And the work begins!! YAY!!!

[NWMNMom]

We got everything squared up again, the sand and cove done, liner in, coping on and started filling pretty late during daylight there is only about 3" water in there. The weather WAS great for this though. We won't get to the point of putting the skimmer and return on until we are about 1/3 full - pump is WAY slow so hubby thought we should have sunlight to warm/stretch liner for filling, that will be in the morning. We used the rest of the evening to finish putting the concrete edgers all around the fill area and tidy up all of that - put ladder together, etc. Pictures have been taken. We were too tired for the blender.

More wind woke me at 3:30 again, must be that Mother Natures alarm clock goes off at that time and she goes to work shooting new fronts through. Stabalizer rails aren't on yet due to the filling issue so I get to be awake and stressed... tomorrow/today is Saturday, plenty of time for the blender today....

[NWMNMom]

So we are at around 2 feet in the pool, all rails are on, electric panel is installed 5' away from pump and facing other direction, skimmer and return installed, upright caps to go and filter system to set up. Then we start on the solar panel and reel setups - there is light at the end of the tunnel but sometimes it seems VERY far away.

Our water had a temporary setback when the well filtering system had a breach yesterday afternoon and rust got in the pool - it was almost brown! We hooked up a small sand filter from an older pool and hung the hoses over the sides - put some Iron Myte for Pools (Metal Out) in and ran that pump all night. The water is nearly clear again and we are watching the well filters (3 of them in a series - 2 rust/sediment and on charcoal) - we give the well a rest at night. We should be full by tomorrow evening - yahoo! The solar blanket goes on as soon as it is full enough for that - that should help with the June Bug invasion from Hell. I have been scooping like crazy!

[NWMNMom]

We did not get the pool filled as we ended up re-installing the skimmer and return (creased gasket issues) - all installed, siliconed on the inside, hoses hooked up to skimmer and return, we installed valves inline from the skimmer to pump and from filter to return (so work can be done to either side without floods - solar panels and diverter ready to be installed when rack system completed -still under construction) - Then we set up alternate pumps and filters (hoses over the sides) to help keep it clean until filled and, did the only thing we could for our sanity - went on vacation for 4 days.

When home we continued to fill as now silicone had a chance to cure and this morning water is currently at 1" up on skimmer opening. This morning my son called me because he noticed a leak at the connection where the hose goes into the pump (few drips per second) - this is not the type of connection that uses a hose clamp - the adaptor on the pump side was threaded and we did use teflon tape on that. I told him to close the valves on both sides until we get home.

Pump/filter (22" Pentair Meteor Sand) is NOT yet running or plugged in. We have not primed it yet or anything. It is just sitting with the multiport valve in the CLOSED position, water put in as directed and 150# sand (gently filled - I was scared to death of damage to laterals from filling - all these posts make it sound like its common?) So after getting the water 1/2 or 2/3 up the skimmer opening and filling pump pot to prime, what position do we put the valve in to start it up? Our old sand filter was just that, no multiport valve, the cartridge filter has no valves either, we manually primed and air bled the lines to get started. Is it supposed to backwash to start or to waste or start up on circlulate or filter or ????

[hrsdennis]

Hey Mom, sounds like you are coming along nicely. Just follow the start up intructions on the side of your sand filter. You want to backwash, rinse and then filter. Pretty simple.

Still waiting on pics

Dennis

[NWMNMom]

Thanks Dennis. got it going - a few leaks here and there in fittings and one seemed as if it should have a gasket (didn't) so we found one from our old pool, used it, perfect fit and wa-la! no leak. Ran the vac, cleaned the bottom up, poured in MORE bleach, a bit of PH Down - we were at 8.5 (diluted then distributed) CYA powder in a sock (about 1/3 of recommended dose)- was at zero but we had a few trichlor pucks in a floater while filling.

We started working on the solar reel set up behind the pool, a bit more work on the solar panel racks, cleaned up all the various crap lying around, pulled out the solar blanket, put it on and called it a night. The vacation really helped - when it all seems overwhelming, take a step back, BREATH and relax. You get a new and fresh perspective and its all not such a neverending chore. The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter all the time!

Picture just taken last night attached.

[NWMNMom]

Solar reel is nearly done, panel layout ready to mount (a few fittings needed from Lowes) AND, after having started up the pump/filter last night before putting solar cover on I gave it a peek this afternoon when we got home. WOW, perfectly crystal clear water. Getting it all cycling through the big skimmer and filter made that much difference in getting rid of the excess crap the hand skimmer/dipper couldn't get out and cleared up the cloudy water. The weather turned cool so now is a good time to get all this maintc stuff out of the way and prepare for warmer days.

I checked some of the numbers with a drops kit we picked up at Lowes:

TC - 0
FC- 5.0
CYA - the reagent didn't work in that one as bottle had leaked out, another test gave me a 20, another secondary test with a strip gave me a "normal-low) which I guess means not at a good level but something is there. I am not adding anymore though as I know it takes time for it to dissolve and show up so I'll just wait.
PH- 7.5 (this was 8.5 yesterday)
I did not test for Alk or anything else

[NWMNMom]

Swimming has commenced! Panels are mounted, plumbed with diverter, the solar reel is mounted - solar blanket attached, pump timer attached, poolside shower is mounted and operating and we are left with only minor items to tweak and some fixes.

Out of the solar panels we have one from before, the rest are new. The old one has a small leak (wasn't properly drained - expanded/cracked) There is currently glue on that - they don't always require plugging if the leak. One old leak from before was touched up just in case. Some of the fittings had drips but tightening took care of that too. The panels should be operating today and we are expected to actually get sun today as well so the water can warm up (73 degrees now)

We need to backfill a bit more for better runoff and add rock around it for asthetics.

Our 13yr old son did swim yesterday and gave the big thumbs up - (too cold for us - brr) He was kind enough to vac the bottom while in the pool - with snorkel and fins no less - lol.

Once again, a HUGE thank you to the kind folks on this board who helped us along the way, provided great ideas (DIY solar reel), and cleared up my never ending confusion about fill (we actually had to bring in an entirely new yard to replace the low, wet area we had) and the 411 on patio blocks.... Now, we maintain.....