pool water calculations

[taff]

hey all, i've just bought an above ground pool which will be here this weekend.
the size of the pool is 7.8M x 5M x 1.8M deep. it's rectangular in shape.

can anybody work out how much water this pool will take in litres?

we are not connected to mains water so obviously live off a water tank. we have 2 dams which are pumped up to the house to do the retic. the water is a little dirty and smelly. if possible i'd like to fill the pool with this water.
is there a way of cleaning this water to use in the pool or could i even fill the pool and let the filters clean it or would this ruin anything
don't know if it makes a difference but the pool is a salt water pool.

[dobbo]

Volume = length x width x height

[taff]

Volume = length x width x height

thanks butt - first useful reply i've seen you post - guess your not a total tosser after all ;)

[Mellow Yellow]

One cubic metre of water is 1000 litres.

Most pools are 1.2m at the shallow end and 1.8m at the deep end. For calculation purposes 1.5m will be good enough.

So, your calculation would be 7.8m x 5m x 1.5m = 58.5 cubic metres

So, in round figures, your pool capacity is 60,000 litres which is a very common pool size.

As a tip, turn it into a salt water pool and always (repeat always) over filter it. That is, run the filter each day longer than the pool manufacturer's recommendations.

Then each month take a sample of water down to a (good) pool shop and do exactly what they tell you to do.

Happy and safe swimming.

[Bigbjorn]

A yacht is considered a hole in water into which you throw money, never to be seen again. I have had a swimming pool. It is a hole in the ground into which you throw money. You have the good type of pool . Above ground. You can easily get rid of the bastard of a thing when your family's interest wanes. Usually when the kids hit fifteen or so and don't want to socialise with parents or stay at home.

You will learn (or re-learn) fitting skills. Pools have pumps and filters that need constant attention.

[Blknight.aus]

70200Lm aproximately.

Swimming Pool Water Volume Calculation (http://www.poolandspachemicals.co.uk/volcalc.htm)

and

http://www.havuz.org/pool-calculators.htm

because its also got a basic chemical quantity calculator in it.

[dmdigital]

Which comes to 70.2 cubic metres or 70,200 litres.

... or 187,200 cans of beer;)

[isuzurover]

So, your calculation would be 7.8m x 5m x 1.5m = 58.5 cm



I think you mean m3 or m^3... ;)

[dobbo]

thanks butt - first useful reply i've seen you post - guess your not a total tosser after all ;)

not totally, evil hands;)

[Vern]

dam water will be fine, just use plenty of chlorine and filter it until clear:)

[agrojnr]

Put a stocking (im sure you have some:D) over the end and test water before adding any chemicals (you never know)

Oh and welcome to the world of pools (i hate them)

Adam

[clean32]

ahh pools.

above ground, if there is any steel in it dont go salt, if not then go salt, if you wish to fork out the bucks up front.

yes get your water teated at a pool shop, monthly over winter weekly in summer or when in use. 1 pee in a pool rule of thumb = $5 bucks in chemical, 1 dog in the pool = $10.

and yes over filter it, just leave it running.

if you are using dam water, get the phosphates tested as well, if the pool shop cant do that go to another. its cheep to use Di Clour and not the cheeper cal Hypo. Keep your PH low as posable or as close to 7.2 as you can, very important if you have brown eyes

alkalinity, is the single most important balance, keep that low and you kit will last longer and you will us a bit less chemical.

us a separate stabilizer not a mixed in one.

dont get caught out by buying algasides etc waste of money, or a good earner for the shop

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Using dam water, you can clear it, but your going to overload your filter over the first few weeks. As your dam has a lot of colloidal material, its going to clog a sand filter quite quickly. Better off filling the pool, adding a flocculant to settle it and then slowly vacuuming out the sediment.
Then start up the filter with a higher chlorine dose and run it at a reduced flow thru the filter for a week or so.
You will need to backwash quite regularly, problem being everytime you refill, topping up with dam water is going to cloud it up again. ;)

Any colloids that get into the filter will eventually crust up the top inch or so of the filter media and you will need to open the filter and break it up a bit.

