05 May Update - More progress, still a lot left to finish tile

Jump to latest Follow Reply
ajw22 said:
Confirm that the blue pebbles use inorganic pigments.

Not All Color Pigments are Good for Pools

There are two important issues involved when trying to achieve quality colored pool plaster that will remain durable, attractive, and the proper shade for many years. The first issue is to utilize superior workmanship practices to achieve good color, with minimal mottling, and no blotchiness...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Glass beads over pebbles any day!
 
JamesW said:
Polished Diamonds make a nice aggregate.

They give a really good sparkle.

Rubies, sapphires, emeralds etc. also make a nice aggregate if you want a different color than clear.

View attachment 562344
Click to expand...
I would go for this but Robin would dig every single one of them out and I'd be left with an ugly finish...
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: onBalance, JoyfulNoise, StuartBound and 2 others
04 April 2024 Update

Today was the beginning of trench and pipe. All the trenches cut with a one day rental of the small 1T mini-excavator ($413 at HD). We used this because the narrow space between the house patio and pool edge was tricky - this one has an 18" bucket and worked great. Also managed to do the whole dig and not break either well suction line! Did break another sprinkler line on a zone that's got to be redone anyway. Tomorrow we start running all the plumbing back to the pad. May finish it all tomorrow and definitely no later than Monday. Biggest challenge is going to be piping the basin drain lines. They will be staged up to 3" as close to the basin as possible then joined and tee'd from there to 4" all the way back to the pump. Naturally we need to make another monthly run to Houston for some minor surgery so we'll try to get the next two inspections done while I'm gone. Sub will be here for both. Then set/hook up equipment. Looking more and more like we'll be filling it up early May or so. Could even be sooner. Piping question for our experts: I plan to make sure I've got unions in the right places on the pad. What are your thoughts about unions on the pump suction. I've heard good arguments both ways and personally believe if plumbing is done right a union will work fine. Had this same discussion with my well guy and the only way he'd do it was no union. Of course that's partly because he has less call outs for non-union installations. A hybrid option may be to have the manifold come out of the ground far enough away from the pump such that I could do a couple repairs before I have to add a union.

One of the things I'm looking at are the new test results with the new reagents. Surprisingly close to the years old reagents but I'm still wondering about the CSI. I know balanced pool is best and with my initial water it looks pretty good:
FC 0
CC 0
pH 7.2
TA 270
CH 250
CYA 0
CSI -.03
Temp 70

But after the water off-gasses overnight pH will rise to 7.8 which then results in CSI +.57. Is this OK since it's positive so not leaching out CA or maybe I should just plan to do a simple version of the bicarb start by adding directly to the pool just to be safe? @JoyfulNoise @onBalance @JamesW what do you all think?

Chris
PS James, salt test turned with first drop of silver nitrite so less than 200 ppm probably close to zero


1712280125984.jpeg

1712280173248.jpeg

1712280218931.jpeg

1712280327915.jpeg
 
The pH will rise quickly when the water touches the plaster. I have done tests to confirm that. It might even go above 7.8 before it is even filled. One thing that might change that result depends on how long the plaster is allowed to hydrate and harden before turning on the water. There a couple of other things that can affect pH rise.
The Bicarb startup is based on having the water to be a CSI of around +0.5 and can be a little higher. The TA and CH of your fill water is just fine as it is and does not need any adjustments upward. However, the pH of your fill water is actually lower than it should be.
 
Last edited:
onBalance said:
The pH will rise quickly when the water touches the plaster. I have done tests to confirm that. It might even go above 7.8 before it is even filled. One thing that might change that result depends on how long the plaster is allowed to hydrate and harden before turning on the water. There a couple of other things that can affect pH rise.
The Bicarb startup is based on having the water to be a CSI of around +0.5 and can be a little higher. The TA and CH of your fill water is just fine as it is and does not need any adjustments upward. However, the pH of your fill water is actually lower than it should be.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was hoping this would be the case. I'm thinking to spray the fill water in the air. Can do a little test before hand but I suspect that will get pH up quite a bit. Probably over 7.6 which gets CSI up to .37 and should get to 7.8 pretty soon. Once I achieve +.5 do I adjust pH down to keep at that level or just let it keep going up?

