Howdy all, we have a new pool built, ~12,000 gallons, in Columbus Texas. we initially fill the pool using well water, during the summer there was a big ring of hard water on the tile at the full level. the pool has a chlorine tablet chlorination. during the winter i have been filling the pool as it gets low using the water from the water softener, i have been checking the chemicals and so far everything is normal, just courteous if anyone has any experience with soft water in pools and any issues?
Well water, using soft water to fill pool
- Thread starter Rangerreese
- Start date
-
- Tags
- soft water
- May 3, 2014
- 58,620
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Welcome to the forum! 
Can you post a complete set of test results from your own test kit?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Using softened water for your pool fill water is a great idea if you have hard water, iron, etc.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.
Can you post a complete set of test results from your own test kit?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Using softened water for your pool fill water is a great idea if you have hard water, iron, etc.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.
Overnight Chlorine Loss TestThanks for the quick response mknauss. i use a test strip to test the pool water. the test strips have a range of High, good, low. all readings so far have been in the good range. i did order a new test kit LaMotte ColorQ Pro 11 digital liquid pool and spa chemical water testing kit. may need a degree to use this thing?
- May 3, 2014
- 58,620
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
The test strips are not viable. No idea what they read.
The LaMotte will be OK for testing but is not viable for higher FC testing and has limitations on some of the other parameters.
We recommend the TF100 from TFTestkits.net or the Taylor K2006C.
The LaMotte will be OK for testing but is not viable for higher FC testing and has limitations on some of the other parameters.
We recommend the TF100 from TFTestkits.net or the Taylor K2006C.
cfherrman
TFP Guide
The water line is a pool chemistry problem that I assume is high ch from Cal hypo tabs. The test kit info above will figure that out.
Topping up with a water softener is a excellent way to mantain your pool, but it is not a easy answer.
Firstly you need to know your water softener, operation, and reserve capacity. For example on my system I have a 64,000 grain system and with my hardness level, 17 great/gal, and 300 gallon reserve, gives me 3000 gallons of water to use at one time to fill my pool. My softener has a meter on it so when I too up it fill I can take it to 0 (or close to it and select a Regen for the night), let the reserve run the rest of the day and start again tomorrow.
I sized my softener big enough not to worry about top ups.
It will wear your softener more, it is a wear item and cheap enough, mine was $700.
I was able to lower my ch by 40 over a season from softener top ups.
Topping up with a water softener is a excellent way to mantain your pool, but it is not a easy answer.
Firstly you need to know your water softener, operation, and reserve capacity. For example on my system I have a 64,000 grain system and with my hardness level, 17 great/gal, and 300 gallon reserve, gives me 3000 gallons of water to use at one time to fill my pool. My softener has a meter on it so when I too up it fill I can take it to 0 (or close to it and select a Regen for the night), let the reserve run the rest of the day and start again tomorrow.
I sized my softener big enough not to worry about top ups.
It will wear your softener more, it is a wear item and cheap enough, mine was $700.
I was able to lower my ch by 40 over a season from softener top ups.
Since plumbing in soft water to the pool refill float valve back in October, I am pretty pleased with the results. CH has not noticeably increased and has stabilized and I project that it will begin to decrease a bit, as I perform filter backwash's in the spring/summer.
My city water is pretty hard at 200ppm. After running through the water softener, CH drops to 25ppm. I am using a Kinetico dual tank soft water system, so I am not concerned with slightly increased re-generations of the softener. Salt consumption has not really increased all that much so far, but I'm sure it will increase as evaporation increases as we move in to the warmer months here.
So far, so good.
My city water is pretty hard at 200ppm. After running through the water softener, CH drops to 25ppm. I am using a Kinetico dual tank soft water system, so I am not concerned with slightly increased re-generations of the softener. Salt consumption has not really increased all that much so far, but I'm sure it will increase as evaporation increases as we move in to the warmer months here.
So far, so good.
cfherrman
TFP Guide
With a dual tank system you never have to watch a meter, they switch tanks during regens.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,896
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Ranger, welcome to the forum! 
At your next opportunity, please make sure to update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info. It will come in handy later. PS ~ I'm one of those who also installed a new spigot from my water softener out to my pool. I'm careful to use it sparingly, but it does help control the hardness (CH). Ditto on the test kit though. A must-have to be in control. Enjoy! 
At your next opportunity, please make sure to update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info. It will come in handy later. PS ~ I'm one of those who also installed a new spigot from my water softener out to my pool. I'm careful to use it sparingly, but it does help control the hardness (CH). Ditto on the test kit though. A must-have to be in control. Enjoy! 
My auto-top off for the new pool will be connected to the soft water system. I'm just concerned about it keeping up with evaporation in the summer. I'll probably have a solar cover on in the spring and fall...not sure if I would keep that on all winter too since it will just be to reduce evaporation.
PJ,
That will completely depend on the type and specifications of your softener. In this area, you can plan on losing 60-90 gallons a day, in the summer months to evaporation depending on the surface area of your pool, temperature variations between night and day, how much you aerate or use any water feature you may have and other minor variables. Just for an example, my surface area is 678 square feet. Here in the valley, towards the end of September, I was losing 80 gallons per day to evaporation without my water feature sprays being active and no filter backwash involved (something you will not have to factor in with a cartridge filter).
Checkout your softener specifications and determine if it will handle an increase of 50 to 100 gallons per day. If so, I would think that you would be okay.
Thanks.
r,
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