Should I purchase water or try to use water from my lake?

[Hulligan]

Hey everyone! Last year you all were so helpful to this newbie...we had bought a pool that hadn't been opened in years (and was filled with a thriving ecosystem of frogs, toads & salamanders!) and taught us how to clean, SLAM, and enjoy our watery hole in the ground. Thanks so much---I have raved about you guys to anyone I meet with a pool, and to everyone who came over and asked how we got it so clean!

This year...we need to replace the liner. Hopefully, that will happen in a week or two. Next question...how to fill it with water? We are on a well that's isn't deep enough to fill (and produces very metallic water) so our options are either truck it in (at a cosy of about $1200) or rent a pump and pump it in from a lake about 40 feet from the pool. The lake is not super deep.

I've read a couple of threads here on this topic, but I am still not sure what direction to go in. $1200 is a lot, but I don't want to spend a ton of $$$ on chemistry cleaning up lake water. When someone trucks in water...is it usually clean? Where does it usually come from? Can I filter lake water before it hits the pool...and if so, how? I can't turn my pool filter on until the pool is full, sooo....?

Any advice or experiences is most appreciated! Thanks so much!!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You might want to test the lake water to see what the pH, TA and CH levels are. It would be nice to filter it but any small scale filter you attach to the discharge hose will quickly clog up. So if you were to use it, you'd have to fill the pool and then spend a lot of time & money cleaning it up.

Truck water typically comes from the nearest municipal supply and the company trucking it in should give a guarantee of chemical levels (especially for $1200!!). They won't add chlorine to it but they should give a guaranteed pH, TA and CH. It should also be metal free. Typically trucked in water volumes are limited because, at ~8lbs/gal, water is very heavy to transport and roadway weight limitation make hauling it difficult and costly.

 

[Leebo]

If you pump it from a lake I'd look into any algaecides they may have used in the past. There have been a small amount of users filling with lake water who ended up with high metal levels due to this.