Chris
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
AQUA~HOLICS said:
This is how my plumber does installations.View attachment 562440
Click to expand...
Very helpful, thanks! Here's the way my plumbing and pumps work:
  • This pool is going to have normal circulation from the basin to the 5 HP pump via a 4" line to two basin drains that each reduce down to 3" then 2.5" at each basin drain fitting. Discharge of pump will flow to 4 floor returns next to the infinity wall and one additional return normally. In Spa mode flow will circulate from spa drain to the spa jets only
  • Dynamic plus static head are well below the max based on my calcs that have been verified by @JamesW (makes me feel a lot better when James agrees)
  • I plan to T into the 4" at the pad and run a "slip stream" through a separate filter pump which filters and joins the main return line going back to the pool.
  • I plan to run the 5 hp pump 24/7 at min speed and ramp up to higher speed as necessary (estimated 2-4hrs per day) to keep the pool crystal clear.
  • Spa will run off the 5 hp pump when in spa mode and have a 2 hp air blower as supply to the 10 spa jets.
  • I also have check valves to prevent drain back to basin. I will also have a 3" pool drain that runs back to the pad and is normally not used.
  • Filter will be cartridge over 400 sq ft
  • Will have a propane and solar heater in series on the 5 HP pump discharge. May add the heater bypass valve for the gas heater. Solar will have one.
  • Basin level will be controlled by micro-switches in a stand pipe. These will control low, med, high pump speed. A high/high switch will be located just below the basin overflow ***EDIT I left the word "overflow" out in my original post***. I'm thinking at this point just to make it sound an audible alarm.
Make sense to you?

Chris
 
Last edited:
onBalance said:
If the pH isn't already 8.0 (which is okay) by the time the pool is full, just add small amounts of acid occasionally to keep the pH between 7.8 and 8.0 afterwards.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I will have a CO2 pH control for longer term but since I haven't operated one before I'll be starting on standard muriatic acid.
 
bdavis466 said:
I would imagine chasing the TA from refilling would still require acid and if you’re already using acid, what’s the benefit of using CO2?

His TA is almost 300
Click to expand...
Brian, It's a personal thing. I hate jug-lugging and messing with the acid. So I plan to try using CO2 injection once I get the pool filled, circulating and stable. Got rid of half my jug lugging with swg and I'd sure like to get rid of the rest with CO2. Will see if it's actually workable and if not I'll go back to acid.

Chris
 
  • Like
Reactions: bdavis466
bdavis466 said:
CO2 doesn’t lower TA and your fill water is high which means you’ll going through a lot of gas. Is this for safety reasons or???
Click to expand...
Sorry Brian, I missed this post. Now I understand your questions about CO2. My previous pool had very easy pH control with TA maintained around 50 after plaster was finally cured. That was city water through a softener. Now my well water is a LOT different. I'm hoping to eliminate or drastically reduce acid consumption. Not really concerned about handling acid but hate the jug lugging. I'm hoping once I get the TA done and pH control manageable I can adjust mostly with CO2. I'm sure as TA goes up I'll still need some acid but I have a couple other alternatives for water level maintenance including RO with re-mineralizer cartridge and rain water. At least half the year around here I'm dumping more water than I add.

Chris
 
  • Like
Reactions: kul, bdavis466 and JamesW
onBalance said:
If the pH isn't already 8.0 (which is okay) by the time the pool is full, just add small amounts of acid occasionally to keep the pH between 7.8 and 8.0 afterwards.
Click to expand...
Got another sample of well water day before yesterday but never tested it so I went ahead and did so. PH rose from 7.2 all the way to 8 or maybe a little over. So it looks like I'd better have plenty of acid available!
 
onBalance said:
If the pH isn't already 8.0 (which is okay) by the time the pool is full, just add small amounts of acid occasionally to keep the pH between 7.8 and 8.0 afterwards.
Click to expand...
Since my TA+CH is now a little measuring a little over 500 (latest test with my new refill from tftestkits) I'm still OK to wait 'till it rises to over 8.0 before I add any acid. Is this correct?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply