DIY autofill plumbed to equipment pad

[ChristopherDB]

In an effort to not spend the $1,200 my PB wanted to put in an auto fill, I decided to do it myself.

I purchased a reduced pressure backflow preventer, tapped into my outdoor hose spigot and then plumbed it to the pressure side after the pump where my builder had the discharge valve. About 2 hours of work between soldiering the copper pipe and adding the PVC connection.

Tomorrow I'll run an electrical outlet nearby for the automatic valve turner which I added on top of the backflow preventer. This allows me to control it from my phone. Next will be a wireless water sensor which I'll integrate to the valve to fill if the level goes below the sensor.

My incoming water pressure is 70psi. Running pump at 4350 RPM I can feed the pool at 4GPM.
If pump is at 1500 RPM or lower it feeds at 6GPM.

Backflow preventer was $300 and the smart valve was $40.

 

[cowboycasey]

Now that is interesting.. Where are you going to put the sensor to see when to fill.. What will happen when there are waves, will it turn on and off after every wave?

 

[ChristopherDB]

I was thinking inside the skimmer box with a sensor submerged below the water line. It would always report as in a leak state when water is at the appropriate level. Then when water gets below level it would report as no leak as sensor is dry. I'd write a program that would look at the sensor state as "no leak" and as long as it remains in that state for an hour I would open the valve until sensor reports that water level is touching it. Waves wouldn't affect the fill from accidentally starting because the waves would actually wet the sensor and restart the 1 hour delay it must be dry before it will start filling.

 

[cowboycasey]

Sounds like it will work.. I like it

 

[reelredfish]

Following along as for we are about to have our 20 year old redone and in Texas summer get tired of doing the hose thing. Would like to a a list of parts your using if you dont mind to set this up?

 

[ChristopherDB]

Following along as for we are about to have our 20 year old redone and in Texas summer get tired of doing the hose thing. Would like to a a list of parts your using if you dont mind to set this up?

The backflow preventer I used was purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004NHPN94/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I then removed my hose bib by desoldiering it, soldiered a T to tap into the water supply then ran copper pipe down the exterior wall below the hose bib and transitioned to 1/2 PEX using a shark bite 90 degree elbow wrapped in sharkbite silicone tape. I then ran the PEX pipe to the equipment pad and then transitioned back to copper up the wall using the same 90 degree sharkbite elbow and wrapped it with the silicone wrap which is required for underground burial. Once up the wall I used some elbows and 1/2 copper pipe and then made final connection to the backflow using a threaded male adapter like this Everbilt 1/2 in. Copper Pressure Cup x MIP Male Adapter Fitting-C604HD12 - The Home Depot (with Teflon tape around the thread so no leaks)

Then on the other side of the backflow preventer I ran that to a PVC Tee that I added onto my discharge valve and then just added another ball valve after that which I can still use to discharge water if I needed to lower the water level.

 

[djdonte]

Nice. I myself have my pool fill connected to the a sprinkler solenoid and to the 6th and unused zone on my sprinkler controller. It not automatic but the controller is wifi so if I notice the pool getting low I just use my phone to turn it on for 15-20 minutes.