Calling Indoor Pool Peeps

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Eddie&Lynn

Eddie&Lynn

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Bronze Supporter
May 7, 2017
17
Bowie, MD
Hi All,

Our house, which we bought about a year and a half ago has an indoor lap pool, which we love. We are finding that there are some unique issues when it comes to maintaining an indoor pool and would like to interact with other indoor pool owners when it comes to those unique issues.

First, I’m wondering how many of us there are. I’d be grateful if indoor pool owners would post a reply to this post or, if you’re shy, please send me a friend request.

I have a few questions about winter use and whether people have opted to enclose their equipment if it is outside.

Also, we keep our CYA at about 0. What do you do about CYA and do you think we’ll run into trouble with that? Our FC seems pretty stable, but maybe there’s something else we need to consider.

Thanks much!
Eddie&Lynn
 
You can still use some cya, think of it as buffering the harsh chlorine. I believe Richard Falk recommends 20-30 ppm.

Ozone helps in the oxidation process in an indoor pool as well. Another great product is cover free, while it’s not great for outdoor pools it’s amazing on indoor ones. It cuts down on moisture build up on glass or walls.
 
I can join your club! Like you, I didn't build my indoor pool, but I bought the house 3 hours after it was listed for sale....the indoor pool sold me. Always always always wanted that. It is a full size pool, not a lap. I keep a gallon of muratic acid, and a gallon of bleach handy. I add the MA about a cup every other day. And the bleach to supplement my swg only when I have a heavy bather load. I keep my swg on the lowest setting. And that is literally all the weekly maintenance we need. I add the de-icing pellets about once a month to raise my Calcium so my plaster stays intact. I do add some cya about once a quarter or so. I test using the recommended test set that I bought from TFP. I have def found that all the "pool professionals" in my area are pretty clueless about indoor pools, so I have chosen to ignore all pool stores, and have taught myself (thanks to TFP!!) to be my own pool expert.

I have double patio doors on three of my walls, and I live in Louisiana, so I keep those doors open maybe 9 months out of the year. That GREATLY helps with humidity. But even with the humidity in check, I have found that I cannot keep anything metal in there. Like chairs etc.

My equipment is outside, as that is how it was built. I wouldn't change that. But the overflow hot tub bypass is also outside, so I have to go outside to turn the hot tub jets on....that I would have changed if I had built it. Not sure how it could be changed now, without a second mortgage!

My pool gets used by swimmers in general maybe 4-5 days a week. But I use my daily to workout.

While I am not a true expert, I have learned everything I know right here.

THANK YOU TROUBLE FREE POOL.......YOU GUYS ROCK!!
 
Hi Pool Medic,

I know nothing about using ozone or cover free. Looks like I have some research to do. As for CYA, we do keep a chlorine tablet in the pool and will slam with powder that also includes CYA, so we're probably not completely at zero.

When you say buffer the chlorine, what do you mean?

We keep our FC at around 2 because only 2 adults swim in the pool and we shower before getting in. We are a bit over vigilant about cleanliness so that we don't have to use as much chlorine, not because we want to save money, but because it's not pleasant to swim in an overly chlorinated pool.

With respect to moisture build up on glass and walls, we had a real problem with this last year, but we solved it by buying a dehumidifier this year. We run the dehumidifier's condensate hose back to the pool, so that has helped with water loss. With the dehumidifier, we've been able to keep the humidity in the pool house to 55-60%, which has eliminated condensate on the windows and mold growth on the walls. All in all, it's been a good solution for us.
 
Your post has got me wondering, if I raise the calcium in my pool to the high end of normal, I'm wondering if that would keep the water from freezing in winter in the equipment outside when the temperature dips to the 20s.

Last winter we kept the pump running 24 hours during the coldest winter months to prevent freezing and I'd prefer not to do that if I don't have to.

Trouble Free Pool has been a lifesaver for us. Agreed, they do rock!!:kim:
 
i run my pump 24/7 as well. no particular reason, other than that was how it was built. i keep my calcium higher due to old plaster. that stuff will spot up something awful if you let your CH drift down. the de-icing pellets on amazon is super cheap. we have super mild winters, so i cannot even buy it locally. it would be a miracle for my water to freeze, but since i heat the pool and circulate it perpetually, i'm sure there's no way it would freeze.

i have considered a dehumidifier but so far it is rare that we would need it. the entire pool room is vinyl siding, walls and ceiling.
 
