New pool in Jungles of Peru

[vvbrock]

Hello. My name is Vann. I run a camp/retreat center in the small jungle town of Pucallpa, Peru. We decided to put in a pool as our guests had been swimming in the lake and pond on the property with al kinds of jungle dangers. No one here has modern pool building experience, and as an avid DIY guy, I decided it couldn't be that hard, right? We decided on a 25x40 rectangle with a 9ft deep end and a 3ft shallow end with a cutout semicircle entry stair and a deep end swim out. We took around a month digging it as the rains kept coming - we are in the rain forest. we poured the bottom slab first and then spent almost another month cleaning up as the rains eroded the solid clay sides into the floor. Local Native Shipibo indians and I had to bucket out the entire thing four times. We finally got the forms up and walls poured though somewhat deformed. We poured a 10ft deck around the whole thing and put coping bricks on and the waterline tile. I studied a lot and decided to attempt pebble finish. I have just completed 2 weeks of grueling work putting the stonescapes pebble finish on. I have a lot of cold joints, but hopefully I will be able to polish most of them down. I think it will take around a week more to polish the entire pool, and then I will be able to fill it and start it up. I have a Pentair variflow pump with 2 pentair sta-rite cartridge filters and a Autopilot digital salt unit. I need some advise on starting the pool. How much salt do I need? I have no access to a pool store. All that I have, I ordered from the US. I have access to table salt with iodine, and perhaps livestock salt with no/less iodine. I can get some cyan uric acid from a store in Lima, but it only comes in 700gr amounts. Should I start by dumping salt in right away? Should I add chlorine? Should i try to find pool chlorine, or can I use bleach? I ordered a Taylor test kit, but it got stopped in customs, so it looks like I'll have to find some other test kits in the capitol. I have many questions. Can you guys help? Thanks in advance.
~Vann

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Well this is going to be a challenge. It is pretty imperative that you find a good test kit as that is the most important tool to maintaining a clear pool.

As with any plaster/pebble, you should not add salt for at least 30 days. It also should not be iodized and should be nearly pure. Water softener solar salt is what I use.

I must say I am a bit concerned with the way you finished the pool. That is a job that is usually done in a single day and then the pool is immediately filled. I have no idea how sealed you pebble finish is going to be with all the cold joints and sitting without water for so long.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

I also suggest you learn to use PoolMath to calculate your required chemical adjustments.

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BTW, I just deleted your duplicate thread. Please keep everything together.

 

[vvbrock]

Thanks for your response. I understand your concern with the finish. I talked to a lifelong installer and he said i should be fine. We use flexible tile grout as an adherent behind the pebble, so the flaking off shouldn't be a problem. I read through the pool school thing. Lots of info and really helpful. I haven't been able to figure out the pool math chart yet. I suppose the theory is that I will have water in my pool and check the levels with a proper test kit and enter in the info. I need to figure out how to have the materials on hand in order to start the pool next week. I will need to order the chemicals needed from the Capitol city at the beginning of this week. They will take at least a week to arrive here. I will be filling it with well water as it is the only water available to me. You say I should not start with salt until the second month.. The first question that comes to mind is how much of what chemicals do I need on hand for starting this pool?

 

[singingpond]

Without even knowing the characteristics of your well water, it is hard to answer the question (how much of which chemicals) in detail. Any chance you will have a test kit available to look at the well water, before you have to make your bulk chemical purchases? Yes, you will need stabilizer (CYA), salt for your SWG system, and a source of chlorine. But you don't know yet what you may want to adjust in terms of pH, calcium levels, alkalinity, possible metals in the fill water...

If you can test the fill water before committing to actually filling the pool, you'll be more likely to buy what you actually need. On the other hand, the pool may well be filling itself as you wait -- you mentioned rain being a big problem during construction -- are you looking at a green pond yet? If you already have green water in the pool, your chlorine needs will be much higher initially than if you're starting with clean fill water. Water under an empty pool shell is also a concern, of course, which argues against keeping the pool empty for any length of time.