Swimming pool installation

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>So, hey other pool owners, why do you have water delivered? I am just curious and would like to know</font color=blue>

When the drought was on & the town had a water ban they made you get it delivered or face trouble with the law. Of course, the delivery fee ($300) is more than the fine ($100). My vote was to sneak it in (800 gal) at night, which the CFO approved the first time. Then when I accidently let out 3k gallons (long story - previous owner installed the pool w/ bad design of hot tub air intake that became water outlet /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif) she made me get it trucked in.

Another reason is if your well water chemistry isn't good, too much calcium or heavy metals etc.

 

[JJT]

Another reason - you can get heated water delivered. Just the thing for us folks up north where the pool season is short, this gets you in weeks in advance of mother nature warming things up.

 

[MossRoad]

I never thought about the chemical makeup of the well water. Thanks!

Ours only took a small bottle of something to take the iron out. That was it. Guess we are just lucky to have "good" water.

 

[dlabrie]

When I do install my pool, I plan to fill it from a dug well we abandoned because of the high iron content. Will this be a problem? We used to have a water system that added chlorine
to make the Iron drop out to the bottom of a large storage tank where it was flushed out on a weekly basis. Is that what will happen to our pool? I'd hate to have everything turn rust colored.
David

 

[MossRoad]

High iron is a problem in pools with metal parts. Visit your pool center and see what they say. All we had to do was add a bottle of a chemical that attached itself to metal and made it sink to the bottom in little blobs. Then we vacuumed it up with the filter on waste and blew it out into the yard, not back through the filter. Haven't had to do it again since. If you have to add lots of water for some reason, you might have to.

I'm getting ready to finally open my pool for the year again. I'm draining the winter cover of some rain water (while it is raining [laugh ] ) as I write this, and at the same time topping off the pool from the garden hose. Need to add about a foot of water total. Should take about 4 hours. I put new sand in my filter this year (I do it every 2 years). 4 bags of filter sand is only $37.00. I used my Power Trac to dump the sand in the woods and to bring the bags around. Tractors and swimming pools; gotta love it! I'll remove the winter cover tomorrow and test the chemicals just to see how close I am. Then hook up the filter and let it run for a day. I'll have the water professionally tested on Tuesday and see if I need to add anything.

 

[dlabrie]

I have found in my research of pools that there are 3 types of filters: sand, D.E., and filter. Is there any benefit of one over the other?
David

 

[pung]

As a pool installer I will offer several tips. #1 when mowing around your pool always make sure your dischage chute faces away from the pool. a small stone will easily go through the wall of a pool.#2 Electrical connections are very important. ALWAYS use a Ground Fault circuit Interupter with proper wire size. No 18 ga. zip cord running through a window to an outlet with the window slammed shut is a no no. Wet grass and bare feet combined with electricity is a DEADLY combination. #3 There are many pros and cons concerning the two types of filters .Study them. #4 Most pools have a fold up ladder. USE IT when pool is not in use so some little one does not fall in. There are tons of tips if you want them, but the main gist of this is that while a pool is great, it also comes with a lot of responsibility

 

[dlabrie]

Pung,
Thanks for the advice. Since I posted the last message I found a site with lots of info. For anyone else thinking about a poll this is the site-
http://www.poolcenter.com/poolcare.htm
I guess my main concern now is getting power to the pool. I am leaning towards an underground 10-2 wire from my breaker box. It will be about 130' long.
David

 

[lrunge]

I've had 4 different inground pools with different filter systems. I had a fiberglass (shell) inground pool in Houston, TX that used a paper type filter. This was easy to pull out, hose off and clean. It did a decent job. I had a concrete marlite pool in Coral Springs, FL that had a DE filter. This required more backflushing and adding DE. I had an inground liner type pool In Florence, KY that used a DE filter with lots of little fingers in the filter. It would cause pressure problems when dirty and twice a year you had to take out about 40 bolts to hose off the fingers and reapply the DE. It was a lot of work. My current pool in Independence, KY is an inground liner with a sand filter. The sand filter does a nice job. It is a lot less work to maintain. You just backflush it when dirty and change the sand every couple of years.
All of them did a decent job. The DE filters were good but required a lot of work maintaining them. Overall, the sand filter does a good job and is easier to clean. I will stay with sand filters in the future.
Lary

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Best accessory ever - solar cover - (and reel).

Water and chemicals and heat stay in the pool. Chlorine costs go down. Pool stays cleaner. And the season gets longer (important in WI).

Have indoor pool now, and still use a solar cover to cut evaporatin and keep the heat in the pool when not being used.