I would have just used the dam as your pool and spent the cash on the Fender!!
If the dam has a smell to it, just stick in an aeration pump and maybe also a circulation pump between the two to cycle the water.

Cheers

Andrew.

PS, used to design filtration and treatment systems. :D

[Hymie]

Keep your PH low as possible or as close to 7.2 as you can, very important if you have brown eyes



How about just one?

[taff]

thanks for the advice guys.
once it's full and clean i'll top up with tank water (clean) i just don't want to take the initial fill from the tank as it would probably leave us short for summer.
we don't have any kids but have 12 family members coming from wales for christmas, so have bought it for them really as we live +50,mins from the coast which is a bit far to be going everyday.
adam i have plenty of stockings but keep it quiet
andrew i've been told if i buy anymore rovers then i can walk :D - you got your's yet and wheres ya pics

[mike 90 RR]

Given all the problems of Dam water

.. as LOVEMYRANGIE / Andrew said .... adding a flocking agent to it is the go .. but to do that you have to get the pool water balanced (PH levels)


..... Just ring up a "Water carter" and have them deliver Fresh Water :D

IT WILL BE SO MUCH cheaper and easier than trying to clean Dirty, Muddy water


So who volunteered to clean the pool?? :p

Mike

[weeds]

A yacht is considered a hole in water into which you throw money, never to be seen again. I have had a swimming pool. It is a hole in the ground into which you throw money. You have the good type of pool . Above ground. You can easily get rid of the bastard of a thing when your family's interest wanes. Usually when the kids hit fifteen or so and don't want to socialise with parents or stay at home.

You will learn (or re-learn) fitting skills. Pools have pumps and filters that need constant attention.

inground pools are easy to get rid of as well.......punch a hole in the bottom and fill with dirt..........well thats what a mate of mine did, the fill was cheap as it come from the new, bigger pool he built 10m closer to the fence

in 12 months of owning a saltwater pool it pretty much manages itself.....hardly spent a $,

[loanrangie]

If you spend all your time maintaining a pool then you are not doing it correctly, as for money wasting = read previous comment. There was an aboveground pool at our house when we bought it and apart from replacing the 15 year old knackered pump/filter it has hardly cost us anything. I let it turn to a swamp around easter and then clean it ready for summer about now- this year was a few weeks earlier due to the heatwave we had. All i add is 1 x 200g stabilized chlorine tablet a week (30k litre ) and its perfect, if i followed the advice of the local pool shop i'd still be trying to get it clean. I have a system and stick to it and the kids love having the pool, so do i after a hot day at work. My only real problem is being surrounded by gums i can get a lot of crap in it but again doesnt take long to clean it out. One day i might even see if i can get a fibreglass shell to replace our old pool.

[adm333]

I don't know what set up the pool haters have had in the past, but like Weeds, I have almost no trouble with my in ground pool.

It is salt water, has a big sand filter, auto timer, auto chlorination, auto pool cleaner, auto solar heating.

It is possibly about 2 hours a month if that to keep it up to scratch, and not a lot of money.

To put it in perspective, its about one one hundredth of the effort and expense of our Land Rovers

:D

[Blknight.aus]

providing your happy with a slow fill time you can get away by doing a bottom up filtration of your dam water through 4 or 5 plastic 44's filled with clean river sand or beach sand into the pool with a small pump.

But getting a TTW in with clean water is definately quicker and may wind up cheaper than trying to clean up and stabalise the dam water.

[loanrangie]

Dam water be fine, let it settle so all the heavy particles drop to the bottom and then vacuum to waste (not thru filter but out of pool) i use a liquid dropout chemical which makes all the crap sink to the bottom them vacuum out, about 3 weeks ago i turned my pool from swamp to clear swimmable in about 3 hours. If you are in a leafy heavily treed area then a cover and a auto pool cleaner will help to keep it clean.

