New SoCal IG shotcrete pool build - equipment set, Final Inspection Passed, Pebble Done! Salt added. Back deck in process

[Ahultin]

I am leaning towards the skimmer being the #1 source with the waterfall a close 2nd Now to find a way to stop both of them........Ask you PB what they put on the trough and inside the skimmer to water proof them and we will go from there.

Supposedly he will be here tomorrow with a crew so we shall see

 

[Ahultin]

As the water level drops I can clearly see there is water being lost at the skimmer. The big question for me now is where is this water going and do I need to be concerned??

 

[Newdude]

Hard to know for sure. It may be a small cavity back there, still encased in concrete and only taking a little water, or it could be finding its way out somewhere behind the structure at a slow pace.

A dye test would let you know if it's constantly draining at least. Hopefully. They are a bit tricky to get right.

 

[Ahultin]

Hard to know for sure. It may be a small cavity back there, still encased in concrete and only taking a little water, or it could be finding its way out somewhere behind the structure at a slow pace.

A dye test would let you know if it's constantly draining at least. Hopefully. They are a bit tricky to get right.

The reason we started looking is that we have used about 6000 gallons more of water in the last month than normal and the autofill was running nonstop. On top of that the salinity per the taylor test had dropped from @3600 to @2400 over that same period.

 

[kimkats]

Pull up your build pics and look for before the shell was shot and after the shell was shot by the skimmer.

 

[Ahultin]

Before
After but before it was jackhammered out

Skimmer replaced

Skimmer was backfilled with concrete at the same time the deck was poured (which I understand to be a potential issue as Skimmer is now coupled with the deck and shell both)

 

[kimkats]

Those are some great money shots right there. So the shots inside the skimmer shows some MAJOR voids! Those need to be addressed and fast as THAT is where you water is going. Now where is it going? Right now it is just finding any where it can go. As it keeps going it may cause problems down the road by eroding the "path" where it is going aka under the decking

Where are you on money with him?

Make sure to get ALL of this in writing. Your concerns WITH pictures to back them up. Let us know what he says.

 

[Newdude]

The reason we started looking is that we have used about 6000 gallons more of water in the last month than normal and the autofill was running nonstop

Then it's alot more likely. Get in there with with a syringe and food coloring. Be as still as you can and a little squirt in the area should get sucked in if it's constantly leaking.

There are some dye test vids on the forum if you search.

 

[Ahultin]

Surprise surprise, pb was a no show . With the autofill off water level dropped to about half an inch above the bottom of the tile line which also happens to correspond with the top of where the Pebble seals the skimmer so I am certain that is at least one source of the leak. In the full sun today level only dropped about another 1/4 inch which I would expect to be normal evap. With the pool at its current level the skimmer is worthless and I don't want to continue wasting water. I dug in and did some research and picked up this hydraulic cement
I am planning to use a dremel or the likes to score out the interface then force this in to attempt to seal the leak. Sound like the right path?

 

[Ahultin]

I also have a chemistry question:
Ch has been drifting down from @300 and is currently @225. Pool math shows that I should add calcium but I know our fill water is @200ppm with a ta of 110, should I just leave it be or add calcium?

 

[wireform]

The fact your fill water is 200 that makes no difference because you're filling back due to a leak which means you're losing the CH with the water. Your concern would make sense only if the loss was strictly evaporation then you're adding CH on to the previous amount in the water.

 

[Newdude]

The fact your fill water is 200 that makes no difference because you're filling back due to a leak which means you're losing the CH with the water. Your concern would make sense only if the loss was strictly evaporation then you're adding CH on to the previous amount in the water.

I think his concern is due to the high CH fill water raising the CH down the road after this is fixed. So why add now if it's going to go up on its own later ?

@Ahultin. I am no calcium pro as a vinyl person but I believe you'll want to let it be for now to extend the future drain/ CH lowering date.

 

[Ahultin]

I think his concern is due to the high CH fill water raising the CH down the road after this is fixed. So why add now if it's going to go up on its own later ?

@Ahultin. I am no calcium pro as a vinyl person but I believe you'll want to let it be for now to extend the future drain/ CH lowering date.

That is correct, I'm anticipating resolving the leak, hopefully today while the water level is down. Once the leak is resolved, if the high ch fill is going to slowly raise the ch ultimately to a point of requiring water exchange I don't want to accelerate that process.

 

[Ahultin]

Still no PB today so after work I started in on the skimmer. I used a diamond blade on my angle grinder to score the surface (my better half was none too pleased with the use of power tools in close proximity to water so "don't try this at home") I then taped off the skimmer openeling as best I could with duct tape, cause that's what I had lol, and proceeded to force the mixed drylok into the cavity. At this point it "looks" sealed . Per the container, the drylok hardens in 5 minutes but as water flows by the repair I'll give it a few more hours to dry then start filling. One highly annoying thing that letting the water level drop this far illustrated is that my tile line is not infact level. The raised bond beam side of the pool the water is still slightly over the bottom of the tile while the area near the skimmer there is about 3/8" of pebble showing. Knowing this hurts my brain

 

[Newdude]

Knowing this hurts my brain

Because I'm a good friend like that, I'll give you something else to see which can't be unseen.

 

[Cena_sea]

I'm not sure what would be a minimum calcium level for plaster but for fill water to be 200 ch in CA that seems pretty high so I'd be wary of adding calcium. Our CH generally has been mostly drifting downward but here the fill water is much lower.

 

[kimkats]

LOL on the not level tile....................just look away...........no one else will even see it or know so it is all good! YOU will not notice once you are floating with a an adult drink in your hand!

Good job on the fix in the skimmer. I LIKE how you are waiting for it to dry good before adding the water back. Now if needed think about putting something over that like the flex seal stuff down the road. I wonder if you can color it?

 

[Ahultin]

Pb finally showed up to "review" punchlist. Leak detection company is coming out next Friday and dependant on thier findings he will send his guys to finish that and the punchlist. On one hand this has become painfully slow, on the other, we have a usable pool so there's that lol.
Tile job has not moved as full paying jobs have taken precedent.
2 funny incidents occurred this week
1. Pb commented on how clear our water looked and was surprised that we did not have more calcium deposits forming on the rockwork +1 for tfp and 5 minutes or so of daily testing!
2. Pool guy that did the startup called me for advise on equipment hookup for one of our pb's pools . For some odd reason the pb thought using the new pentair vsf pumps that use the pentair home app in combination with an easy touch 4 and an intelliconnect would be a great system

 

[kimkats]

This needs more that one emoji!

on the almost done

: on the clear water and no build up!

on them calling you for help

 

[Ahultin]

A technician from American Leak detection came out today and pressure tested "most" of the lines (he did not test between the main drain and skimmer) and found none to be leaking which does not make sense. If I accept that the bubbles coming out of the first return are from the swg, what could be creating the bubble in the pump lid?