I have a 7k gallon pool, it only has a skimmer, is bottom drain need?

[JeffersonBianchi]

Hello everyone, I am new here and I am making a pool renovation.
My pool isn't big, it is a 7k gallon pool.

I no longer want to use chlorine cause it destroys skin, irritates the eyes and the hair becomes a mess, so I am now going to use an ozone generator to clean my water.

In order for ozone to be effective, all the pool water must go through the pump, considering I only have a skimmer, my fear is that water from the bottom might not go through the pump, and only the surface water gets treated, I am not sure how the hydrodynamics work in a pool.

I was also considering having a waterfall as the only source of water return, but I am guessing that wouldn't be good for circulation right?

Should I get a bottom drain?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Sadly, you are horribly mis-informed. Ozone does not leave a residual sanitizer and you will never ensure you run all the water through the system. Following the TFPC process makes the chlorine you use imperceptible to the person. You are used to improperly managed pool water chemistry.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome to TFP.
Can you clarify if you have an inground pool or an above ground pool? What type of renovations are you planning?
Why do you wish to only have your waterfall as the only point of return? The returns to side of the pool help direct circulation so not sure why you wish to remove that. Maybe post a picture of your pool to help everyone understand what you have existing.

 

[JeffersonBianchi]

Welcome to the forum!
Sadly, you are horribly mis-informed. Ozone does not leave a residual sanitizer and you will never ensure you run all the water through the system. Following the TFPC process makes the chlorine you use imperceptible to the person. You are used to improperly managed pool water chemistry.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

Thank you.

Regarding the fact that ozone does not leave a residual sanitizer, I was already aware of that, ozone can't be inhaled so that wouldn't be good either.

I never took care of water chemistry, so I really have no knowledge regarding that and the page you suggested me will be helpful, thanks.

I was told ozone generators could allow for a chlorine free pool, that's why I decided to get it, they told me that even if I decide to use chlorine, ozone will neutralize the chloramines and will allow for chlorine to be used in a much smaller amount, but I realized that I need to make sure all the water goes through the pump for that.

Now you told me that there is no way to make sure all the water goes through the system, so clearly adding some chlorine is wise.

But my question remains, should I get a bottom drain or is it not necessary?

 

[Jimrahbe]

I no longer want to use chlorine cause it destroys skin, irritates the eyes and the hair becomes a mess,

Jeff,

Funny... my skin is just fine, I can open my eyes underwater without any problems.. I have to admit my hair is gone, but that had nothing to do with my pool...

You desperately need help, but Ozone is not the answer.. You need to take a good read through our pool school..

I suspect you are the type of pool owner who's CYA is 150 or more, you try to keep your FC at 1 ppm or less, you add powdered "shock" to your pool every weekend and then you can't understand why your pool smells like chlorine all the time..

If you want help, we are here..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[mknauss]

But my question remains, should I get a bottom drain or is it not necessary?

Bottom drains are unnecessary. Chemicals readily disperse in a column of water.
A skimmer is necessary as that will pull in surface debris. A robot is wise to use for cleaning as it will pick up any debris that falls to the bottom.
I would not use a waterfall as your only return. 2 or 3 returns well spaced around the pool are wise to keep the surface debris moving to the skimmer.

 

[JeffersonBianchi]

Welcome to TFP.
Can you clarify if you have an inground pool or an above ground pool? What type of renovations are you planning?
Why do you wish to only have your waterfall as the only point of return? The returns to side of the pool help direct circulation so not sure why you wish to remove that. Maybe post a picture of your pool to help everyone understand what you have existing.

Thanks.

It is a fibreglass inground pool, I don't really want to get rid of the underwater returns, It is just that I wanted a waterfall and replacing them with a waterfall would mean less work and less plumbing, so I was just wondering if it would be ok, but now I decided to keep them along with the water fall as they are clearly important for water circulation.

The renovation I am paying someone to break all around the pool to remove the sand that has slid due to water infiltration causing that walls to bulge, the sand will be replaced with pebbles.

The gel coat is full of blisters so the pool will be drained and receive a new coating ,and some cracks on the edges will be repaired.

Since I am breaking everything I was wondering if it would be good to include a bottom drain.

 

[JeffersonBianchi]

Jeff,

Funny... my skin is just fine, I can open my eyes underwater without any problems.. I have to admit my hair is gone, but that had nothing to do with my pool...

You desperately need help, but Ozone is not the answer.. You need to take a good read through our pool school..

I suspect you are the type of pool owner who's CYA is 150 or more, you try to keep your FC at 1 ppm or less, you add powdered "shock" to your pool every weekend and then you can't understand why your pool smells like chlorine all the time..

If you want help, we are here..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks.

I really know nothing about keeping pools,I definitely need to learn more about water chemistry and definitely will read a lot of content here.

But why would you not recommend Ozone? so many people use it like and it.

 

[mknauss]

Ozone Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Some reading.
Chlorine is the safest, cheapest, most reliable method to keep your pool water clean and sanitary. The use of Salt Water Chlorine Generator is recommended to make the addition of that chlorine as easy as possible.

 

[CrystalRiver]

A bottom drain is not necessary in a 7K gal pool. It's not remotely needed in my 12K gal pool. It can be slightly helpful to getting debris off the floor, if the debris happens to go into the drain. I just vacuum the pool as needed. Even with a drain, you would still need to vacuum or use a robot to clean the floor anyway.

 

[jseyfert3]

First off, welcome! I think this is the best pool forum on the internet. It's helped me not only avoid costly pool chemicals I don't need, but I effortlessly maintained crystal clear, algae free water all summer. Here is my 15k gallon Intex pool.

