you understand the principles of sanitisation and filtration

and follow advise of a professional. I would be faily certain that an

initial Choc treatment would provide significant improvement to the

clarity of the water.

If you need more assistance then come back and we'll help if we can,

Andrew

[Will Witt]

The micro-organisms that carry out the purification process in a fosse

system are very dependent on there being constant conditions in both

the tank ( where about 25% of the water purification takes place) and

the filter bed (where the remaining 75% of the pollutants and the

pathogens are removed).

If the fosse is suddenly loaded with the contents of a pool it will

stop working immediately - and maybe for a long time if the water has a

high chlorine content

[Gus]

Many thanks for your advice. As this will be a holiday home for ourselves and family to use rather than commercial let, we will probably only get 4-6 weeks use during the summer.

Is it quite straightforward to get the water ready at the start of a 2 week visit or does it need maintenence everey week of the year.

Thanks.

 

[Poolguy]

Gus

Unless you have a person to look after your pool while you are not there, or a

fully automatic system then I think you are going to have problems.

Firstly, any pool which is not kept sanitised with sufficient chlorine will

turn green and decidedly unhealthy very quickly.

From there, unless you are using particularly harsh sanitiser then it will take

you the best part of 24 hours to get the pool clear with choc treatment and

from there another 48 hours for the chlorine levels to drop to normal for

swimming. That looses the most of the first week of your vacation and is quite

a lot of unnecessary work.

I suggest that an automatic pool controller which constantly monitors and balances

the pH and chlorine levels would be an advantage in your case. It works if you

there or not and is very accurate.

Failing that you would be advised to find someone (who also has a pool) to look

after it for you. By that I mean that there are a lot of people providing this

service in France who are uninformed about the principles of pool maintenance

and water sanitisation and filtration.

To me its an important issue as the water is the biggest part of the pool and

the part you swim in. Its the hardest to get right and easiest to screw up.

Pm me if I can be of more help

Andrew