Hello. I am new to TFP! This site is great. I’ve been reading for hours each night. This is my first pool so please forgive my ignorance.
I purchased a used AG Doughboy (Tuscany) 24’ round pool that has 48” steel sidewalls, uniform depth – 13,500 gallons. I have a liner coming this week. I buried the pool a little. 12” on one side and 19” on the other as my land is a bit out of level.
Backfill
1) How should I backfill around this pool after I fill it with water?
1a) The water table is not high here, so I am not too concerned about any water sitting yet don’t want to worry about the sidewall rusting. (The pool is all resin except for the sidewall and stabilizer rails). The dealer mentioned pea gravel. I don’t want to deal with that if I ever need to replace the liner. I also can’t imagine I need a slurry for 12 – 19”. I am planning on just backfilling with the existing black dirt. Any concerns?
1b) I thought about some sort of insulation on the outside walls, but I think that would hold water between the sidewall and insulation even worse.
Chemicals
2) I have read through the pool school and can’t find details on how to start out the initial balancing of the pool. I’ve read the seasonal guide, http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/temporary_pool_guide, but think there may be some difference since I have a 1.5hp/2hp pump and 250lb sand filter. My city water is 7.3 pH. I plan to fill a few inches to set the overlap liner and then have the firetrucks come in.
2a) Step 1 pH level = 7.3. I should be good on pH (7.2 – 7.8 range) or should I shoot for 7.5? I will test Chlorine soon (ordering TF-100), but assuming trace - low to 0 in city drinking water.
2b) Step 2 13,500 gallons
2c) Step 3 168 oz bleach (6%) if chlorine is 0. I assume I can skip this based on step 5 (adding dichlor) since it will be too cold for several days. I will have bleach on hand for each day after.
2d) Step 4 add 28 oz of Borax to get up to pH7.5. I assume ph 7.3 is good enough and I can skip this for now, but will monitor daily. Dichlor (pool shock) is 1lb per 2,000 gallons. So 13,500/2,000 = 6.75 lbs of dichlor.
2e) Step 5 - the first four days add one ounce of dichlor for every 500 gallons of water (13500 gallons /500 gallons = 27 oz) * 4 nights = 108 oz of dichlor. (108 oz/16oz/lb = 6.75 lbs). Then stop!
2f) Since I have a larger filter and pump, do I need Polyquat 60?
Theoretically I only need 6.75 lbs of dichlor for the filling. Then some bleach for chlorine and either borax or(baking soda after that, pending other issues, right?
Pump
3) The pool came with a Doughboy 2hp pump and a 1.5hp Pentair Dynamo high performance pump. The Doughboy has a timer. The timer is broken, but the pump still works. That’s why they bought the Pentair. The Pentair doesn’t have a timer. I haven’t read through calculating pump times yet so not sure if one of these is better for my setup and if I need to run 24/7.
3a) Please suggest a pump for my setup.
3b) Also do I need to run 24/7?
3c) Do you just buy a cheap timer if not?
Filter
4) Aqua Star high rate 250lb sand filter. 22” diameter tank. 2.6 sq ft of filtration. 35 PSI max working pressure. 55 GPM Filtration and Backwash flow rate. #20 silica sand.
4a) Do I need to buy pool sand or does #20 silica sand translate to something like masonry sand? I am going to be at the sand pit anyway to get sand for under the pool, so thought I could grab some if it is ok.
Thanks so much for all the valuable information and for answering my questions.
PS - I initially wanted to go SWG and have read many comforting inputs on this site, but was hesitating due to all the manufacturer warnings. I was close to going that route, then I read on this site that keeping your pool properly balanced will avoid the negative connotations of using straight chlorine.
I purchased a used AG Doughboy (Tuscany) 24’ round pool that has 48” steel sidewalls, uniform depth – 13,500 gallons. I have a liner coming this week. I buried the pool a little. 12” on one side and 19” on the other as my land is a bit out of level.
Backfill
1) How should I backfill around this pool after I fill it with water?
1a) The water table is not high here, so I am not too concerned about any water sitting yet don’t want to worry about the sidewall rusting. (The pool is all resin except for the sidewall and stabilizer rails). The dealer mentioned pea gravel. I don’t want to deal with that if I ever need to replace the liner. I also can’t imagine I need a slurry for 12 – 19”. I am planning on just backfilling with the existing black dirt. Any concerns?
1b) I thought about some sort of insulation on the outside walls, but I think that would hold water between the sidewall and insulation even worse.
Chemicals
2) I have read through the pool school and can’t find details on how to start out the initial balancing of the pool. I’ve read the seasonal guide, http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/temporary_pool_guide, but think there may be some difference since I have a 1.5hp/2hp pump and 250lb sand filter. My city water is 7.3 pH. I plan to fill a few inches to set the overlap liner and then have the firetrucks come in.
2a) Step 1 pH level = 7.3. I should be good on pH (7.2 – 7.8 range) or should I shoot for 7.5? I will test Chlorine soon (ordering TF-100), but assuming trace - low to 0 in city drinking water.
2b) Step 2 13,500 gallons
2c) Step 3 168 oz bleach (6%) if chlorine is 0. I assume I can skip this based on step 5 (adding dichlor) since it will be too cold for several days. I will have bleach on hand for each day after.
2d) Step 4 add 28 oz of Borax to get up to pH7.5. I assume ph 7.3 is good enough and I can skip this for now, but will monitor daily. Dichlor (pool shock) is 1lb per 2,000 gallons. So 13,500/2,000 = 6.75 lbs of dichlor.
2e) Step 5 - the first four days add one ounce of dichlor for every 500 gallons of water (13500 gallons /500 gallons = 27 oz) * 4 nights = 108 oz of dichlor. (108 oz/16oz/lb = 6.75 lbs). Then stop!
2f) Since I have a larger filter and pump, do I need Polyquat 60?
Theoretically I only need 6.75 lbs of dichlor for the filling. Then some bleach for chlorine and either borax or(baking soda after that, pending other issues, right?
Pump
3) The pool came with a Doughboy 2hp pump and a 1.5hp Pentair Dynamo high performance pump. The Doughboy has a timer. The timer is broken, but the pump still works. That’s why they bought the Pentair. The Pentair doesn’t have a timer. I haven’t read through calculating pump times yet so not sure if one of these is better for my setup and if I need to run 24/7.
3a) Please suggest a pump for my setup.
3b) Also do I need to run 24/7?
3c) Do you just buy a cheap timer if not?
Filter
4) Aqua Star high rate 250lb sand filter. 22” diameter tank. 2.6 sq ft of filtration. 35 PSI max working pressure. 55 GPM Filtration and Backwash flow rate. #20 silica sand.
4a) Do I need to buy pool sand or does #20 silica sand translate to something like masonry sand? I am going to be at the sand pit anyway to get sand for under the pool, so thought I could grab some if it is ok.
Thanks so much for all the valuable information and for answering my questions.
PS - I initially wanted to go SWG and have read many comforting inputs on this site, but was hesitating due to all the manufacturer warnings. I was close to going that route, then I read on this site that keeping your pool properly balanced will avoid the negative connotations of using straight chlorine.