Dead animal in pool

[Poolproblems]

We have a 15ft above ground pool in our garden (in UK). For various reasons the pool hasn't been used since last year. It can't be seen from the house due to garden layout and for various MH reasons I've not been in the garden until the last week or so.

At some point the cover has come off the pool which is now half full of stagnant water, and a dead animal (we think badger). I called the council but they are unable to remove it, Rentokil only remove animals from inside. The only company I can find want £450, and can't guarantee removal. Which I will have to pay unless I can find an alternative although it is twice what the pool cost!

Do I just need to suck it up?

You've had a rough ride on this thread OP, I hope you haven't taken the nastiness to heart.
Have you been able to figure out what you want to do?

@Poolproblems ... any progress?

anyone else desperate to know whowhat it was?

Me! Someone earlier in the thread mentioned it being a 5ft tall pool which really baffled me but seeing the photo posted by the OP I just can’t imagine two men couldn’t fish it out!

I keep thinking about what it might be

We lost a dog this way. Fell through someone’s pool cover and drowned. Didn’t find him for a week. I dread to think how frantic he must have been trying to find a way out. It was about 6 years ago and I still can’t think about it.

The size of an animal changes vastly after a long period in water, the body expands in every direction. A badger in this condition would be far larger than a just-died badger and would be extremely heavy and handling it would be difficult due to the level of decomposition. It doesnt sound as simple as just pulling a body out at this point. I can understand why the OP is a bit overwhelmed by it all. The suggestion of the septic tank emptier is a very, very good one.

OP what did you do in the end? Hope you managed to get it sorted.

Yes, many of us on here and keen to know what happened???

Are you North Kent? I’ll come and do it.

No input from me whatsoever but I think a picture is needed for sure

Op, I'm sorry. If you haven't been in your garden for months, I hope you're getting help for your MH issues. Are you having counselling? I hope so. Wishing you all the best.

unfortunately it is still not resolved.

We haven't been able to drain the pool ourselves, I don't know why the pump we purchased will not work, we followed the instructions for it.

The company who were to come and remove said that they were not sure they could do it, and wanted another 200 which was non refundable if they tried and failed (so would have been 400 in total) . So I didn't end up using them.

I contacted drainage companies as suggested, they would empty the pool but not until the animal was removed. they would not drain otherwise. So that was a dead end.

Lots of other people have not responded, or indicated they would and then changed their mind once they hear it is bigger than a cat/rat.

So we are still stuck. I don't know what to do to be honest other than keep trying to find other companies but everyone seems to say the same.

Your best option may be to slice the side of the pool open to drain it, then call the council out again to remove the body.

We did consider that but there is nowhere for the water to go other than all over the garden. Possibly also into neighbouring garden which is a worry. Just really don't know what to do for the best.

Poor you OP, what a shitty situation.

We drained a grotty pond by pumping into guttering which we pointed into a grid.

Could you do something like that? Get some cheap guttering, make a water run that touches the side of the pool then runs somewhere water goes away from (teens can test it with hose). Then cut a small hole in pool just above guttering (like a 5mm cut). A small cut can be made bigger if it doesn't work at first. It doesn't matter if it takes 2 days to drain if it can do it unsupervised.

What if you cut a small hole in it a few inches lower than the water level then leave it a couple of days till this has soaked into the ground. Then repeat. It will be a slow process but does that matter? Then once fully empty just roll the body up in the pool and throw altogether.

If you make holes in it rather than slit it (and not on the neighbours side) it will drain out much slower and have a chance to drain away. Yes it will smell at first but you and your neighbours surely have a worse smell at the moment - you could have the sprinkler on that area for a while afterwards once it's drained to help get rid of the smell.

Have you got a link to the pump?

I have one for hot tub and there is a knack to it. There is a float thing attached and that MUST be way higher than the pump initially. I hold that bit to get it started. It's like a safety thing

Jesus wept I'll do it for a bottle of gin

It is difficult as I don't go into the garden so I am reliant on the children helping and there is only so much they can do. I don't think we could do it by guttering and I am really concerned about the water ending up all over the garden.

I hoped the drain company would do it, they said yes immediately £200, but then said I would need to remove the body.

Just go out there now and put a small hole a couple of inches lower than the water level and see what happens.

The first page of this thread is so funny! Making me spill my tea laughing. I say skewer it on the prongs of a rake and drag it to the edge. Bury in a shallow grave. Et voila! $450 saved.

Buy some chlorine granules, mix them into warm water and pour into the pool, leave it for 24 hours, cut a hole in the pool and drain it away. Will remove the smell of rot and decay before it going all over the garden.

Sometimes you can get an airlock in the pump. Is it a submersible one? If so don't start it until it is under water or it just sucks air in and can pack up. Attach a hose to the "out" bit of the pump, and you can direct the hose down an external drain. It should drain most of the water out, then you can wrap up the leftovers.