Eddie&Lynn said:
H
We keep our FC at around 2 because only 2 adults swim in the pool and we shower before getting in. We are a bit over vigilant about cleanliness so that we don't have to use as much chlorine, not because we want to save money, but because it's not pleasant to swim in an overly chlorinated pool.
Click to expand...

From New Thinking: Chlorine/Cyanuric Acid In Balance - AQUA Magazine

at 4 ppm of free chlorine with 30 ppm of CYA at a pH of 7.5 that swimmers are exposed only to 0.112 free chlorine (4.0 ppm × 0.028 = 0.112 ppm). In contrast, at even 1.0 ppm free chlorine without CYA results in an exposure of 1 ppm of free chlorine. So having CYA in the water results in an exposure to chlorine 10 times less than without it.

From https://www.troublefreepool.com/~richardfalk/pool/HOCl.htm
2018-10-01_1242.jpg

HOCL is the disinfecting chlorine. Add CYA and you reduce your actual CL exposure while you have CL in reserve bound to the CYA if it is needed.

If you really want to dig into the deep go to Pool Water Chemistry
 
What type of dehumidifier to you have? We are planning to build an addition to our house with an indoor pool (Hydrozone E-Viking Pool model) and are looking at actual pool dehumidification systems. They are rather pricey, so open to seeing what others have done that works.
 
ppierce2nm said:
What type of dehumidifier to you have? We are planning to build an addition to our house with an indoor pool (Hydrozone E-Viking Pool model) and are looking at actual pool dehumidification systems. They are rather pricey, so open to seeing what others have done that works.
Click to expand...

Hi ppierce we bought a dehumidifier from our local Costco. It's a whirlpool 70 pint dehumidifier with pump, which we use to route the condensate back into the pool. It's probably not as effective as a system designed for indoor pools, but it is doing what we need it to do.

Without the dehumidifier, we were getting condensate on the windows and cedar planks of the pool house. The cedar planks were starting to mold from the moisture. Opening windows didn't help. We were also losing a lot of water from the pool. With the dehumidifier, we don't have those problems any more. There is no more condensate on the windows, which we now keep closed (the dehumidifier works better that way). The cedar plank walls are not moist and there's no mold.

With the one dehumidifier the pool house stays between 55-60% humidity. Next summer, we may buy a second dehumidifier so that each dehumidifier has a little bit less of a load and maybe we can get the humidity down to 50%.
 

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ajw22 said:
From New Thinking: Chlorine/Cyanuric Acid In Balance - AQUA Magazine

at 4 ppm of free chlorine with 30 ppm of CYA at a pH of 7.5 that swimmers are exposed only to 0.112 free chlorine (4.0 ppm × 0.028 = 0.112 ppm). In contrast, at even 1.0 ppm free chlorine without CYA results in an exposure of 1 ppm of free chlorine. So having CYA in the water results in an exposure to chlorine 10 times less than without it.

From https://www.troublefreepool.com/~richardfalk/pool/HOCl.htm
View attachment 87170

HOCL is the disinfecting chlorine. Add CYA and you reduce your actual CL exposure while you have CL in reserve bound to the CYA if it is needed.

If you really want to dig into the deep go to Pool Water Chemistry
Click to expand...

Thank you for that information. That is good to know. We are using chlorine tablets and occasionally toss in some powdered product that has CYA in it, so we will eventually build up our CYA.

We had measurable CYA last year, but at one point, a lot of water had evaporated out of the pool when we weren't using it and we refilled with well water--almost to overflowing (oops). After that, CYA became unmeasurable.

- - - Updated - - -

ppierce2nm said:
What type of dehumidifier to you have? We are planning to build an addition to our house with an indoor pool (Hydrozone E-Viking Pool model) and are looking at actual pool dehumidification systems. They are rather pricey, so open to seeing what others have done that works.
Click to expand...

We didn't build the indoor pool we have, but bought the house with it. Our sellers had it built. One thing I would have done differently is I would have had the equipment in an enclosed area in or attached to the pool house. We get snow here and sending the pool water outside in uninsulated pipes if you want to swim year round just seems silly. We've wrapped insulation around the pipes outside, but certainly we're still losing heat in winter.
 
Welcome! My sister lives in Bowie.

I suggest you test your CYA and run it between 20-30 as someone else mentioned. The water feel is MUCH better. You can run a higher chlorine level and never get that harsh chlorine feel as well. You can get a full test kit on the links at the top of the page.
 
