Just caught up on your thread. Loved your progress pics. The stone work looks amazing... the whole pool looks amazing, especially lit up at night.
Richmond TX new build; 2 days in and Gunite is already done
- Thread starter ocmagnum
- Start date
OrangeAndBlue
Silver Supporter
- Aug 19, 2017
- 128
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Very nice!
That's an interesting spa setup I have not seen before. The spa submerged within the pool looks really cool, but how does one isolate it for use / heating....or is that not necessary?
That's an interesting spa setup I have not seen before. The spa submerged within the pool looks really cool, but how does one isolate it for use / heating....or is that not necessary?
Thank you all for the kind comments.
As for the spa set up, the spa tile is just at the pool waterline, so there is only a very small amount of water spilling over and it's from the spa to the pool. As such, and probably unless there is gusty wind pushing water from pool into spa, I would think that the heating is not all that different from a raised set up. That said, we have not been able to test it yet, so I'll report back if I notice anything to the contrary once we get to actually enjoy the spa.
Some of the resident experts here might be able to explain better, so please chime in as you see fit.
As for the spa set up, the spa tile is just at the pool waterline, so there is only a very small amount of water spilling over and it's from the spa to the pool. As such, and probably unless there is gusty wind pushing water from pool into spa, I would think that the heating is not all that different from a raised set up. That said, we have not been able to test it yet, so I'll report back if I notice anything to the contrary once we get to actually enjoy the spa.
Some of the resident experts here might be able to explain better, so please chime in as you see fit.
We are working with Grand Isle Custom Pools; could not be happier with their performance and workmanship so far.
Hey magnum. Pool's looking great. Looking through your pics and wondering what that brass valve is for near the inlet control valve to your pump. Is that a fill valve?
Pool school (or rather the couple of things they need to finish up) got rained out this weekend; will let you know afterwards
And just to be clear. Asking because if it is, you almost certainly want to protect it from freezing. In it's current condition it will absolutely freeze and bust if it is a supply line.
That’s a good point. Our auto-fill line has that same brass connection and it froze a few weeks ago. The plumbing sub charged us $175 because it was freeze related and not covered under the warranty.
Confirmed it's the backflow prevention valve for the automatic fill line. And we have freeze protection that turns equipment on/off when temps are near freezing, so hopefully that will not be an issue.
I would clarify. We have freeze protection and our pumps run when it freezes, but that line sits stagnant unless the pool level gets below a certain point. At least in our pool, the pump doesn’t cycle water through that line at all.
Pretty sure the auto-fill will not turn on as part of your freeze protection. Wouldn't make much sense to just dump water to the pool whenever it's freezing. I'd ask for them to plumb in an isolation valve upstream of the backflow prevention device that is underground in a valve box. That way you can shut off water there and be reasonably confident that it won't freeze as the water supply then stops underground.
Ladies & Gents,
Yesterday was a big day as we had pool school and I also finally got my TF-100 (post office delivered to the wrong address at first). So I did a quick PH and FC test (from the little blue box) before pool school and not too much of a surprise that the levels were not great, especially PH was through the roof.
For background, the builder used the inline chlorinator after a hard acid start up and def added acid a couple of times afterwards, but not sure how much and if anything else was added. He put another gallon of acid in yesterday and PH level went down. So today I did my first set of full tests with the TF-100 and following are the results:
FC 1 (2 drops)
CC 0
CYA below 20 (could see the black dot with tube completely full)
PH looks to be slightly below 6.8 (btw, is it correct that there is no additional PH test, just the one in the small blue box?)
TA 20 (2 drops)
CH 200 (8 drops)
So it looks to me like the numbers aren't great, but not panic stage. Water is very clear as well. Builder plans on turning on the SWG in about a week, so my plan is to increase where necessary, but be fairly gentle in approach, if that makes sense. Based on pool math app and the information above, the following is my plan of attack. I would very much appreciate your feedback (pool is just under 15k gallons btw):
1) Turn off the inline chlorinator
2) add about 60 oz of bleach to bring up FC
3) don't do anything on PH as it will surely come up naturally again
4) add about 5lbs of baking soda to slowly bring up TA
5) add 1 gallon of calcium chloride to start raising CH
6) add 1 gallon of liquid stabilizer to bring up CYA
Does that sound like an appropriate path forward, again keeping in mind that the SWG will come online in about a week?
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
Yesterday was a big day as we had pool school and I also finally got my TF-100 (post office delivered to the wrong address at first). So I did a quick PH and FC test (from the little blue box) before pool school and not too much of a surprise that the levels were not great, especially PH was through the roof.
For background, the builder used the inline chlorinator after a hard acid start up and def added acid a couple of times afterwards, but not sure how much and if anything else was added. He put another gallon of acid in yesterday and PH level went down. So today I did my first set of full tests with the TF-100 and following are the results:
FC 1 (2 drops)
CC 0
CYA below 20 (could see the black dot with tube completely full)
PH looks to be slightly below 6.8 (btw, is it correct that there is no additional PH test, just the one in the small blue box?)
