Fire department water??

[jabbajean]

HI,
Newbie here. We SHOULD be getting our pool installed next week. I say should because we tried two weeks ago, but first the installers bobcat slipped in the mud and landed into my garage :eek: (minimal damage,but damage none the less). Then after the tow truck came and pulled it out we realized we were missing the bottom rails of the pool. :mad: Can't do anything without those I gather. It took 2 weeeks to get replacements from a company that shall remain nameless(UGH!):mad: .
ANYWAY, when the pool gets in next week we were planning on having the fire department come out and fill the pool (for a small donation) vs a water truck $800.00!! We have well water , so hose filling is not an option. Has anyone ever brought fire department water in before? It comes from the local pond. Any idea on what I should put in it?? Someone told me to filter it for 4 days and it should be fine??
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jay

[drumr]

I had the fire department fill my pool after I had it 1/4 of the way full out of the garden hose (to let the liner get settled). I live in the city limits and have a hydrant in the corner of my property so it was filled with city water completely. I made a $50 donation to them and they were happy to do it for me (volunteer fire department). They say they pay a set rate for water whether they use 10 gallons or 100,000 gallons, so they don't mind doing swimming pools around here. I know your situation is a little different, but if you follow the advice of this web site and poolsoutions.com you will have your water in perfect shape in no time. If you are going to completely fill out of a fire truck I would have them fill the first 1/4 of it slowly so the liner will settle properly and then fill it up faster after that. After I got mine to that point it only took 45 minutes out of the hydrant and I was swimming right after. I would definately check into the fire department option for sure!!

Good Luck!!

[bassadict69]

I am on the FD here in our town & we refuse to do it because of problems that could arise from our water. I have NEVER seen clean water come from our trucks regardless of where we pull it from.

To me, the $800 for good CLEAN water would be much better than the headaches you will face trying to clear up nasty water from a fire truck, especially if it will be pulled from a pond.

[drumr]

They actually didn't use a truck on my fill. It came straight from the hydrant and 150 ft of fire hose.

[NWMNMom]

We don't have that option either way and have to use well water. Trucking company will not haul this far out and Fire Dept won't due to liability issues and we are too far from town.

Properly filtered before going in, what is the problem with well water except that it is slower? Tested prior to use for metals and contaminants, if safe to drink and use in the house, then it should be safe for the pool, shouldn't it? We have some metal content but are using triple filtering prior to reaching the pool and the metal out at fill just in case some gets through. The only issue so far is it takes SO long.

[gonefishin]

Our city fire dept. uses city water...which is the same water that you drink, bathe and cook with. Our city doesn't fill pools...but I would be very confident in the quality if we did fill them (as it's the same city water).

However...I,personally, wouldn't wouldn't accept pond water from any source (fire dept or otherwise) unless I was swimming in a pond. $800 is alotta money...but I think I'd have to pay it. Let's see what those "in the know" say.

good luck,
dan

[jabbajean]

Wow..you guys are quick. Thanks for all the opinions. Our well water is wonderful, but our well isn't that deep so we would run out of ater in the house..three kids so we can't afford to be with out water. We had a 10 ft intes and it drained our well. Our friends filled their pool, an inground ,with the pond water and now it is sparkling.
So, lots of food for thought.
Thanks,
JAy

[hrsdennis]

I have seen about five pools filled from a fire hydrant. The water, in all cases, had a brown rusty look to it. It would be several days before I would want to swim in it.

The last pool I set up for myself was a 15 x 30. We had a well at the time. I just took my time and filled it a few inches, a couple of times a day. It took a week or two but we never ran out of water.

The kids had a blast playing in it every day. The never cared how full it was. I even ran hoses from my filter over the pool wall and into the water to keep it clean. I also had two daughter in college at the time so my money had better uses than a water truck.

Best of luck with your pool, Dennis

[seminolewind]

A friend of mine had her 40,000 inground pool filled completely with pond water. With a lot of pouring of bleach into it and balancing it properly, she had sparkling and clean pool water in less than a week, albeit with 24/7 filtering. It can be done.

[drumr]

Dennis,
I guess we got lucky, we bled the hydrant off for a few minutes and the water out was clean and clear. I think the hydrants and city water (for homes) are tied into the same lines, and the fire department comes around occasionally and bleeds the hydrants around town (not sure why), but the water was clean when they filled my pool.

[Kimrst]

In our town they go around twice a year & flush the hydrants. You don't want to be doing any white laundry those days because all the water is rusty and messy. After a few mins of running, it clears up. But I wouldn't want that rust in my pool. kimrst

[haze_1956]

I should think filling the pool with the pond water will be fine.

However, you will have to treat it with Bleach to kill all the little beasties living in it, and then filter them out, and add whatever else is required to get the chemistry right.

And you find people on the forum asking how to clear up their own, "Home-made Ponds", all the time.

My town actually has municipal water that comes out of a river, they just clean it up and sell it to us.