[clean32]

Dam water be fine, let it settle so all the heavy particles drop to the bottom and then vacuum to waste (not thru filter but out of pool) i use a liquid dropout chemical which makes all the crap sink to the bottom them vacuum out, about 3 weeks ago i turned my pool from swamp to clear swimmable in about 3 hours. If you are in a leafy heavily treed area then a cover and a auto pool cleaner will help to keep it clean.

you are talking about flocking

aluminum sulfite

[d2dave]

My above ground pool is about one metre from the edge of my dam. When I put the pool in nine years ago, me being a bit of a tight arse I thought I would fill it with water from the dam even though I have a town water supply.

I then took a sample to the pool shop to find out what I needed to get it clean. They told me it would be cheaper to drain it and fill it with town water.

I drained the pool and I then had a big layer of silt on the bottom which we then had to clean. All this to save $8 although at the time did not know the cost of town water.

In my town a semi full of drinking water costs $150 which if I did not have access to town water I would pay it to have clean water to start with, as chemical and filter cleaning, let alone the time factor could end up near this cost.

When you go to the pool shop with a water sample they will tell you that you need this and that to get your water right.

Some of the expensive stuff they will try to sell you are for total alkalinity and for Ph. I use for total alkalinity sodium bicarbonate which is cheap from supermarket and for Ph I use hydrochloric acid. Just be very careful when using the acid.

Someone else posted that they let their pool go during winter and when summer came they then got it right. I tried this and I found it cheaper to keep it right all year. Come summer when the water was green it cost me more to get it right than to keep it that way.

Dave.

[clean32]

Some of the expensive stuff they will try to sell you are for total alkalinity and for Ph. I use for total alkalinity sodium bicarbonate which is cheap from supermarket

Ok a lot of people get this wrong. total Alkalinity up add sodium bicarbonate. but its more often you have to bring your TA down to do this use hydrochloric acid, BUT add it from a jug undiluted and tipped ( not pored) into the middle of the pool. as the acid is heaver then water you want it to form a bubble and sink to the bottom of the pool and do it thing.


for Ph I use hydrochloric acid. Just be very careful when using the acid.

you should add it to a bucket of pool water first. and then dribble it around the pool for best effect. IF when adding it to the bucket you get a lot of fizzing or worse a yellow color you total dissolved solids are way to high. cheapest way it to change water, ( common in spars)


else posted that they let their pool go during winter and when summer came they then got it right. I tried this and I found it cheaper to keep it right all year. Come summer when the water was green it cost me more to get it right than to keep it that way.

Dave.

a 50 000 lter green pool with a good sand filter easyly $ 150 in purchases.

a RAAF Green pool last year 1/2 a million liters, i did it in 2 1/2 days to standards, but it cost over 2K

[taff]

thanks for all the advice.
it's going to cost around $1,200 to get the water trucked in - unfortunately we have no town water. i think i'll take a cupfull of dam water down to the pool guy and see what he thinks and go from there

[clean32]

thanks for all the advice.
it's going to cost around $1,200 to get the water trucked in - unfortunately we have no town water. i think i'll take a cupfull of dam water down to the pool guy and see what he thinks and go from there


make sure you get the following

PH
TDS
Alk
Phosphates
copper

post you results here.

[loanrangie]

you are talking about flocking

aluminum sulfite

No, i have used the powder flocking ( AS ) this is a liquid i used for the first time, i was sceptical but it worked perfectly.

[clean32]

No, i have used the powder flocking ( AS ) this is a liquid i used for the first time, i was sceptical but it worked perfectly.

same stuff

[loanrangie]

Someone else posted that they let their pool go during winter and when summer came they then got it right. I tried this and I found it cheaper to keep it right all year. Come summer when the water was green it cost me more to get it right than to keep it that way.

Dave.

