Hi. I am in the process of installing an auto fill in my new/old pool. I can plumb the auto fill either with hard water (15 - 17.5 grains/gal; 250 - 300 ppm) or softened water (or I suppose I could even blend it). One thought was to initially fill with hard and get the calcium levels right, and autofill with the softened water thereafter holding the calcium level in the pool constant. I live in Phoenix so there will be significant evaporation. I am about to have the pool resurfaced, likely pebble shean and am considering a SWCG system (27K gal so thinking 40k sizing on SWCG). Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
Auto fill with hard or softened water
- Thread starter kpischel
- Start date
Plumb it to the Soft water.
If you need to replace a larger amount of water (not the evaporation top up) then you can hit the bypass on the Softner while you fill.
Since an AZ autofill works a little more consistently than most, you will reap the rewards of not jacking up your CH over time.
If you need to replace a larger amount of water (not the evaporation top up) then you can hit the bypass on the Softner while you fill.
Since an AZ autofill works a little more consistently than most, you will reap the rewards of not jacking up your CH over time.
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,761
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
I recently re plumbed mine so that it now has the auto fill connected to the water softener. The water here in AZ has high CH and the rapid evaporation makes it even worse. I was seeing CH levels over 1,000 after a couple years with out draining, so last time I drained it, I also changed the plumbing. It has helped, but doesn't eliminate the problem.
Well, I'm new to pools but am surprised that it continues to be a problem since no new CH is being added and evaporation is offset by softened water... how does it rise? Anyway, chiefwej, do you end up going through lots of salt in the softener (assuming you use a salt softener)... just something you live with...?
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,761
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
It did increase my salt use for the softner, but not near as much as I had expected. The short answer is I don't know how the CH continues to rise. My guess is that the softner doesn't eliminate all calcium from the water.
Chief, test the softened water. That will tell you if there is any residual CH after Softener does it's work.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,379
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Ion exchange membranes reduce the amount of calcium in the water, they do not eliminate it. Also, the amount of calcium removed from the water is not constant but varies based on how close you are to a regeneration cycle.
Other sources of calcium include the plaster surface itself if your CSI is too negative and any soft rock water features.
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I did what you are proposing, tap to fill and softened to auto-fill. Calcium was 7-800 from the start. If you can run a hose from the soft water spigot and another from the pre-softener tap, do a blend. Or add 1000 gallons from the tap, then the recharge amount from your softener (1200 gallons) and do tap again while it recharges overnight.
A typical home softener should reduce the hardness all the way down to <3 Grains Per Gallon,(About 51 PPM TH) and it should do this for the entire run. This is with optimal performance. If your Auto fill demands water between cycles, you'll be putting in straight hard water. So these are some reasons you still get CH in the pool with a softener.
I've used my taylor kit to test the softened tap the night after a recharge, and it's still 40, so that's about right. We did a partial drain this spring so the PB could repair some tile, and I refilled it with softened water. The Calcium is now around 600.
Don't forget blowing dust as a source of calcium in arid areas. There's a reason gypsum mines are out there.