New pool in 66

[ian66690]

I am just embarking on a pool project, and climbing the steep learning curve that I now know I have to climb (after reading some of the posts to this forum). So I want to begin by saying thank you to everyone who posts here. We have a relatively small space for the pool, and so a small pool - slightly less tan 6x3 with approx 20 m3 of water.

I have had several quotes, and have plumped for my local company as they seem to know most / give the best advice. They just do ployester pools which I am comfortable with (even if it is not the best construction according to some posts). I would really appreciate it if someone could validate the information she has given me before I sign on the dotted line!

Filtration
She proposes a 3/4 HP pump and claims it will change the water in approx 2 hours - this means it would pump 10 m3 / hour. I googled pumps for a bit but could not find a page telling me how much water a 3/4 HP pump would pump! So, I appeal here - does anybody know if this is true? I asked for Zeolite rather than sand in the filter, and she said OK, after making sure I did not mean diatomaceous earth, which she said she had problems with in the past [I am not sure exactly what problems as I tuned out because I do not want diatomaceous earth - even though I think I can speak French fluently, it is amazing how often this happens. Now I wish I had paid more attention as it would give some more indications to her credibility!]

Sanitation
After reading poolguy (thanks Andrew[:)]), I asked about automatic chlorine injection and ph control. But she is convinced that a salt system is what we need. Since this is a holiday home (for our private use, not rented), we may not be there for weeks on end, even in the summer. She said that this would be no problem (which of course we wanted to hear!). She advised to keep the pool covered and keep the pump running for a few hours each day, and the water would be perfect on our return. I asked about temperature and damage to the pool but she said this would not be a problem, even in summer. She proposes a ball-cock top-up system to maintain the water level (which seems reasonable). She says that the salt system is very easy to use, and that the water is not very salty at all, and is far more "comfortable" than directly chlorinated water. Also, the salt is added just once a year. The cost of the salt system & a PH controller she proposes is more or less the same as the cost of the JEP chlorine & PH controller. So what should I do? My instinct tells me to follow the advice of the pool saleswoman because she certainly seemed to understand our requirements (much better than some of the other vendors), but this forum seems to counsel me against salt systems!

One final thing: She said that the backwash from the filter may be evacuated to the street (i.e.public drains) and they will put piping to facilitate this. I assume she is right - the mayor is the brother-in-law of the pool company's owner!

There are very few things in life that we consider spending €15,000 on without knowing the first thing about them!

 

 

[Poolguy]

[quote user="ian66690"]

I am just embarking on

a pool project, and climbing the steep learning curve that I now know I

have to climb (after reading some of the posts to this forum). So I

want to begin by saying thank you to everyone who posts here. We have a

relatively small space for the pool, and so a small pool - slightly

less tan 6x3 with approx 20 m3 of water.

I have had several quotes, and have plumped

for my local company as they seem to know most / give the best advice.

They just do ployester pools which I am comfortable with (even if it is

not the best construction according to some posts). I would really

appreciate it if someone could validate the information she has given

me before I sign on the dotted line!

Filtration

She proposes a 3/4 HP

pump and claims it will change the water in approx 2 hours - this means

it would pump 10 m3 / hour. I googled pumps for a bit but could not

find a page telling me how much water a 3/4 HP pump would pump! So, I

appeal here - does anybody know if this is true? I asked for Zeolite

rather than sand in the filter, and she said OK, after making sure I

did not mean diatomaceous earth, which she said she had problems with

in the past [I am not sure exactly what problems as I tuned out

because I do not want diatomaceous earth - even though I think I can

speak French fluently, it is amazing how often this happens. Now I wish

I had paid more attention as it would give some more indications to her credibility!]

Sanitation

After reading poolguy

(thanks Andrew[:)]), I asked about automatic chlorine injection and ph

control. But she is convinced that a salt system is what we need. Since

this is a holiday home (for our private use, not rented), we may not be

there for weeks on end, even in the summer. She said that this would be

no problem (which of course we wanted to hear!). She advised to

keep the pool covered and keep the pump running for a few hours each

day, and the water would be perfect on our return. I asked about

temperature and damage to the pool but she said this would not be a

problem, even in summer. She proposes a ball-cock top-up system to

maintain the water level (which seems reasonable). She says that the

salt system is very easy to use, and that the water is not very salty

at all, and is far more "comfortable" than directly chlorinated water.

Also, the salt is added just once a year. The cost of the salt system

& a PH controller she proposes is more or less the same as the cost

of the JEP chlorine & PH controller. So what should I do? My

instinct tells me to follow the advice of the pool saleswoman because

she certainly seemed to understand our requirements (much better than

some of the other vendors), but this forum seems to counsel me against

salt systems!