That was me, no word of a lie, last weekend of October i bought 1 x 15 litre drum of liquid chlorine and a 1ltr bottle of liquid dropout (flocking agent ). After removing all the leaves and branches that had fallen in the pool over the previous 6 months and as much other chunky algae etc i ran the filter overnight about 12 hours or so, poured in the flocking liquid and ran the filter for 6 hours. Let the pool sit for 48 hours and then vacuumed the pool to waste, poured in about 5-6 litres of chlorine and within 3 hours it was crystal clear. Now the reason i let my pool go over winter is we are surrounded by tall trees and it is pointless trying to keep it clean during winter when storms are constantly dropping debri in the pool. Over the last 5 years this system works well for me and costs me bugger all - 1x drum of chlorine $13.50, 2 of 10x 200g chlorine tablets @ $19.95 each and 1 x 1 litre bottle of dropout.

[Killer]

I have heard that a bag of cement (unopened) thrown into the pool will act as a floculant to sink all your silt out of the dam water. I have not tried this myself.

Cheers, Mick.

[clean32]

I have heard that a bag of cement (unopened) thrown into the pool will act as a floculant to sink all your silt out of the dam water. I have not tried this myself.

Cheers, Mick.

it will, but it will also stuff up your alk and ph, and its not the sort of water you would want your stock drinking after

[WhiteD3]

I don't know what set up the pool haters have had in the past, but like Weeds, I have almost no trouble with my in ground pool.

It is salt water, has a big sand filter, auto timer, auto chlorination, auto pool cleaner, auto solar heating.

It is possibly about 2 hours a month if that to keep it up to scratch, and not a lot of money.

To put it in perspective, its about one one hundredth of the effort and expense of our Land Rovers

:D

Same here. I fought and lost the battle against getting the pool but it is no effort to look after. The kreepy does most of the work (although it remains a mystery to me how the thing works).

I would spend 15 minutes a fortnight on it if that, cleaning the cell, empty the filter basket, add a litre of acid. Half a dozen bags of salt once a year.

[WhiteD3]

hey all, i've just bought an above ground pool which will be here this weekend.

Recollections of childhood in Melbourne northern suburbs...........Above ground pool, Dad taking a deep breath and going to the bottom, me standing on his back while he patches holes, tap on the ankle to get off when required:angel:

[d2dave]

That was me, no word of a lie, last weekend of October i bought 1 x 15 litre drum of liquid chlorine and a 1ltr bottle of liquid dropout (flocking agent ). After removing all the leaves and branches that had fallen in the pool over the previous 6 months and as much other chunky algae etc i ran the filter overnight about 12 hours or so, poured in the flocking liquid and ran the filter for 6 hours. Let the pool sit for 48 hours and then vacuumed the pool to waste, poured in about 5-6 litres of chlorine and within 3 hours it was crystal clear. Now the reason i let my pool go over winter is we are surrounded by tall trees and it is pointless trying to keep it clean during winter when storms are constantly dropping debri in the pool. Over the last 5 years this system works well for me and costs me bugger all - 1x drum of chlorine $13.50, 2 of 10x 200g chlorine tablets @ $19.95 each and 1 x 1 litre bottle of dropout.

What is this Flocking Agent. I have not heard of this and I can only guess this is why you get your pool clean in six hours.

I use liquid chlorine and when my pool is green I add about four litres of chlorine (20,000 litre pool) and then about two litres a day after that until clean, which is about six to seven days and usually requires a couple of filter back washes which then requires topping up with precious water.

As for winter maintenance I too have a lot of trees. I leave all the crap in the pool but find about one litre of chlorine a week keeps the water clear.

If I can get my water from green to clean in six hours I will revert to no winter maintenance.

Dave.

[clean32]

there are a number of different types green pools , they are all basically treated the same. the only real difference is phosphates or algy food, and you tend to deal with this last any way.

next question is if you have a sand filter or not.

get the big stuff out first, thats simple

get your PH low first, this helps the chlorine work

dump your chlorine in about 1/2 a ltr per 1000ltrs or 1 kg of the cheep cal hypo

now if you have a sand filter just leave it running, and back wash off the pressure gauge, you will know if you have it correct as it will go a milky blue. if not just add more chlorine. if you have a cartridge filter this will block up to fast so add a flocking agent ( coagulant) and leave the pump off, once settled vac to waste.

