Good job. If you are anything like I was, you will be excited when the water turns blue.
Converting swamp to pool (pics included)
- Thread starter ntshclr
- Start date
ntshclr said:
When you get the new filter installed you'll be able to vacuum all that gunk on the floor right out the backwash line on waste(as long as it's got a multi-port valve). That way the filter won't instantly clog while vacuuming.
Yesterday around noon:
Today around 11:
It looks a little darker today but I think that's just the lighting outside. In person it looks the same as yesterday. We can see the entire bottom of the shallow end and a few feet down the wall of the deep end.
We got our new filter yesterday so the pump has been off for quite a while as we spent a lot of yesterday trying to figure out how to plumb it all together. The new filter has the pump and return lines on the opposite side of the old filter, so it was awkward to position it. We ended up connecting a couple of feet of flex hose to each line to minimize the amount of elbows we would have to deal with since neither one of us has ever done any plumbing before. I was worried about the cemented joints leaking, but surprisingly they were fine. What annoyed us was that 3 out of 4 threaded joints were leaking. Two different people at Lowes told us that the threaded joints are water proof on their own and don't require any kind of sealant. Now that they're leaking we looked online and everyone says you should use teflon tape and/or the liquid stuff for threads. I think we can unscrew what we did and put it back together with that tape.
The remains of the old filter:
How we ended up connecting the new filter:
We were pretty stuck with that because of the way the original plumbers had cemented the pvc together. We couldn't change any of the angles to make it fit in better without having to replace valves and a lot of other stuff.
Today around 11:
It looks a little darker today but I think that's just the lighting outside. In person it looks the same as yesterday. We can see the entire bottom of the shallow end and a few feet down the wall of the deep end.
We got our new filter yesterday so the pump has been off for quite a while as we spent a lot of yesterday trying to figure out how to plumb it all together. The new filter has the pump and return lines on the opposite side of the old filter, so it was awkward to position it. We ended up connecting a couple of feet of flex hose to each line to minimize the amount of elbows we would have to deal with since neither one of us has ever done any plumbing before. I was worried about the cemented joints leaking, but surprisingly they were fine. What annoyed us was that 3 out of 4 threaded joints were leaking. Two different people at Lowes told us that the threaded joints are water proof on their own and don't require any kind of sealant. Now that they're leaking we looked online and everyone says you should use teflon tape and/or the liquid stuff for threads. I think we can unscrew what we did and put it back together with that tape.
The remains of the old filter:
How we ended up connecting the new filter:
We were pretty stuck with that because of the way the original plumbers had cemented the pvc together. We couldn't change any of the angles to make it fit in better without having to replace valves and a lot of other stuff.
JCJR said:
I was going to ask you guys about this today, actually. We are, about 1 inch every 12 hours. We thought it was from a leak from that Jandy Energy Filter we have, but we fixed that and it only slowed down the leaking. I do know of one hole in the liner, about 1 inch big, right around the water level. We bought a repair kit and are going to seal it up. The thing with the leak is that the water level will drop to about the bottom of the skimmer, and then stay there. So if the cause is a hole in the liner it has to be above that point. Is there any other way a leak like this could be happening?
If the leak is stopping at the bottom of the skimmer I'd start looking at the skimmer faceplate and work from there. The face plate seal is a common place to have a leak. It could also be a plumbing leak in the piping from the skimmer. One way to tell if it's the piping is to plug the skimmer pipe with a winterizing plug and fill the pool back up and see if it leaks back down. That'll either confirm or eliminate the piping.
If anyone is interested, I've been keeping a tally of everything we've spent on the pool so far. Including the new filter, de, bleach, plumbing supplies, and everything else, we are up to $1576. 
At least it's cheaper than having someone do all this for us. And it's fun learning how to do some basic plumbing and pool maintenance.
At least it's cheaper than having someone do all this for us. And it's fun learning how to do some basic plumbing and pool maintenance.
Thanks, I'll give that a try overnight hopefully.Bama Rambler said:
Alright, the good news is we were able to use that teflon tape to seal up our pvc threads, the bad news is I found a couple of other very tiny leaks in the old plumbing. One is a crack in the skimmer valve, the other is a threaded elbow joint on one of the returns. I think we can plug those up with the cement or whatever.
So we have the new 60 sg ft de filter running with the pool at shock. I'm sure this will be cleared up in no time now.
ntshclr, congratulations on the progress and keep it up! once you are done that will be a FANTASTIC place to hang out!
I am sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me if I am wrong, but it looks there is a lot of debris floating on the water in your most recent pictures. I would think it would be important to keep the organics in your pool to a minimum while you are attempting to clear your pool.
BTW, its going to look great when you are done. It loks like a great place for a party!
BTW, its going to look great when you are done. It loks like a great place for a party!
I do agree with Ken, if you can scoop up as much solid organic matter out as you can, that would speed up the process.
