Thanks for the thoughts @jimmythegreek ! Based on other posts I'd seen by you (thanks for all those too!) and others I am planning on skipping main drains with two skimmers in 2" for suction. For returns I plan on all home runs in 1.5". Royal had me setup with 3 normal returns - and I was thinking on adding 1 deep return. Is that overkill? Wind blows from the west here and pool basically oriented North/South so was planning 2 skimmers on East side and all three normal returns on West side. Deep return in deep end on skimmer side? I'm seeing info all over the map for flex vs rigid PVC but I guess leaning towards rigid here in Minnesota.
I plan on 4 returns at the corner step/bench combo for a pseudo jacuzzi effect, 3 returns on opposite wall from skimmers, 1 or 2 deep returns, and 1 return for pressure side cleaner (auto cover). Thats a lot but I like the idea of home runs for everything for redundancy in case a pipe gets compromised. I wish I could do the hopper floor and equipment pad at same time as I'm already paying for a pump on site. I'm hurrying the footer pour a bit as my over dig is close to an existing patio and with some recent heavy rains I'm getting really nervous about erosion and sinking and just want to get it shored back up ASAP.
Thanks! I added the top angle 2x3 braces as the outer a-frame braces are useless in the sand at this point for plumbing the walls. Just trying to get the walls are close enough to plumb to be within the adjustable range of the turnbuckles after the collar is set. One more question now that I think of it - I'm targeting 8" of collar. Royal documentation said 5-7", everywhere else said 8-10" or 10-12" deep. 8" seemed like a happy medium?
It's really sandy - like could almost put it in an hourglass if it wasn't for the various sized of river rock mixed in (from 1 inch diameter to 1/8" diameter. I believe there to be very little soil if any in the sand.
@jimmythegreek Thank you! If i went the 12" PVC route do I just plant that sucker right in the middle of the deep end? Any gravel needed with this option or just proceed as normal if the sump pump/pipe clears the water? As the for the square of PVC - I could do that as I have two panels still open on shallow end to get the mini excavator in and out since I have a bit more work do in there once I figure out how i'm handling the water situation. I've established the current water table depth at 7' 10". So need to clear about 10" of water to be able to add my 2" of pool base to bottom. Would I have minutes or hours or days to get that liner in before I start having problems with ground water through the pool base (was planning premix throughout)?
@jimmythegreek
Groundwater level has been stable since saturday so i think it safe to say its not going to recede much. Going to start the battle with it this evening and hopefully finish excavation in the next day or two. I'm on to thinking about trying to put premix on these crumbling walls. Just the three sides of the hopper I'm worried about. I know I'll have to keep them damp and tamped somehow but I was thinking about tamping in some sort of erosion control blanket or geotextile on the three steepest slopes to help it hold shape. Figured it can't hurt if I lay the pool base on top of the blanket/sand combo?
@jimmythegreek the groundwater/sand combo is putting up more of a fight than anticipated. I have the bottom of the sump pump at the about the 9.5' - Can probably get it a bit lower but real hard to scoop sand out of the bottom of the tube with out it being quickly replaced by new sand. Have gravel on hand to use and am trying to use that to get the water to follow lower sand to my sump pump. But I spoke with William at Royal pools today and he was very helpful. I really have no problem with going to an 8' depth instead of 8' 6" other than avoiding massive wrinkles. William says Findlay tends to cut their liners tight anyway so I may not even notice any wrinkles from a 6" adjustment just to the hopper depth. We came up with a revised dig sheet to retain or even slightly steepen the hopper back and side walls and increasing the footprint of the hopper bottom and depth to help use up some of that liner material. This will also I guess help with diving board placement as we'll be able to move it backwards a bit. So I still have some significant water mitigation to do but this seems MUCH more doable than trying to remove that last 6" of water logged quicksand.
@jimmythegreek Well long weekend but I think I’ve emerged victorious over the groundwater and sandy slopes! Got control of groundwater Friday. Managed to get the sump pit down about 26” and dropped a sump pump Down there. Ran a 1.5 flex pvc from it under grade out the pool and to the catch basin in our backyard. Using the mini excavator we were able to methodically dive the bucket slowly into the saturated sand around the sump pit and slowly draw it back while shoveling in gravel before the sand could replace it. I think we managed a 10-12” layer of gravel around the hopper bottom this way. After this we were finally able to get the top of hopper bottom dry. Also Tee’d off to a foot valve which I planted in the gravel for hopeful future use when maybe replacing a liner years down the road. Ended up framing a hopper bottom and pouring in concrete to lock up the situation. This worked great as then we were able to final shave the sand hopper walls and get the pool base premix down on the 3 steep sides of the hopper. The sand slopes actually were not a big challenge since it was all undisturbed - it actually was quite hard packed for verm to sit on. Back on track again! Thanks so much for all your help!!