TA 20 (2 drops)
CH 200 (8 drops)
So it looks to me like the numbers aren't great, but not panic stage. Water is very clear as well. Builder plans on turning on the SWG in about a week, so my plan is to increase where necessary, but be fairly gentle in approach, if that makes sense. Based on pool math app and the information above, the following is my plan of attack. I would very much appreciate your feedback (pool is just under 15k gallons btw):
1) Turn off the inline chlorinator
2) add about 60 oz of bleach to bring up FC
3) don't do anything on PH as it will surely come up naturally again
4) add about 5lbs of baking soda to slowly bring up TA
5) add 1 gallon of calcium chloride to start raising CH
6) add 1 gallon of liquid stabilizer to bring up CYA
Does that sound like an appropriate path forward, again keeping in mind that the SWG will come online in about a week?
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
o,
The only thing I would initially do is to bring FC up to 3 or 4 ppm and then bring the CYA up to 30 or 40...
pH will come up on its own...
I suspect your TA measurement is off.. it may not be, but 20 is awful low.. I would wait a few days and test again..
I see no rush to do anything with CH at this moment...
I find that attacking a bunch of things at once can cause confusion in some cases... If I add one thing to my pool, I know exactly what to expect... if I add 10 things at once and I have some unexpected results, I would never be sure what caused the problem...
You can use Liquid stabilizer, if you wish... but it is much more expensive than the dry version.. Either way, you need to get your CYA up before it starts getting too sunny... It is important to know your CYA so that you then know what the required FC level needs to be... See this chart... [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
The only thing I would initially do is to bring FC up to 3 or 4 ppm and then bring the CYA up to 30 or 40...
pH will come up on its own...
I suspect your TA measurement is off.. it may not be, but 20 is awful low.. I would wait a few days and test again..
I see no rush to do anything with CH at this moment...
I find that attacking a bunch of things at once can cause confusion in some cases... If I add one thing to my pool, I know exactly what to expect... if I add 10 things at once and I have some unexpected results, I would never be sure what caused the problem...
You can use Liquid stabilizer, if you wish... but it is much more expensive than the dry version.. Either way, you need to get your CYA up before it starts getting too sunny... It is important to know your CYA so that you then know what the required FC level needs to be... See this chart... [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Thank you very much Jim; makes a lot of sense.
I'll focus on the FC and CYA and leave the rest as is. Will of course retest frequently at this stage.
Thanks again!
I'll focus on the FC and CYA and leave the rest as is. Will of course retest frequently at this stage.
Thanks again!
I THINK the only PH test is in the little blue box but will check to make sure.
In-line chlorinator-take the pucks out instead of just turning it off. If you let the pucks sit in it they will make a chlorine fume "soup". I would then keep the tube turned on to keep the water fresh in there.
I think we got it all covered now. Let us know if we missed something!
Kim
In-line chlorinator-take the pucks out instead of just turning it off. If you let the pucks sit in it they will make a chlorine fume "soup". I would then keep the tube turned on to keep the water fresh in there.
I think we got it all covered now. Let us know if we missed something!
Kim
Ocmagnum, Yeah, the blue test box from the TF-100 contains the test block for the pH test and a *very* subjective chlorine level test. Most of us just use it for the pH test and use the FAS-DPD test for our chlorine tests. It is *much* more accurate.
I'm concerned that you say the pH may be lower than 6.8, and your TA is 20. These numbers could be hard on metals and equipment.
If you feel confident in your tests I myself would feel better raising that pH up to at least 7.0. You can use Soda Ash (20 Mule Team Soda Ash found in laundry aisle. NOT the same as 20 Mule Team Borax) or Borax. If you choose to do this, do it in steps and retest after an hour of pump running so you don't risk overshooting.
You can also run any water features you have which will raise your pH too. It just works slower than the Soda Ash/Borax option.
Maddie
I'm concerned that you say the pH may be lower than 6.8, and your TA is 20. These numbers could be hard on metals and equipment.
If you feel confident in your tests I myself would feel better raising that pH up to at least 7.0. You can use Soda Ash (20 Mule Team Soda Ash found in laundry aisle. NOT the same as 20 Mule Team Borax) or Borax. If you choose to do this, do it in steps and retest after an hour of pump running so you don't risk overshooting.
You can also run any water features you have which will raise your pH too. It just works slower than the Soda Ash/Borax option.
Maddie
Thanks again everyone! Dumped 38 oz of 10% liquid chlorine and also bought some dry stabilizer, but am waiting until after my second round of testing tomorrow to see how it goes. Will then also see how the pH is developing. Since it was way off the charts just the day before, I'm thinking it might creep up naturally pretty quickly, but will certainly keep a very close eye on it.
Btw, what's the appropriate way to dispose of the tablets currently in the inline chlorinator?
This forum is truly outstanding!
Btw, what's the appropriate way to dispose of the tablets currently in the inline chlorinator?
This forum is truly outstanding!