I don't want to pile on here too much, but something you said caught my eye:

I no longer want to use chlorine cause it destroys skin, irritates the eyes and the hair becomes a mess, so I am now going to use an ozone generator to clean my water.

We had some friends over this summer, in the above pool. One of them asked my wife "is there any chlorine in this pool?" She asked because it was completely undetectable. There was, in fact, chlorine in the pool. Since I had a CYA of 40, I targeted 5-7 ppm of free chlorine (FC) all summer, and even up to 16 ppm of FC (which is safe to swim in with a CYA of 40), there was zero smell of chlorine, and it had zero skin irritation and none of the eye irritation found in "normal" chlorine pools. I have to say, I've never been in any other chlorine pool where I could not smell chlorine, or had the water not bother my eyes. Until I found this site, I would never have thought that not smelling chlorine was possible, and yet that's actually the normal if you follow our guidelines here.

I was told ozone generators could allow for a chlorine free pool, that's why I decided to get it, they told me that even if I decide to use chlorine, ozone will neutralize the chloramines and will allow for chlorine to be used in a much smaller amount, but I realized that I need to make sure all the water goes through the pump for that.

That's true, ozone will help neutralize chloramines. There's two other things you need to know though. First off, it also neutralizes free chlorine, so you'll go through way more chlorine than you would otherwise. Secondly, UV light from the sun also helps neutralize chloramines. Plus it's free and outdoor pools get more than enough of it. So there's really no advantages to ozone for outdoor pools, and significant downsides (cost, greatly increased chlorine usage).

 

[ajw22]

How about showing us pics of what is existing and tell us what you would like to do so we understand your situation and can give you some advice?

You may find this informative...

Alternative sanitizers and "chemical free" pools--The Truth!

Pool owners frequently seek out "Chemical Free" alternatives to pool water sanitization. Many claims in favor of these systems and methods have been made (usually by the manufacturers of such systems) often without adequate scientific proof of their efficacy. Let's take a look at them and see...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JeffersonBianchi]

First off, welcome! I think this is the best pool forum on the internet. It's helped me not only avoid costly pool chemicals I don't need, but I effortlessly maintained crystal clear, algae free water all summer. Here is my 15k gallon Intex pool.

I don't want to pile on here too much, but something you said caught my eye:

We had some friends over this summer, in the above pool. One of them asked my wife "is there any chlorine in this pool?" She asked because it was completely undetectable. There was, in fact, chlorine in the pool. Since I had a CYA of 40, I targeted 5-7 ppm of free chlorine (FC) all summer, and even up to 16 ppm of FC (which is safe to swim in with a CYA of 40), there was zero smell of chlorine, and it had zero skin irritation and none of the eye irritation found in "normal" chlorine pools. I have to say, I've never been in any other chlorine pool where I could not smell chlorine, or had the water not bother my eyes. Until I found this site, I would never have thought that not smelling chlorine was possible, and yet that's actually the normal if you follow our guidelines here.


That's true, ozone will help neutralize chloramines. There's two other things you need to know though. First off, it also neutralizes free chlorine, so you'll go through way more chlorine than you would otherwise. Secondly, UV light from the sun also helps neutralize chloramines. Plus it's free and outdoor pools get more than enough of it. So there's really no advantages to ozone for outdoor pools, and significant downsides (cost, greatly increased chlorine usage).

Thanks.

I didn't even know that was possible either, every single pool I visited in my life irritated my eyes and had strong chlorine smell.

What if the water is heated ? can you smell the chlorine through the steam that rises? my main concern was inhaling that chlorine through the steam, cause I intend to heat my pool.

 

[JeffersonBianchi]

How about showing us pics of what is existing and tell us what you would like to do so we understand your situation and can give you some advice?

You may find this informative...

Alternative sanitizers and "chemical free" pools--The Truth!

Pool owners frequently seek out "Chemical Free" alternatives to pool water sanitization. Many claims in favor of these systems and methods have been made (usually by the manufacturers of such systems) often without adequate scientific proof of their efficacy. Let's take a look at them and see...

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks, that was a good read.

As of right now the area isn't pretty enough to be shown here, I haven't started the renovation yet

 

[jimmythegreek]

You cannot install a bottom drain on am existing fiberglass pool. You dont need one. Fiberglass pools sometimes have low drains or skimmer equalizers, that's as close as you will get.
Now as to ozone the answer is yes it does work. But it works for small bodies of water like hot tubs amd large commercial pools with dedicated systems costing over 100k bucks. Ozone degrades chloraminates amd that's great for heavy dosed water bodies like swim parks amd spas. They work great in hot tubs, but they are covered stand alone units with no sun. I do this for a living, take my advice amd save ur money. You will be much happier with a salt system and the maintenence is super easy.

 

[ajw22]

As of right now the area isn't pretty enough to be shown here, I haven't started the renovation yet

We are looking to help you, not see pretty.

Too many folks show up here after they did stuff and ask how they can fix it. It is much less expensive to get advice before you do anything.

 

[mgtfp]

And the best that thing about TFP: It even works Down Under

Only one problem: Once you experienced how a clean pool actually looks, feels and smells (or doesn't smell) like, you won't wanna swim in any other pool anymore...

Just stick around here and you'll get great advice

 

[CrystalRiver]

Only one problem: Once you experienced how a clean pool actually looks, feels and smells (or doesn't smell) like, you won't wanna swim in any other pool anymore...

Just stick around here and you'll get great advice

Totally true! We were looking at renting an Air BnB-type place this summer, to take a safe vacation. A pool was a must for us. But every single one, just looking at the pictures, I knew that pool was not TFP clean. Just couldn't stomach putting myself or my kids in that.