Fiberglass Pool Installation

[pagillan]

Hello ALL:

Doing research and investigation for possible pool installation in a coastal area, Southern New Jersey. From experience I know that we have a high water table. Recent construction required use of well points so that we could lay cement foundation on our home. Planning on adding a fiberglass pool -12'x 16' - 500-gal. I know we will need well points to get the hole dug and prepped. Do have a few questions. Our location is about 200' from the bay. Here are my questions:

- I know we will need a dewatering system installed. Will a dewatering system need constant pumping or only when we would need to drain the pool which I hope would be never? I know the town would never allow ground water in the sanitary system. Do pool owners just pump the ground water wherever?

- Should I make gravel the preferred backfill even though we are digging in sand? I have read that sand allows for too much settling.

Your thoughts and comments are much appreciated.

PAG

 

[VinceL]

We had a fiberglass pool installed in the fall of 2012. We're in NC a couple of hundred miles from the ocean so our ground/soil conditions are quite different from yours.

Because of buried electric cable and our septic drainage field, we had to install our pool on a pretty steep slope. Even though our PB normally didn't install wellpoints, I insisted that one be installed. With a fiberglass pool, if you ever need to drain it and there is a lot of ground water around the pool, you may be in for a problem. The pool could pop up or the force of the water outside the pool could cause the fiberglass walls to start to cave in. I've checked the wellpoint a couple of times, and it has been dry. Given your location and high water table, you may have to dewater on a regular basis. Anybody near you have an inground pool that you could talk to? I would definitely recommend talking to multiple PB's to get their opinions.

Our PB normally backfills with sand, but I insisted on gravel for exactly the reason you stated.

Good luck with your pool install, and be sure to post pictures of your progress.

 

[pagillan]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Will keep you posted. PAG