Pool party!!!

[SeymourDuncan]

Woohoo!!! Today is the day I open the pool! I live in indiana so the weather has been quite stupid. Its going to rain today but at this point I do not care at all.

I guess I'll treat this as a build thread since some of you will be installing your first pool the year! Since mine is up you get the bonus if how to clean the cover before even starting on the pool itself.

First off, I use a massive tarp to keep the elephants (I mean elements) out of the pool water. The pool is under a cherry tree and I'm not going to move the tree so I have I deal with the winter leftovers. Leaves!!!! At this point it is like a stagnant pond!

I have begun to siphon the excess water. At the same time I am netting out as much crud as possible and throwing the leaves in the hedges. You can also use a shop vac if you have a long enough extension but who has an 18 foot shop vac extension and the strength to hold a fire hose worth of water!?
So its sucking and netting until the cover is as dry as you can with as little debris as possible.

At the time I have begun the filling process.

And I have been prepping the area by the filter for the supreme pumpage.

Always make sure your area is clear of weeds or in my case vines and lemon balm (or bomb if you know its invasive capabilities).

While over here I check the sand filter for excess debris and make sure the wires do not have any tears.

Great...now its time to wait for the siphoning. Stay tuned for the next process!


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

When you get down to the last bit of water it helps to put a larger round stone to make a deeper pool. This helps get as much as possible out before removing the cover.


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok! So I siphoned down to a puddle and sucked the rest out with a shop vac, took off the cover and set it out to dry.

Now comes the fun! Plumbing!!!
Luckily this it set up just like a huge reef ready aquarium.
1st step:
Screw down the pump

2nd step:
Fasten the filter cap

Don't forget to put the drain cap on!!!

3rd step:
Attach the hose.
The skimmer box goes straight to the pump strainer/basin.

The. From the pump to the filter caps inlet

Then go from the reactor chamber to te pools jet.





"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

And make sure to be filling the pool during this whole thing. It takes quite a while! Steal the neighbors hose if you want to speed up the process but don't let them see your aquariums or they will call Code enforcement on you!!

When all is hooked up you should have a neatly set up filter station


Now...our pool after the winter looks very clean. Some people get very bad.

If you have crud on the floor wait until your pool is full and use your vacuum. Our pool has an oversized filtration unit so we just have to swim around a little and it sucks right up. Reef rules filtration!!!
Now we are waiting for the level to rise!
You want it to be around the middle of the skimmer box. Higher if you have a very dirty pool so that you have enough water to vac it out.

As you can see we have about 3-4 inches before I can turn on the pump.





"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

No lets take a look under the hood.
My pump is a Hayward "century pool an spa motor." 2hp motor and it runs at 3450 Rpms.

The pump runs to a Swim Pro sand filter that is about the size of a large exercise ball. It is rated for 25gpm/ft^2 so its quite voluptuous!

The filter lid has a few options to keep the filter clean. We use the backwash and filtration modes only. We store it indoors through the winter so the other options don't apply to us.
Now the last step is mineral and chlorine delivery.

Normally we run it on 1 but for initial set up we crank it out at 5 until the pool looks and smells really clean. Usually about 10 days max. Regular usage we go through one cartridge ever 18 full days of usage. I run the pool about 1/2 the day and let it stay stagnant during morning heat to allow the water to get warm. We use a bubble type solar cover that adds about 8-15* temp Increase depending on the day. The water shoots out of this:

The nozzle has a built in light (bad investment) that leaks. I doubt I will be turning the light on this year! Luckily its just a bulkhead that holds it in place.


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Priming the pump. What a pain? Or is it!
The instructions say to fill the pool all the way. Then you remove the cap to the pump strainer/basin and close it as soon as it fills. Its not as easy as it sounds. To make my day a little easier I just blasted the garden hose through the hose attached to the skimmer and waited until water came out of the jet. Like sticking a powerhead on the front of a canister filter to prime. 2.7 inches to go!


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok! So I got the pool filled up and the pump is running at full speed! No leaks. 18psi. Give me a few days and the filter will have cleaned the water perfectly.



"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

It's a good idea to dry and air out your pool cover before storage. First year I opened up the trash can I store it in it stank so bad I almost puked.

After a few years and a few pool covers the cost of this trash can was totally worth it! Any container large enough is fine.

Inside the can is the solar cover I am about to get out and throw on the pool. It works perfectly because I only use the cover when the pool is closed and the solar cover when it is open.


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Here is an aerial view from my helicopter.

I don't have pool stairs anymore. They get in the way of my fat belly


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[feh]

Mean the neighbors didn't call the FAA? Hehe... notice the screen in the pic. :)

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Alrighty here is my solar cover!
I don't have to pay for a heater or electricity. It acts as a green house. When the pool is off the top 12 inches of water is toasty after a day at work. I'll turn the pump on and 20m later the whole pool is evenly heated!


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Mean the neighbors didn't call the FAA? Hehe... notice the screen in the pic. :)

Doesn't every helicopter have screen windows?


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon."