Help please!....did I ruin my new pool?

[sheronc]

We have an IG quartz aggregate pool filling right now. It was plastered on Thursday. It wasn't until 30 minutes ago that I read in a pamphlet that we should not fill the pool with water running through a softener. Now what do we do? There are currently 32,000 gallons of soft water resting on my new plaster. Please tell me I didn't just wreck my brand new pool!

Also, the PB won't be coming to do the indoctrination until Thursday...5 days after the pool has been filled. Is this a problem? He is bringing the brush so I don't know whether or not it is a problem waiting 5 days to begin brushing. Any advice?

 

[JohnT]

It would also be very unusual for an outdoor faucet to be plumbed through the softener. They are usually tapped into the line before the softener. But even if it is, unless you stopped to let the softener recharge frequently, it's unlikely that very much of the water is softened. Household softeners don't have that kind of capacity.

 

[TizMe]

Welcome to TFP !
There is an article in New Plaster Start-up that specifically mentions not to fill your pool on start up with softened water but does not explain why. I didnt read it completely just skimmed through it.

Someone who can explain why or knows more will respond to your post shortly. In the mean time perhaps you could read the article and do a search and see if you can come up with anything about it.


Good Luck !

 

[JasonLion]

You should get some water test results right away and post them. You can't leave the pool sitting for five days without doing at least some basic water balancing and adding chlorine.

If you did somehow use soft water it is easily fixed. But you need test results to see where you are to know if there is something you need to do. Soft water has very low CH levels, which can dissolve too much CH out of the plaster and give it a rough surface. This is easily fixed by adding CH, but you don't want to add any CH unless the CH level is actually too low. As JohnT said, it is unlikely you could have actually filled with softened water.

New plaster start up also requires keeping the PH under control at all times and you always need to be adding chlorine.

 

[sheronc]

If my levels are off am I allowed to add anything while the pump is not running? I am not allowed to turn it on until the PB comes. Otherwise it voids the warranty.

 

[gregg123]

I did the same thing. I filled my pool and after a month I went and got the water tested at the pool store and they said the hardness was way off. I bought 20lb of the hardener and put it in the water like they said and brought the levels back up. My softener is at the water entry line so even the outdoor faucets get the soft water. Is my plaster rougher than it would have been? I will never know because I have nothing to compare it to. It seems fine.

When I add water to the pool now, I just turn the bypass valves on the softener so regular hard water goes into the pool. I cant believe PB's dont ask us if we have soft water before we start filling the pools. I would have thought soft water would be best. Guess we are wrong.