New Pool w/ Falls & Slide in Baton Rouge, LA

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ARGGGGGG We HAVE to "fix" that...........That is outdated info about not swimming during break in! That was there before I got here and does not apply with the kind of pool start up you did! SO LETS GO SWIMMING!!!!

If you PB says you can swim then do so. We even had one PB writing in his first fill instructions:

-when water reaches the middle of the skimmer face jump in!

Do have your test kit yet? Ask your PB what he is going to put in your pool as a start up. Make notes of it and we will round it out for you if needed.

You are correct about the green being normal. It will blue up day by day as the plaster cures.

You are going to go through quite a bit of MA as the PH will go up from the plaster curing.

Kim:cat: (heading to talk to our IT guy about "fixing" the start up directions)
 
Our PB told us to jump in. He was unable to get over to start it up the afternoon it finished filling. But said jump in. It's all good. Our water never turned green. However, I think it depends on where your water comes from. He told us another pool they plastered the same day was horribly green.


Matt
 
We had a lot of crews out today...grading, electrical and stone guys all here at once. They were all in different areas though. Electrical is finally hooked up, but they decided not to route one of the outlets I wanted below the control panel to connect to the filter pump relay for a future stenner pump. Oh well, I'll just do that myself later rather than wait on and deal with that crew. They finished late though, so no start up today. :grrrr: Should start up tomorrow morning though during my busiest time of the week at work (of course)!

Grading was done and looks very good. They actually ran out of dirt to finish grading the area by our swing set like we wanted, so I have to talk to PB about that. They also removed my old fence, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. Oh and they also set the 4 umbrella sleeves in the existing concrete today.

Stone guys came out to fix some existing tiles under my patio that were loose. They were also supposed to run a grout line between the tile and the existing concrete, but did not...not sure why...need to talk to PB about that too before spray deck can be done.

I do have an issue with the slide being a little low (as I feared). It's fine for sliding in...no issues there, but the problem is that the level of the overflow/autofill can is such that water will sit a little bit above the bottom lip of the slide after a hard rain...like we just so happened to get tonight. So, I need to see if PB can lower the can about an inch so we don't wind up with a scum line on the slide lip. This is what I'm talking about:



Fortunately, they did drop off some tools today so I was able to brush the pool for the first time...what a pain on the curved walls. I'm gonna need a curved brush (I assume they make those...haven't looked yet...no time!). Took me just under an hour to brush all the surfaces. Couldn't vacuum it out though cause guess what...the pumps are running still!! My wife and I have gotten in the habit of saying "Bruce" (the electrician) in the same voice that Jerry says "Newman". Hopefully we're done saying that now though.

Anyway, hoping start up goes well tomorrow...especially with the waterfall and slide. Also hoping the rain holds out, but it won't.

Pics from another busy/long day (but hey, progress is very welcome!)...

Electrical...they actually did a very neat job considering all the wiring to this thing (surprisingly!)




Setting umbrella sleeves in existing concrete



Grading












I was hoping to have them remove the A frame and cross beam of the swing set and grade back to the bottom deck of the play house to make the slope more gradual.


 
BRUCE! LOL I so understand and it is said with this look :rolleyes: I bet!

That grading does look good. I hope they can/will do the rest by the playset.

I bet your PB can adjust the overfill for the slide. I THINK they are like a toilet filler in that you can adjust them just by the set screw.

What kind of fence will your be doing in the back? Nice that they took the old fence away. That IS a huge help for sure!

Those electric wires do look neat for how many there are. I just hope you NEVER have to have any work done on them!

Are you having sod put down? Will you have it by the equipment pad or are you rocking that area in?

You are going to have to do some searching and trying out to find the brush that works for you and your pool. Walmart sells one that says is it curved. It is what I use on my round pool and does a good job.

Kim:cat:
 
They can adjust how far the autofill fills up the pool, but I'm not sure what they will do about when rain raises the water level. If the overflow tube is at a level which causes the water to be on the slide, the only fix would be to lower the overflow tube which may be easier said than done. Not being negative, but just giving you a heads up on what they might need or suggest to do for a solution. Hopefully I'm missing something.
 
kimkats said:
BRUCE! LOL I so understand and it is said with this look :rolleyes: I bet!

That grading does look good. I hope they can/will do the rest by the playset.

I bet your PB can adjust the overfill for the slide. I THINK they are like a toilet filler in that you can adjust them just by the set screw.

What kind of fence will your be doing in the back? Nice that they took the old fence away. That IS a huge help for sure!

Those electric wires do look neat for how many there are. I just hope you NEVER have to have any work done on them!

Are you having sod put down? Will you have it by the equipment pad or are you rocking that area in?

You are going to have to do some searching and trying out to find the brush that works for you and your pool. Walmart sells one that says is it curved. It is what I use on my round pool and does a good job.

Kim:cat:
Click to expand...

bmoreswim said:
They can adjust how far the autofill fills up the pool, but I'm not sure what they will do about when rain raises the water level. If the overflow tube is at a level which causes the water to be on the slide, the only fix would be to lower the overflow tube which may be easier said than done. Not being negative, but just giving you a heads up on what they might need or suggest to do for a solution. Hopefully I'm missing something.
Click to expand...

Met with PB today. As I suspected, the canister must be lowered, so he's going to get plumber out to do that. We got even more rain today and the level went up even higher just because that little 1/2" or 3/4" drain pipe is so small it takes forever to drain that much water. It stopped raining about 2 hours ago and it's still draining with a ways to go yet.

We'll be doing a 6' privacy fence...still debating on cedar planks or composite.

