Drain and Fill or Treat???

[jjl64]

I just purchased a foreclosure HUD home. The pool is dark green and slimy. It had a lumber and black polyfilm cover over it for liability reasons. I am debating between draining it and treating it. I am leaning towards draining it. I read Ben's post which stated that I may be looking at 75 gallons of bleach to get things clear again. I think I would rather take the hit on my water bill and just drain it, but I'm concerned about floating the pool. I know it's an issue, and I keep reading that it depends on where you live and what the soil is like, but don't know if my location is a problem area. I live just North of Houston, Texas and have a gunite pool with a D.E. filter. Any advice???

[PoolDoc]

You appear to be on flat ground, so you are correct to be concerned. If you had a vinyl or fiberglass pool the answer would, of course, be "Don't drain". But, with gunite, it depends on just how wet the ground is.

The safest way to check is to dig a 3' deep post hole next to the pool. Cover it and wait 24 hours. If the water level in the hole stays dry, you can drain. If the water is less than 2' down, don't drain. In, between, I'd need pool dimensions, including depth measurements (from pool edge to bottom, rather than water depth) to calculate pool displacement (= potential uplift from ground water) and pool mass (from gunite).