[lewy]

if your out bush you can sometimes make a suitable donation to the local fire brigade to fill it up:wasntme:

[isuzurover]

What is this Flocking Agent. I have not heard of this and I can only guess this is why you get your pool clean in six hours.

I use liquid chlorine and when my pool is green I add about four litres of chlorine (20,000 litre pool) and then about two litres a day after that until clean, which is about six to seven days and usually requires a couple of filter back washes which then requires topping up with precious water.

As for winter maintenance I too have a lot of trees. I leave all the crap in the pool but find about one litre of chlorine a week keeps the water clear.

If I can get my water from green to clean in six hours I will revert to no winter maintenance.

Dave.

I assume this is what loanrangie is talking about:
Heavy Duty Liquid Flocculant - Clear Cloudy Pool Water - PQ Drop Out (http://www.zodiac.com.au/pool-chemicals/pq-clarifiers/pq-drop-out.aspx)
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[d2dave]

I assume this is what loanrangie is talking about:
Heavy Duty Liquid Flocculant - Clear Cloudy Pool Water - PQ Drop Out (http://www.zodiac.com.au/pool-chemicals/pq-clarifiers/pq-drop-out.aspx)
http://www.zodiac.com.au/media/60450/pq%20drop%20out_typef.png



Over the years I have used products to get the pool crystal clear.

These work by binding the very small particles together to make them larger so the filter will trap them.

The only time I used this is when the water is clean but after lots of filtering just doesn't come up to scratch. eg if there was a 20 cent piece on the bottom I could not tell if it was heads or tails.

I would not have thought this stuff to be suitable for a green pool.

Dave.

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

I used to use a range of liquid polymer floc agents to settle backwash water from commercial filtration systems. These basically couldnt be drained to open ground and had to be settled and separated then removing the clarified water and re introducing it back to the system.

The polymer was mixed at a rate of 10ml to 1000L and it would be circulated thru a 300m3 pond by 2 120m3/h circ pumps. It took hours min to get full circulation, but 3-4 hours to settle it crystal clear. Amazing stuff but a 1L bottle was something around $250.00 :(.

Cheers

Andrew.

[mike 90 RR]

it's going to cost around $1,200 to get the water trucked in -

Rang my Cuzz who lives up in the hills of Bullsbrook ... He had his tanks kicked started last year @ a trucked water price of $110 for a 15thou/L load, and cheaper if you want more ....

Mike
:)

[Hoges]

I have heard that a bag of cement (unopened) thrown into the pool will act as a floculant to sink all your silt out of the dam water. I have not tried this myself.

Cheers, Mick.

do you have any concrete evidence for this claim? :o:eek::wasntme:

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

do you have any concrete evidence for this claim? :o:eek::wasntme:

Not to be the agitator in this conversation but I think your statement lacks formwork and quite frankly you have cemented your bias..... :cool:

[HangOver]

just a thought but for $1200 !!! :eek:

you could maybe buy a water container throw it on your low-loader and buy a petrol water pump, then take a few trips to the beach :)

check out the scrap machine place on gnangara road they have containers or various sizes pretty cheap

[clean32]

water from the sea is about 24ppm for a salt pool you want to remain about the 6ppm.

[HangOver]

so would it overload the chlorinator or something?

[clean32]

so would it overload the chlorinator or something?

not sure, never seem one run that high. But they do drain less power when the salt is low so i assume that they may drain to much when the salt is high.

there is also the posable question of hydrogen, chlorinators dont just produce Chlorine. thats why the chlorinator is last in line and the highest point in your plumbing. i have seen a couple of home plumbing jobs where the sand filter has gone BANG