Softened water or not for filling pool

[howardtopher]

Our pool was filled up about 7 weeks ago. Since filling I've watched the CH level climb from 100 to 125 to 150 over that time. I know it's fine for now, but trending toward a drain/refill at some point next season. We've been in a drought period and have only had 1/2 inch of rain in these last 7 weeks so no help from nature.

For water we have an irrigation line and the regular water line for the house (separate meters). I used the irrigation line to fill the pool so there are no sewer charges added on and I've been using it for fill ups also. In the house we have a water softener that covers all of the outdoor faucets also.

Out of curiosity, tonight I tested the CH of the irrigation line and the house softened line. The irrigation one is 100-125. (I give the range because the test turned blue at 100, but after 10 seconds or so it slowly faded back to red and the next drop make it stick to blue.) The house softened water is 0, so the softener is working great.

I'm curious if there is any reason to not use the softened water for topping off the pool? Does it add anything else, affect chlorine effectiveness or ph levels, etc? I hoping to extend the amount of time between drain/refill as much as possible. It will certainly be easier to use the softened water as the faucet is 15 ft from the pool. The irrigation box is out by the street and takes 150 ft hose to reach. I just want to make sure it's ok to use softened water before doing it.

 

[ajw22]

No problem using softened water for fill water if your water softener can handle the load.

Some folks switch between the two water sources depending on their pools CH needs. I think @MyAZPool pool has such a setup. He wrote about it here...

What would you do....?

We purchased a home in AZ not too long ago with a pool. We kept the pool service because the guy who was doing it was very good and they do fountains as well. But, they promoted our pool guy to a supervisor which is great he deserved it. So, now we get a different guy all the time and we have...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

I would think you just use the irrigation water as it is cheaper. It is low in CH and I doubt you add that much due to evaporation anyway.

Your CH will stay well below 400 ppm or so for a very long time, possibly forever.

 

[Arizonarob]

I agree with Marty. With fill water that low in CH, IMO it’s not worth it to use soft water on your autofill. Just keep your numbers balanced properly and you’ll be in good shape for years.

 

[MyAZPool]

howardtopher
Agree with the two recommendations above. Although I use soft water to compensate for my high calcium hardness municipal water in combination with the extreme evaporation rates in my area, I too wouldn't think it would be necessary in your area and given your lower fill water CH.
r.

 

[Katodude]

My tap water is about 125 as well and I manage to keep my pool between 350 - 500 which is fine. In the winter when it does not rain as much and I have to manual fill the CH creeps up. In the summer where my auto drain is constantly draining water from the pool it drifts back down.

 

[howardtopher]

Ok, great. Thanks for all your responses! I won't worry about it for now. I may look into getting an extension run to the back yard off the irrigation line to make it a bit closer, but it's not that bad getting the hose out once a week.