Rollercoastr said:
Welcome Breezer! Tell us about your pool?
Click to expand...

Thank you! Purchased a house with an indoor pool 2 years ago and have been overwhelmed with what it takes to care for a pool. It's a vinyl 16,000 gallon pool. The previous owner didn't use it very much recently so he basically referred me to the pool company that put it in around 30 years ago, and they just weren't consistent on pool chemicals and recommendations specific to my pool. I've been using smart shock weekly or every other week to maintain FC 1 to 3, and chorine tabs. My TDS is >4500, pH 7.2 to 7.1 (has been down to 6.5) TA runs in the mid to high 200, don't know what calcium levels are. I just replaced a heater a month ago (original heater leaking potentially due to low pH). I'm thinking about switching to liquid chorine and buying a proper testing kit to get my pool in shape. I also intend on draining 1/3 of the pool and filling in with fresh water as the water I currently use is well water.

It's also been a struggle keeping the humidity under control. Pool temperature is 85, room temperature is around 70, so as soon as we open the pool, there's a lot of evaporation, thus humidity levels are in 80% and above. I have read that the differential should be about 2 to 4 degrees so in the future I will replace the HVAC unit for the pool room. The one in there now is a Lenox Pulse guessing 20+ years old, very inefficient and I worry about CO leaks, so I try not to use it much.

There's an exhaust that I use during the winter months that can cycle the air and bring in fresh cool less humid air, that comes at the cost of losing heat from the water, but can drop humidity down within an hour. I also just purchased an aprilaire dehumidifier that I'm wrapping up the work to drain back into the pool to hopefully help during the humid summer months and recover the heat during the winter months. My pool equipment is inside a closet with proper ventilation and will keep the indoor pool air warm around 70 even in the winter.

I love home automation, so currently both my heater, pump and dehumidifier can be controlled from my phone. I have plans to tie in the exhaust in the future. Would love to hear your experiences and solutions to maintaining an indoor pool. Thanks!

Joe
 
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Hello everyone.

Another indoor pool owner here. I will just copy and paste what I had from another thread:

I bought a house in the Vancouver, BC area with an indoor pool. We've been there for less than 2 months, and finally now that we're settled in my focus has been on the pool.

The pool seemed to have been kept in good condition, as per a pre-purchase inspection by a local pool maintenance guy (independent of the previous owner). Here are some details of the pool:
  • Size: 6800 USgal (about 20ft long x 9ft wide x 3.5ft-5.5ft deep)
    • A small 2 person spa beside the pool with water overflowing from the spa into the pool
  • Type: in-ground, tiled, indoors (with floor to ceiling glass exterior doors, south facing so lots of direct sun)
  • Filter: sand (Hayward), runs the pool and spa
  • Pumps:
    • 1/2HP Hayward pump, with what appears to be 2" pipes in and out for the pool circulation
    • Unknown pump for pool jets (meant for swimming against)
    • Unknown pump for the spa jets
  • Chemistry: the previous owner was using Bromine for both the pool and spa. She had Bromine discs (1") and some Bromine shock.
Once we moved in and settled in with the rest of the house, we called the pool guy over again to give us a tutorial of the pool equipment and maintenance instructions. At the end of that, he recommended we switch this pool over to Chlorine as it's cheaper and more readily available.
We went to the same pool supply store that the previous owner went to, brought a water sample, and provided it to them. They ran their tests and said there was no chlorine in the pool at all. So on their advise, I was told I could just directly switch to Chlorine right away. We bought the recommended chemicals:
  • Shock: Chlorinating Granules, 7kg (Calcium Hypochlorite)
  • Stabalized Chlorinating Tablets: Trichloro-S, 7kg (3" pucks)
  • Alkaline, Calcium, Algeacide, Scale & Metal, and test strips (FC, TC, pH, Alk, TH, CYA)
I poured in the chemicals as instructed and eventually got the pool balanced as per the test strips. Since then, it's been a few weeks and I've gotten the hang of keeping the FC, pH, and calculated CC within recommended limits. I use one 3" puck in an inline Chlorinator, and I find it lasts a few days more than a week. I check it every 3 or 4 days to see where it is at, but keep the flow rate at full (5).

My pool chemistry (as of today is):
  • FC: 2
  • TC: 2
  • pH: 7.6-7.8
  • Alk: 100
  • TH: 250
  • CYA: 20-30
Looking forward to any indoor specific tips and issues that I need to be following up on.
 

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