I didn’t even think about the kids handprints. If they want to, which they probably will, I’d like that. I remember doing that as a kid when my pop installed a basketball hoop.Are you going to let the kids do handprints? You are so close to the end of the dirt and mud!!! I bet you can't wait!!
Kim
Signing Contract soon! Central Nebraska Pool Build
- Thread starter thetekgeek
- Start date
They could do it on the equipment pad or right on the decking of the pool! Make sure to have some water close to wash their off with as it we both know they will wipe their hands on their clothes when they are done 
LOL
Kim
LOLKim
I haven’t updated in a while, but we got the decking poured just in time for the weekend. That left me with a huge amount of overspill in the pool. I used the dolphin to get most of it, then played a game of rock diving with the kids. They pulled out most of the rocks that the dolphin missed. We planned a weekend for family time at the pool in the hopes we could do the deck sealing today. Storms are rolling in so that has put a delay on that. Hopefully, we can do that on Wednesday. Until the deck is sealed, I will continue to run the pool as a non-swg pool. It’s currently using 1.5 ppm of chlorine per day, but I’ve kept the solar cover on quite a bit. Water temp at 7pm was 81. Nice enough for a dip in my world. 
What a pretty picture!!! That water is SO clear you can't even see! NICE!
LOL on the rock diving with the kids. Way to make them earn their keep!
Kim
LOL on the rock diving with the kids. Way to make them earn their keep!
Kim
Oh yes, they are earning their keep. Currently paying out $5/hr for shovel work, interestingly enough my youngest has put in the most hours!LOL on the rock diving with the kids. Way to make them earn their keep!
Kim
Concrete decking sealer was put on yesterday, so I was able to salt the pool. I aimed for 3000 ppm yesterday morning and tested last night at 3200 ppm (salt test strips, yuck). I plan to get the Taylor salt test when I have to order refills for my kit. I have never managed a pool with a salt generator so I decided last night to perform a test. I tested Chlorine like I normally do and then dosed the pool manually to get back to 6 ppm (CYA is still at 40, I plan to bring it up to 70 this weekend). I waited an hour and tested again to ensure that I was at my target and I was. This was right after sunset. I fired up the SWCG at 30% and went to bed. Got up this morning before sunrise and tested again. 6.5 ppm. So, according to my test my IC40 generated .5ppm at 30% from 10PM - 5AM (7 hrs.).
This output seems a little low to me, but I have no idea what to expect so I was hoping to get some feedback from other pool owners with SWCG's with regard to pump run times and % output.
The FC/CYA chart guides me to a higher CYA and a lower target FC level, I understand the reasoning behind it and will alter my chemistry over the coming days to align with it.
Full Test results below, CYA was tested yesterday at noon, all others at 5AM today, any feedback is appreciated.
FC: 6.5
CC: 0
pH: 7.5
TA: 210
CH: 300
CYA: 40
This output seems a little low to me, but I have no idea what to expect so I was hoping to get some feedback from other pool owners with SWCG's with regard to pump run times and % output.
The FC/CYA chart guides me to a higher CYA and a lower target FC level, I understand the reasoning behind it and will alter my chemistry over the coming days to align with it.
Full Test results below, CYA was tested yesterday at noon, all others at 5AM today, any feedback is appreciated.
FC: 6.5
CC: 0
pH: 7.5
TA: 210
CH: 300
CYA: 40
This might be a great time to start a new thread to ask this question. You can also do a search BUT make sure to click on the G instead of the word search. I am suggesting this as I have NO idea as I use liquid chlorine so am of no help for you 
Thank you Kim. I left it running all day today and tested again about 30 minutes ago. It tested at 7.5. Meaning it actually raised 1 ppm throughout the day while in full sun! I think I can adjust from here. I’m going to start playing with pump run times and % output to keep it in the zone. I’m out of town tomorrow, but plan to bring the CYA up on Saturday, then let the FC drop down.
On another note, I was able to start putting my deck back together. It’s in a bad state, but with a bit of work we will make it nice. I’m going to strip off all of the paint and refinish it. But plan to tear it down next year and build an attached, covered porch that connects to the pool deck.
On another note, I was able to start putting my deck back together. It’s in a bad state, but with a bit of work we will make it nice. I’m going to strip off all of the paint and refinish it. But plan to tear it down next year and build an attached, covered porch that connects to the pool deck.
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I am glad you are finding what works and dialing it in for your SWG. Well done! If you keep a journal or log of your SWG output and weather you will start to see patterns that will help you down the road.
You should always have liquid chlorine on the ready for big FC additions. Events that might cause a need would be a lot of people in the pool, "accident" in the pool (everyone out of the pool, scoop up if possible, push FC up to just under SLAM level for your CYA as seen in the link in my siggy below, allow pump to mix water for about 30 mins or so then call it good), big storm with lots of stuff blown into pool.
Kim
You should always have liquid chlorine on the ready for big FC additions. Events that might cause a need would be a lot of people in the pool, "accident" in the pool (everyone out of the pool, scoop up if possible, push FC up to just under SLAM level for your CYA as seen in the link in my siggy below, allow pump to mix water for about 30 mins or so then call it good), big storm with lots of stuff blown into pool.
Kim
So how did this this end up are you happy with your pool still? I’m over by Lincoln and am going to start on one this late summer or fall. Hope everything is going well!
Absolutely. We love our pool and have not had a single regret. Have you picked a contractor, or are you self building?
Yes we have selected a contractor but with all of the builds we probably won’t see any digging until September or later. Not sure if it will be done to swim in this year. With that said I see you went with a natural gas heater. I have propane where I am located, but am looking into heat pumps also. Can you please give me some advice one way or the other being located at the same temps I am. The pool we are looking into is a 30000 gallon free form.
Yes, I went with the gas heater. I'd recommend a gas heater in our area because the water temps can get too low for a heat pump to be effective. If I had it to do over again, I'd go bigger than the one I currently have. Mine is 250k BTU and heats the water just fine, but I wish I had gone with 400K because sometimes it seems a bit slow. I don't know the price difference between natural gas and propane but I can tell you that my current heater doesn't cost all that much to operate and we typically only use it in the early spring and late fall. We were able to swim on Easter this year and had the water heated up into the low 90's which cost me somewhere around $20 after 3-4 straight days of the heater running.
If you find yourself in the Kearney area and want to see the pool or have any questions answered, feel free to reach out. I found it very helpful to visit other pool owners during our build prep. If you don't mind, can you PM me with the name of the builder you chose? I only ask because my builder is out of Lincoln and I kind of wonder if you happened to talk to (or even hire) the same company that built mine.
If you find yourself in the Kearney area and want to see the pool or have any questions answered, feel free to reach out. I found it very helpful to visit other pool owners during our build prep. If you don't mind, can you PM me with the name of the builder you chose? I only ask because my builder is out of Lincoln and I kind of wonder if you happened to talk to (or even hire) the same company that built mine.