Ready to order pool, a few questions

[mithesaint]

I'm getting ready to order my first "real" pool, and I'm just trying to make sure I get everything right on the equipment side of things. I've done enough reading to make my head spin around three times, and I think I'm ready, but wanted to run stuff past people with more experience first.

I'm going to be getting a Sharkline Venture 27' x 54" pool from pool supply world. I'm going to spring for the Pacific Diamond 25 gauge liner, along with the liner pad for underneath the liner. We have nutsedge here, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm also going with the cove moulding, but going to skip the wall foam. There will eventually be a deck around the pool, and I'd like to eventually have the wedding cake style steps, but until the deck gets built (later this year or next spring) I'm going to try to find a used ladder on Craigslist for the time being.

I'm leaning towards the Pentair Clean and Clear 150 sq ft cartridge filter with the 1.5 HP dual speed pump. I want to use a cartridge filter because I'm on a well with VERY hard water, and have been told that I'll have to add water after backwashing a sand filter, so I'm trying to stay away from adding well water unless I absolutely have to. The price tag on that filter combo makes my eyes water. Is there anything that is a better option for me? If not, I'll cough up the cash.

I'm not sure about a vacuum yet, but am leaning towards a robotic cleaner. My pool should stay relatively clean because I'm out in the middle of nowhere with few trees to make a mess. Might add that later.

Better filter options? Any other suggestions? Going to order the test kit the same day I order the pool.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kimkats]

LOL I ordered my test kit FIRST! I wanted to make sure I could do it before I spent the money on the pool! It is SO easy!

Bigger is better for filters so you look like you are good!

Have you looked into a way to harvest rain water to put in your pool? Might be something you will want to look into.

Kim

 

[duraleigh]

I do not think a cartridge filter will help your water hardness......in fact the opposite.

The CH in your water continues to build over time in a pool. It doesn't evaporate but the water does and then you add more CH when you refill.

Backwashing, on the other hand, removes water and CH from your pool so actually helps lower CH although the amount would be not very significant.

 

[mithesaint]

Any idea how often I'll have to add water? Its pretty humid here, rains regularly, and I'm planning on keeping the solar cover on when I'm not using the pool. I can potentially collect rainwater if needed.

I'm having water trucked in from a better source so that should improve the hardness situation at the beginning. I was under the impression that sand filers would force me to top off the pool more frequently because of the back flushing. Is that not the case?

Thanks again

 

[Pool Tool]

Short of an algae bloom or having significant debris/material getting into the pool, backwashing is fairly infrequent. Monthly maybe - hard to tell. But I can't recall the last time I needed to backwash mine. My pool is surrounded by a giant oak and 40' pine tree, both are dirty. Since you are out in the middle of nowhere, without algae, you might only backwash a few times a season.

If you start with city water and have a vinyl liner it will take a lot of top offs with your high hardness water to make any discernable difference let alone something that would require a partial drain. I lose about 1-1.5 inches of water when I do backwash though, but it beats cleaning out the cartridges from what I read.

 

[mithesaint]

Interesting. Should I go with the sand filter instead? Its $350 cheaper and then I don't have to buy cartridges.

 

[pooldv]

Seems to me that sand is easier maintenance. My next filter will probably be sand.

 

[kimkats]

I LOVE my sand filter. I had a cartridge filter before and a sand filter now. I will ALWAYS have a sand filter now! It is SO much easier!

Kim

 

[f3justusc]

Reading the forum over the last few years, it seems if you get the right cartridge filter and the right filters, you don't have to clean them very often. A sand filter will have to be backwashed and if you are like me, you will almost always backwash too much. You also have to rinse the filter after the backwash, which dumps more water. If you are at all concerned, I would suggest looking into a larger, good quality cartridge filter.

 

[Bronzeback5]

I would get the sand filter and spend $40 of the saved money on an Ecoone hose filter for your refills. Our water turned nasty brown with iron just a few weeks before we put up our pool, some of the worst water we've had in the 20 years I've lived here. We used the ecoone filter and there was little to no visible iron. That filter saved our butts.