Fill new Pool with Softened Water?

[tfp_fan]

Moved from here.

On the topic of things you don't want to think about just now...

Consider buying your test kits now. Don't wait until the water is filling. You'll need it in hand before then, and you'll want to be comfortable using it before the water goes in. We highly recommend a couple, and you'll want a salt test kit, too. (See below.)

The other reason: to test your fill water. This will be even more obscure than the water leveler spiel. I'll spare you all the water chemistry lessons, but if your area has hard water, that can lead to a water maintenance issue, a task and an expense, that you might want to avoid. That issue can be negated by connecting your auto-leveler system to a water softener. Do you use soft water in the house by any chance? Or plan to someday? I mention this now because planning the plumbing to accomplish this is something you'd want to do while the pool and equipment pad are being built. This can be done later (as I did it), but it's a bit easier to do it now. Again, if you want more details about this, I'll be happy to expound.

I'm projecting. I learned a lot about the issues I just posted about well after the fact, costing me time and money I didn't have to spend, and sticking me with stuff I didn't want. I found TFP late in the process, so didn't have someone that explained all this to me in advance.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!

www.troublefreepool.com

You'll also need a Taylor K1766 Test Kit (for measuring salt content for your SWG) and a SpeedStir.

Hi Dirk. I wanted to make sure I understood correctly. Do you recommend to fill the pool through water softener? We have water softener in our house and we are currently in the process of selecting a builder for our new pool. Every builder that I interviewed, suggested to get the water from before the water softener. I do appreciate your comment.

 

[Dirk]

Well, this isn't your thread, so we shouldn't hijack it with your question. You might start your own thread and ask your questions there. But real quick, in case the OP was also curious about my comment: you wouldn't fill a pool from empty with a water softener for a couple reasons. First, you wouldn't be able to, because a water softener couldn't keep up with the demand. More importantly, you wouldn't want to, because depending on the type of pool, you'd want the calcium in the pool a water softener would strip out. But calcium doesn't evaporate, and so builds up in a pool over time, necessitating the replacement of the water. That problem is worse the harder the water is, which is why I suggested testing the fill water to see if this is something you need to consider. To combat the build up, you'd top off your pool with soft water, which would minimize or eliminate altogether the calcium accumulation. So: fill from empty with street water, and then replace evaporation with soft water from then on. Which is why I suggested connecting an auto-filler to a water softener, and planning for the plumbing to do that before the build.

Start your own thread about your build, add what details you know to your signature, and we'll all help you, before, during and after your build!

 

[Dirk]

Ah, perfect. One of the mods saw our hijack and started your build thread for you! Here's where you can describe the pool of your dreams and plenty of TFPers will chime in about it! You can ask for help about what to include in your dream. And once the bids start rolling in you can post them and have them analyzed by our experts.

 

[mknauss]

You can modify the thread title if you like.