Hi All..
I've poked my head in here on and off for a while and finally decided to join when I had a question to ask about SWG replacements..
So here's my story. I grew up with a pools at various times in my life and so did my wife, so it was fated that we would end up with a pool at some point. When I bought this house it had an existing 10ish yr old in-ground, gunite pool with an attached in-ground spa, waterfall, and dark plaster that wasn't so dark anymore. I nursed the original DE filter, pumps and spa heater for as long as I could. Eventually a family of rodents took up residence in the spa heater, the DE can was prone to popping open and spraying DE all over unsuspecting bystanders, and the pumps were getting way too old and grumpy.. so I planned for a complete redo/overhaul and makeover. Everything was well past its prime and much newer technology was out there.
So.. I never understood why the pool equipment was placed where it was .. well I did, it was the laziest place for the installers to put it, right in the middle of the back yard activity.. so I decided to relocated it. I busted up the old slab.. dug down to the pipes, trenched to a more secluded location, poured a new slab, and brought the pipes up next to slabs, not through the concrete as they were before. Next we put in StayRite Cartridge filter, Heater, and pump. New Polaris pool sweep and Pump and a GoldLine/Hayward Turbo T Cell-15 SWG. The old control box was the only thing I kept really. It was a nice DIY project for the fall/winter between swim seasons. Everything was planned to the finest detail. All precautions were reviewed. I sought out the counsel everyone I could think of.. Well except I forgot to pay homage to Aristotle. You see water and gravity has this odd dance it likes to do, like seeking its own level. I was so immersed in my new pipes... I forgot that the old pipes were below the level of the water in the pool, by a little bit ..so when I cut into the old pipes to splice them into the new pipes.. you got it.. there was much hoopin', hollarin' and cursin' when my new trench slowly filled with water. As quick as I could I duct taped the spewing cut in the PVC ala a scene from "Das Boot" and I ripped open the box with the new pool pump and wired up and glued together a temporary pumping Rube Goldberg to lower the water level in the pool by about a foot and a half. but other than that...
We had a virtually new pool.. The kids especially liked that I used the old recirculating pump for the water fall.. it was like Niagara! I could now heat the whole pool for about what it used to cost to heat the spa (If I wanted to). And I loved the SWG for how it made the water less toxic for swimming and how easy it was to maintain. No more backwashing DE either. And area for the old pool pump, became a raised vegetable garden.
So its been 9 years and now I'm shopping for a new SWG cell and this time I decided to join and ask a few questions. .. So thanks retroactively to all for the help over the years.
Mark
I've poked my head in here on and off for a while and finally decided to join when I had a question to ask about SWG replacements..
So here's my story. I grew up with a pools at various times in my life and so did my wife, so it was fated that we would end up with a pool at some point. When I bought this house it had an existing 10ish yr old in-ground, gunite pool with an attached in-ground spa, waterfall, and dark plaster that wasn't so dark anymore. I nursed the original DE filter, pumps and spa heater for as long as I could. Eventually a family of rodents took up residence in the spa heater, the DE can was prone to popping open and spraying DE all over unsuspecting bystanders, and the pumps were getting way too old and grumpy.. so I planned for a complete redo/overhaul and makeover. Everything was well past its prime and much newer technology was out there.
So.. I never understood why the pool equipment was placed where it was .. well I did, it was the laziest place for the installers to put it, right in the middle of the back yard activity.. so I decided to relocated it. I busted up the old slab.. dug down to the pipes, trenched to a more secluded location, poured a new slab, and brought the pipes up next to slabs, not through the concrete as they were before. Next we put in StayRite Cartridge filter, Heater, and pump. New Polaris pool sweep and Pump and a GoldLine/Hayward Turbo T Cell-15 SWG. The old control box was the only thing I kept really. It was a nice DIY project for the fall/winter between swim seasons. Everything was planned to the finest detail. All precautions were reviewed. I sought out the counsel everyone I could think of.. Well except I forgot to pay homage to Aristotle. You see water and gravity has this odd dance it likes to do, like seeking its own level. I was so immersed in my new pipes... I forgot that the old pipes were below the level of the water in the pool, by a little bit ..so when I cut into the old pipes to splice them into the new pipes.. you got it.. there was much hoopin', hollarin' and cursin' when my new trench slowly filled with water. As quick as I could I duct taped the spewing cut in the PVC ala a scene from "Das Boot" and I ripped open the box with the new pool pump and wired up and glued together a temporary pumping Rube Goldberg to lower the water level in the pool by about a foot and a half. but other than that...
We had a virtually new pool.. The kids especially liked that I used the old recirculating pump for the water fall.. it was like Niagara! I could now heat the whole pool for about what it used to cost to heat the spa (If I wanted to). And I loved the SWG for how it made the water less toxic for swimming and how easy it was to maintain. No more backwashing DE either. And area for the old pool pump, became a raised vegetable garden.
So its been 9 years and now I'm shopping for a new SWG cell and this time I decided to join and ask a few questions. .. So thanks retroactively to all for the help over the years.
Mark
BTW, 9 years is awesome for a cell