Need a New Liner and Considering Whole New Pool. Thoughts/Advice

[kngelv]

About a year and a half ago we purchased a house with a pool a little south of Detroit. Used it for a few months before winter in 2015 and all summer last year. It is a 33' x 18' Esther Williams with a 52" liner and an aluminum frame. Filtration is currently a cartridge filter. I believe the pool is around 16 years old.There is a deck around roughly half of the pool. The house backs up to a woodland with some very large trees that are about twenty five feet from one end of the pool. The liner is starting to stretch and I see the outline of tree roots pushing up below the liner in many spots plus you can see the outline of the cross braces. We also have a slow leak somewhere on the bottom. I am now thinkng of just replacing the whole pool. Last year I had a lot of problems keeping my water clear and at the proper chemical level/balance. I had a pretty bad algae bloom at one point and I don't particularly care to use so many different chemicals. I had thought of switching to a SWG to eliminate some of the balance issues but worry about corroding the railings and frame. Part of the reason for my water issues is a very large Bush Oak tree that continually drops stuff in the pool. I also get a lot of stuff blown in by the wind from other trees like helicopters, little berries, fuzzies etc. I run a robot vacuum at least twice a day and have to clean my cartridge filter at least once every four or five days because of the debris. I clean the skimmer sock once or twice a day and have to run the filter nearly non-stop. A guy at the local pool shop suggested replacing my cartridge filter with sand because it would be a lot easier to backwash vs the disassembly of the cartridge type. I figure with replacing the liner and filter plus the age of the pool it might be better to just redo everything. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

James

 

[Swampwoman]

Greetings, James, and welcome to TFP.

My pool is an in-ground and I'm not super familiar with above-ground rehab, but I did want to share a bit about heavy forest debris and maintaining clear water.

Provided that your circulation is good and your filter effective, my experience as been that the forest debris you describe is fairly easily managed with a few tweaks. (I get all the stuff you get...my in-ground is at the bottom of a terrace surrounded by mature trees )

1. Adding a Pool Skim to a return helps get te debris right when it falls...creates a slight Venturi effect. https://www.amazon.com/PoolSkim-Pool-Skimmer-Cleaner/dp/B002WKOEGM

2. By using the TFP recommended test kit daily for FC and ph (TFTestkits.net ) and maintaining FC about 1 ppm ABOVE the higher-end levels in the [fc/cya][/FC/cya] I believe I ensure that good sanitization remains no atter how many keys/caterpillars/worms/mice etc. find their way to the pool. Since taking over my formerly foreclosed black water swamp in 2011, I've never had algae or water clarity issues...TFP works! The founding science-based tenet of TFP is to maintain CYA and you FC in a specific ratio to prevent algae and maintain sanitation...using as little of anything else and virtually no "pool store elixirs" that have unintended consequences and additives that complicate things. Liquid bleach or chlorine (same thing, just different percentages, but only unscented, unadulterated bleach) is preferred for simplicity...tabs increase cya in a way that makes maintenance of the ratio difficult.

3. I run a sand filter. Given the debris, I typically will run it 24/7. It doesn't really seem to add that much to the electric bill, considering how comparatively clean it keeps the water, provided I have the eyeballs adjusted to create a circular path for material to get to the skimmer befor sinking. Use a ping pong ball to observe flow when adjusting the eyelets in spring on opening.

Now, with that said, in mid summer I can easily shu the filter down overnight etc. (spring and fall, not so much) AND there is truly normally NO need to turn your volume of water that frequently. Most systems are designed for an 8-hour overturn each day. But in my personal cost/benefit model, I prefer the cleaner pool to the energy savings

So, I'm optimistic now that you've found TFP, you can keep the water clear.

However, I offer the following for consideration as well:

1. I do agree/believe a sand filter would be much easier on you in terms of labor/ease given your environment. It will not filter as fine as DE or cartridge, but my robot "polishes" water to an even smaller micron, and people marvel at my water clarity.

2. I switched to SWG last year and love it. With that said, I personally might be reluctant to expose an old aluminum ABG frame to salt. Even with proper bonding, it can be slightly corrosive. Sacrificial anodes to offset corrosion are controversial and generally not viewed to be very effective overall for reasons above my pay grade But your mileage may vary, so take this caution with a grain of...salt

3. The tree root, and its source of origin, will have to be dealt with one way or another. An arborist consultation might be worthwhile here, so that you have an nderstanding of possible impact and options.

I would get that sorted before deciding on replacing the pool structure. If the structure is in otherwise good shape and you're not worried about switching to salt (eg. Salt is problematic for steel wall pools once there's a pinhole leak...when everything's perfect and the substrate is not exposed to the saltwater...it is not) then it might just make sense to do the liner and filter.

But I believe those Ester Williams pools are pretty substantial projects in terms of assembly/disassembly, so if you have to disassemble it to address the roots, then it is a reasonable time to upgrade, because you already gave the sunk labr, so to speak

Hope that helps you find your way to a trouble free summer

 

[Wichita Chief]

Hi James. What I figured out pretty quickly was filtration, filtration, filtration. I was using a Intex 18' pool to see how this all went. I fought water issues the 1st year. The second time I put it up I discovered this site and learned I knew so very little. I added a skimmer and a sand filter and that cured my "dirty" pool issue. I followed the TFP method of using bleach and ACCURATELY measuring my important parameters and I had great water. So great I got a wild hair and bought a used 15x30x48 Esther Williams pool last year Just bought a used Esther Williams 15x30 Carousel and spent last year getting it up and usable. This year will be on finishing it. So finishing where I started make sure whatever filter/pump combo you use is sized to work with the size of pool you're using. I like my sand filter. Read up on the TFP way of water management. You'll have great water and spend way less! As far as the physical pool questions....Yes something has to be done with the bottom. Until the liner is out you wont know exactly how bad. Seeing the cross braces and roots tells me any sand/substrate has migrated/washed out to some degree. You'll just have to judge if the pool has to move (if possible) to get farther from the roots or work where you are. It sounds like the pool will have to come up and the site prepped regardless of the pool being put back down (new or old). If you decide to go new advertise the old pool and you will probably find a buyer as the old EW pools last forever and people know the name. But unless there is damage or if you are just tired of looking at it then the pool you have should be reusable with a new liner and possibly pump/filter. The site work will be required with each. Good luck!