We've been trying. Whenever we have a free moment that is not spent on the filter we're out there scooping, it's just that there's so many in there. It's also been very windy the last couple of days so there's a lot of new stuff getting blown in. With the new filter set up and working we'll have more time now to get rid of the leaves.
ntshclr said:
You might want to consider using a Pool Skim. It attaches to a return, using the return flow to create venturi action and collects most floating debris, most of it before it sinks or clogs up the skimmer. I don't know how I kept up the pool without one. Until last month I had two that kept the debris somewhat in control. I live in heavy woods, with plant debris landing in pool year round, in large quantities, and frequent high winds. Only drawback is getting enough pressure to the return where the Pool Skim is attached. I do it by using different size eyeballs on other returns.
gg=alice
- Nov 30, 2008
- 338
GG has an excellent post on the poolskim with great picts.
There are a number of products you can utilize during clean up time that work really well to help clean up your "junk".
On the return side I know of 2 (see picts)
1. a pool devil pro- very cheap 25 bucks or so and effective at getting rid or small to medium floaters and excellent at surface scum removal.
2. the more effective poolskim GG speaks of. Its a better skimmer, not as effective at scum removal as the bag is much more porous, but its a higher quality product with excellent functionality.
The "problem" I have found with return side cleaners is twofold - the flow required often requires blocking other returns, and overall flow in the pool is altered or restricted- things like solar heating arent as efective, BUT when circulating chlorine in a green pool you may want to put pucks in the "return skimmer" bag where they can only harm the bag itself. You can get a lot of chlorine moving around really quickly doing this, and get super cleaning power out of those 24x7 pump runs.
More effective but more expensive by far is the suction side dragonfly skimmer, this with a leaf cannister can really keep your pool surface clean. Ive never used a better skimmer.
Thanks for the pictures and time you have put in to show us your project!
Uncle Dave
There are a number of products you can utilize during clean up time that work really well to help clean up your "junk".
On the return side I know of 2 (see picts)
1. a pool devil pro- very cheap 25 bucks or so and effective at getting rid or small to medium floaters and excellent at surface scum removal.
2. the more effective poolskim GG speaks of. Its a better skimmer, not as effective at scum removal as the bag is much more porous, but its a higher quality product with excellent functionality.
The "problem" I have found with return side cleaners is twofold - the flow required often requires blocking other returns, and overall flow in the pool is altered or restricted- things like solar heating arent as efective, BUT when circulating chlorine in a green pool you may want to put pucks in the "return skimmer" bag where they can only harm the bag itself. You can get a lot of chlorine moving around really quickly doing this, and get super cleaning power out of those 24x7 pump runs.
More effective but more expensive by far is the suction side dragonfly skimmer, this with a leaf cannister can really keep your pool surface clean. Ive never used a better skimmer.
Thanks for the pictures and time you have put in to show us your project!
Uncle Dave
Attachments
Not to step on anyone's toes, but all this discussion about Poolskims, etc. is IMO, scope creep. One (difficult enough) thing at a time!! The OP can successfully clear that pool without any of those things, and consider them later.
- Nov 30, 2008
- 338
No hijack intent - Ill keep my cleaner thread to these.
I believe its good to know what your options are.
These devices assist me greatly, and it appears based on the most recent pool picture - ntshclr could use some assistance.
Uncle Dave
I believe its good to know what your options are.
These devices assist me greatly, and it appears based on the most recent pool picture - ntshclr could use some assistance.
Uncle Dave
No hijack here intended either. ntshclr looks to have similar conditions to mine looking at all the leaves all around and trees. For the most part, with some exceptions when I've been away for weeks, months, I am able to micro manage my pool condition as I work from home. If I couldn't be here to constantly keep up with the plant debris my pool would never be in swimming condition. Most people can't be around to micro manage as I can. There are very few times during the year when my skimmer sock doesn't need to be emptied at the very least twice a day. With windy days like we are having now, with loads of blowing plant stuff from woods, my skimmer would fill and clog in an hour or two without a Pool Skim. In the fall I have to empty the Polaris bag many times a day and empty two Pool Skim bags several times a day. How else would I be able to, under the conditions I have, and maybe so does ntshclr, keep the water moving and/or filtering without filling the skimmer and the pump basket and destroying the pump (unless it is a smart pump and will cut itself off)??????????
Over and over again, people judge what is or is not needed for some one else's pool by their conditions. Extreme conditions call for extra tools that many people will never need. It's not even fall right now and I'm having to empty the Pool Skim bag every other day. Polaris runs three cycles at three hours each and there is still plant debris collecting on pool bottom between Polaris Cycles and 23/7 filtering mostly to keep the Pool Skim collecting much of the plant debris.
ntshclr might be fighting a slower uphill battle than required if so much stuff is being introduced into the pool by the winds. Just wanting to offer suggestions to help make it easier.
gg=alice
Over and over again, people judge what is or is not needed for some one else's pool by their conditions. Extreme conditions call for extra tools that many people will never need. It's not even fall right now and I'm having to empty the Pool Skim bag every other day. Polaris runs three cycles at three hours each and there is still plant debris collecting on pool bottom between Polaris Cycles and 23/7 filtering mostly to keep the Pool Skim collecting much of the plant debris.
ntshclr might be fighting a slower uphill battle than required if so much stuff is being introduced into the pool by the winds. Just wanting to offer suggestions to help make it easier.
gg=alice
