We have a 20 x 42 x 31 vinyl lagoon shaped pool currently under construction. We are on well water and our PB suggested trucking in water for an additional $800 to avoid the possibility of “drying up” our well. Any thoughts?
Filling pool with well water
- Thread starter kwhite
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!!!Not an uncommon problem. Your well was not designed to put out that much water that quickly.
You can take a sample of your well water to the local pool store and have them test it for metals. This is the ONLY test we "trust" them with. We will teach you more as your pool comes along.
Kim:kiM:
Kim:kiM:
Let me tell you my expeince with using our well to fill the pool. First off we knew water contained iron and is of very high hardness.
Second, it takes a lot longer to fill so you don't dredge up nasty orange dirty water from pulling too much water for too long. Plus you don't want to over work the pump. So filling in short increments was needed to keep the water clear. We could have filtered the water through a hose filter though but it would still have the iron and high calcium in it.
So anyway, we filled our first pool with the well. It took several days. Once full, the water was clear but had a slight yellowish tinge to it. Once chlorine was added tho was a totally different story. The water turned brown!! The iron and chlorine reacting together made it look like a pond. It took the sand filter several days running 24/7 to slowly filter out the iron. Resulting in many back washes which meant adding more water. So it was a never ending cycle.
Several years go by and the liner started to stain from all the iron in the water and the cost of metal out to keep it in suspension was ridiculous! 6yrs of that mess, not fun.
Luckily we do have city water hook up, we just never use it since it is cheaper to use the well and filter it and run it through a softener over a monthly water bill.
Sooooo new pool, we used city water for fill up and for top off now. It's the only thing we use city water for is the pool.
So unless you know what your well water contains and are content with the possible cost to keep metals(if any) in suspension so they don't stain the liner and everything else then I would Def pay to have water trucked in but I'd made sure that wherever it is coming from is of good quality and not some nasty source. Plus you have almost instant swim with out the wait for it to fill.
I guess anothet option if your well water is of excellent quality would be to have a small truck load of water to get things going and then finish off with the well.
Second, it takes a lot longer to fill so you don't dredge up nasty orange dirty water from pulling too much water for too long. Plus you don't want to over work the pump. So filling in short increments was needed to keep the water clear. We could have filtered the water through a hose filter though but it would still have the iron and high calcium in it.
So anyway, we filled our first pool with the well. It took several days. Once full, the water was clear but had a slight yellowish tinge to it. Once chlorine was added tho was a totally different story. The water turned brown!! The iron and chlorine reacting together made it look like a pond. It took the sand filter several days running 24/7 to slowly filter out the iron. Resulting in many back washes which meant adding more water. So it was a never ending cycle.
Several years go by and the liner started to stain from all the iron in the water and the cost of metal out to keep it in suspension was ridiculous! 6yrs of that mess, not fun.
Luckily we do have city water hook up, we just never use it since it is cheaper to use the well and filter it and run it through a softener over a monthly water bill.
Sooooo new pool, we used city water for fill up and for top off now. It's the only thing we use city water for is the pool.
So unless you know what your well water contains and are content with the possible cost to keep metals(if any) in suspension so they don't stain the liner and everything else then I would Def pay to have water trucked in but I'd made sure that wherever it is coming from is of good quality and not some nasty source. Plus you have almost instant swim with out the wait for it to fill.
I guess anothet option if your well water is of excellent quality would be to have a small truck load of water to get things going and then finish off with the well.
Every house will be plumbed different too. If I run 1 hose to the pool, my 1/2" pipe to the hose bib will dispense at a rate half what my pump will do. That means every 2-3 minutes, my well pump turns on/off. Cycling well pump ages the well pump. I'm not too concerned cause my pump is 11 years old and due to be changed (I will switch to constant variable speed pump one day). How long it takes is a pain and NO way I'd wait that long.
My friend said water he paid is by the truck load. $250. I don't recall the amount of gallons in a truck. (5000 gallons I think?)
My friend said water he paid is by the truck load. $250. I don't recall the amount of gallons in a truck. (5000 gallons I think?)
Well, looks like my decision is made! We were quoted $200 a truckload and will need 4 truckloads. Sounds like it will be $800 well spent. Thank you for all the input!
I would still get your well water tested for metals for when you have to top off your pool. Better to know and be ready!