One final thing: She said that the backwash

from the filter may be evacuated to the street (i.e.public drains) and

they will put piping to facilitate this. I assume she is right -

the mayor is the brother-in-law of the pool company's owner!

There are very few things in life that we consider spending €15,000 on without knowing the first thing about them!

 

 

[/quote]

Well .... what can I say other than I dissagree with just about every thing this Sales woman says.

Going from the bottom up. It is illegal under European law to evacuate

your fiter into the street even if its a chlorine direct system but

especially so if your using a salt system as it is envonmentally

unsound and liable for a fine if discovered by any government official

(other than the Mayor by the sound of it).

Since this is a holiday home (for our private

use, not rented), we may not be there for weeks on end, even in the

summer. She said that this would be no problem (which of course we

wanted to hear!). She advised to keep the pool covered and keep the

pump running for a few hours each day, and the water would be perfect

on our return.

SIGH.... (once again) A salt system is

not an automatic but Semi automatic system, you will still have to

manage the salt levels at 3500-6000 ppm, clean your elkectrodes

fromtime to time and replace them every 3-5 years or so. If the system

she is trying to sell you is cheaper than the JEP control for both the

electrolyser and pH control then it is sure that it is not a top brand

or reverse polarity unit. Typically an adequate system would be around

30-40% more expensive so I would urge some caution. She also says that

'salt water is more comfortable that direct injection" .... what

rubbish, I would doubt that she has every been in any pool with direct

injection, but certainly there isnt anyone I know that has chlorine

direct injection that reports that the pool water is 'uncomfortable' -

quite the contrary.

Liquid Chlorine direct injection and pH control on the other hand is

Automatic, is cheaper to run, it will require no supervision and will

regulate the chemistry continuously on a 3 minute cycle (salt systems

do not regulate it at all, they just make a fixed amount of chlorine

every hour whether the pool needs it or not.). If you are to be away

for a long period then you can store sufficient chlorine to last for

that time.

You will be OK with  3/4 cv pump and a 10m3/h filter, and you say that she said OK to Zeolite after making sure that you didn't mean DE.

I would be worried after that that she knew what zeolite was? If she

didn't offer it from the outset then I would be sure that she hadn't a

clue what it is and had to rush back to the office to find out and she

is could buy any to sell to you.

You hadn't mention security yet... but I gather that you will choose a floating security cover... good choice.

After this it seems that you have benefited from my advice in some ways

but I am not sure that you have been helped as it does not sound as if

you will get a good pool at the end. If you want me to interveen to get

a good result then feel free to contact me via PM or email and I'll try

to be of more effective help.

Andrew

[Simon]

We have just had a new pool installed and went for the Chlorine and pH direct injection rather than salt.  Poolguy gave us some great advise - and appears always to so do.  So far the system is working well, although we are away from the house for 4 weeks now so fingers crossed (the acid test?) as the two pumps seemed to go into "security" mode too often when we were there last week.

My rationale for choosing direct injection is:

1) Salt is converted to Chlorine, so any "salt" pool is still a chlorine pool.

2) All I have to do (so far) is put the dosers (1 for Chlorine, 1 for pH-) into 20L caskets of Chlorine liquid (Javel @ 13 euros from the local Brico) and pH- (22 Euros from same place).  These should last at least a month with the cover on.

My only question is should I also add some Chlor Shock to get some cyuranic acid into the pool to help stabilise the Chlorine during the summer with high UV levels?

Rgds

 

 

[Poolguy]

Simon

The answer to your question is Yes you should condition your pool to

50ppm level of cyanuric acid and maintain that level always and no more

in order that the Chlorine will be resistant to UV burnoff. Although I

would have thought that the person you bought the Dosing controller off

would have told you that or it would have been in the instructions as

it is a basic part of the startup to 'condition' the water.

One point of warning on the unit you have bought which uses peristaltic

pumps to inject these liquids (javel, acid) - both these liquids are

extremely corrosive and somewhat dangerous,  so watch and check

that your feed tubes are always in good condition and secure, for if

they come off for any reason then you will have these chemicals all

over your pump room and hence all the equipment will rust out within

days.

For this very reason, I do not favour peristaltic pumps for this

purpose but rather vacuum valves, for if the same thing happens then

all of the chemicals will stay harmlessly in the bidon.

All Pool Controllers are not the same but they are all better than salt electrolysers.

Andrew