Yes, we are having sod done, but after we get the 2 palms set and irrigation finalized for the lawn.

Brushing took much less time tonight. I'm learning the most efficient method, but it's still tedious. Only about 30 minutes this evening vs. an hour yesterday. Really need to get those pumps on permanently. We did get them turned on today, but only for a bit. PB has to get tech guy out b/c he's used to operating EasyTouch's, not IntelliTouch's. I was able to set up some circuits and features this evening, but still can't figure out how to get the pumps to turn on using the ScreenLogic interface. I've set the address of the 2 pumps differently (#1 and #2), but there's just something not right that I can't quite figure out. Lights look pretty cool though. Just a few pics from today/tonight. Need to make a few tweaks on the WF rocks (need to divert more water to the right side, need to remove a rock or two on the top left, etc.), but overall, not a bad look for a first attempt.




 

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I was finally able to get the pumps running with the ScreenLogic interface today and they're running at 1700 rpm. One issue though is that I seem to be getting air and maybe too much ozone in the piping from the Ozonator and I'm not sure why. I'm pretty sure I have the Ozonator tubing connected correctly with the check valves facing the correct way. I can kind of hear the air/gas in the tube inside the Ozonator box when I open it up, which I think is normal.

A few other notes...all unions are tight, pump basket lid is tight and no bubbles at all in pump or check valve coming out of filter. Bubbles start appearing in clear flow meter after ozone injection manifold. I have completely bypassed the Chlorinator for now. I've also tried bypassing the Ozonator, by removing the tube and capping the inlet port on the manifold. Doing this eliminates the bubbles from the 2 returns on the ledge, but then the ozone injector manifold starts getting loud like air is moving through it.

I realize the ozonator injects a gas into the system, but apparently I have no way of controlling how much goes in to try and reduce the bubbles. Something's just not right. The Pentair tech (who knows these units) is scheduled to come out, but they said he can't get out until mid next week...not sure if I want to wait that long if possible. I may give DEL a call tomorrow to see what they say.

Bubbles coming out of just the 2 returns on the tanning ledge (other 4 returns are fine...no air bubbles whatsoever)






 
Our pool builder used at least a 2" (maybe 3") drain pipe for the overflow. He told me that most use a 3/4" and they are pretty much worthless because they don't drain the pool quick enough when it rains a bunch. I have a friend that has a 3/4" and he says he always has to pump water out when it rains.


Matt
 
Ok. Lots of progress the past few days. Spray deck is done, palms are planted and water is finally clearing up (amazing what pumps and chemicals can do!). I'll post some pictures of the progress later, but first things first...here are my numbers, which I'm very concerned about:

FC=3
pH=too low to read...maybe 5.5?
TA=0
CH=275
CYA=25

And this is what I THINK my target should be based on TFP's pool school links:

FC=5
pH=7.5
TA=90
CH=300
CYA=40

This is after I added 6 gallons of muriatic acid a few days ago. Then PB dumped 4 lbs of 68% chlorine in yesterday and pool turned over about 4-5 times after that. Then this morning I gave him my readings and he said to add 8 lbs of CYA, which I did. Then about 30 minutes ago I added about 10 oz (by volume) of 68% chlorine. I have a few questions:

1. Should I be starting to use the chlorine pucks in my feeder to help maintain the residual or keep adding the granules for now? If so, which one does everyone recommend to minimize CYA creep?
2. Based on the current readings and targets above, the TFP calculator is suggesting I add 292 oz (by weight) of baking soda (which is over 18 lbs!) to raise my TA to 90. This will also raise my pH by 0.19, which might be good, but I'm just a little hesitant to add that much knowing that the new plaster will likely raise my pH on it's own.

Advice anyone?
 
Slow and steady is best here....

FC=Liquid chlorine only now. The tables and powders push the CYA up. We do not want to go any higher right now until we know just how high what you added will make it go. Test you CYA again on Tues and let us know where it is at then.

Liquid chlorine is also household bleach.........See if your local pool store sells the chlorine with your renting the jugs. Walmart has their "pool shock" for a fairly good price as well as their Greater Value bleach. NO splashless or scented please.

Find the best price for you area and ease of obtaining for the FC.

TA-get it up. If you feel better only put in half and see what it does. It is east to adjust but it DOES need to go up.

We HAVE to get that PH up NOW! Low PH can cause some major problems. Turn on your slide and all of your water movers and have the kids splash around. You can also look at the link I gave you for what you can buy at Walmart to get it up.

Kim:cat:
 
kimkats said:
Slow and steady is best here....

FC=Liquid chlorine only now. The tables and powders push the CYA up. We do not want to go any higher right now until we know just how high what you added will make it go. Test you CYA again on Tues and let us know where it is at then.

Liquid chlorine is also household bleach.........See if your local pool store sells the chlorine with your renting the jugs. Walmart has their "pool shock" for a fairly good price as well as their Greater Value bleach. NO splashless or scented please.

Find the best price for you area and ease of obtaining for the FC.

TA-get it up. If you feel better only put in half and see what it does. It is east to adjust but it DOES need to go up.

We HAVE to get that PH up NOW! Low PH can cause some major problems. Turn on your slide and all of your water movers and have the kids splash around. You can also look at the link I gave you for what you can buy at Walmart to get it up.

Kim:cat:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Kim. The WF and slide are on now and we do have a local store that does the jug rental things, so I'll go there today.

On the Recommended Pool Chemicals page, it suggests borax and soda ash to raise the pH and baking soda to raise the TA. In my case, since I need to raise both, can I do that with just baking soda, or do I also need to add borax or soda ash?

Also, what are the "major problems" low pH can cause?
 

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