inground pools and sump pumps


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Old 07-28-03, 12:51 PM
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inground pools and sump pumps

How common is it to have water under the pool. We live on some foothills, so there's no underground water. Our a 20yd x14' pool that sits in pure packed clay which doesn't drain. Beneath the pool floor is about a 4-6" layer of crushed rock and a drain pipe leading to a sump pump to suck out anything that seeps under it.

Since we're in the middle of 90-100F summer heat and there has been zero rainfall I don't expect much to be down there. But there seems to be a small amount (several gallons as a min) of water that gets pumped out every day or so. Not a whole lot, but it's enough to leave a trail of evidence down the street curb where it's dumped. I assume this either comes out of a leak somewhere in the pool (hopefully not), or it's whatever wicks through the gunite.

I'm not adding any significant amount of water since I keep it covered, although I just topped it off in about an inch of water since the last rain in March to presumably replace whatever evaporated or splashed out.

thoughts?

Side question: any reason why I can't irrigate my surrounding trees, etc with the stuff? I guess I should measure the alkalinity of it first so I don't kill anything...

thoughts?
thanks
aaron
 
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Old 07-30-03, 10:41 AM
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pool

Well first Im in Florida. Code here calls for that say sump pump PIPE Ok. But you dont use it------------. I dont know or see why you have a pump on it all the time. Now say I have to work on my inground pool on the light or put new marsite on the pool some they paint. Ok to do this first I have to turn on a pump fixed to that sump pump pipe and let it run for 24 hrs and when its almost dry not much water out of it. Then I can take the pool water out to work on the pool . we have to do this just so the pool wont pop out of the ground when it is empty. Ill bet its the same with you. When we are done and the pool is back full .We take the pump off the stand pipe and just put a cap on it so no dirt are stuff gets down in it. with the water in the pool it will stay in the ground. Take that pump off of there or shut it off . You dont need it till you want to drain the pool. ED
 
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Old 09-17-03, 12:27 PM
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Interesting... I dug a couple of huge 3x3x3ft holes about 20ft away from the pool in preparation for some trees around the pool. The next day, there's a small pool of water in the bottom of the holes. The water appears to come from my neighbor's yard based on the side of the hole that's wet.

We're on a hill and there's definitely no underground sources or springs. He must irrigating so much that it's seeping into our yard...

but it still doesn't explain why I'm needing to add about half an inch (that's a lot of water) every few weeks though the pool is completely covered.

btw, supposedly there's some mandate in our area since we're sitting on compacted clay that a pool must have a automatic sump pump to suck out any water from under the pool. The dirt here is so bad that if I dig a hole and pour some water in there, it'll still be there the next day.

I guess the bright side of this is that I won't need to worry about watering the trees on that side of the yard....
 
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Old 09-17-03, 12:47 PM
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Pool

You saw my post ::::::If you where to work on the pool and had to drain it that is the only time you would run that sump pump. Thats so the pool would not pop out of the ground when its empty. That water loss sounds good. With the wind over the pool when its not covered and people in and out of the pool. hey the water justs goes down and you have to put more back in. I ha ve to all the time. If the grand kids are here have to put water in about every 3 days ED
 
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Old 09-18-03, 08:51 PM
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i wouldnt turn that pump off until someone (a pool professional) in your area says that is the correct thing to do...especially if youre surrounded by clay...if youre curious about water loss of your pool...you can do a static water loss test...turn any water adding devices to pool off...put 5 gallon bucket-water tight-on top step of pool (make sure the top lip is about water level) and fill the bucket with water to the same level as the pool is(you mite have to add some rocks to keep bucket from floating)...the inside level in the bucket should be the same as the outside level of the bucket...let it sit for several days-dont let water get so low that your skimmers start sucking air and you lose prime- and then compare water lines...if water level in pool is lower than water level in bucket you might have a leak...you want water levels to stay the same but they should drop together
 
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Old 09-19-03, 09:20 AM
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Ok think about it. If the pool is full what diff if there is water around it . If I drain my pool and open the bottom drain the water table here will come up in it and stay about 3 '. So with the pool full it will stay in the ground with out that sump pump running.We put a hole in the bottom of the pool and turn the pump off after its gunned in, this lets any ground water in while it cures with the pump off. Then turn the pump on ,acid wash it down and put the marcite on and fill it . Then turn the sump pump off. That bucket for a water loss???? The wind that blows over the whole pool can take up more water than what could be lost out of that bucket so I dont think that will tell you anything. Thats like a pool with a screen over it. The water dont go down as fast as one that dont have a screen over it. Have had and worked on pools now for 18 years .So this is where Im comeing from. ED
 
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Old 09-26-03, 09:36 AM
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The sump pump is an automatic unit that is tied directly to the power. It's never "turned off". The primary reason for this as I've heard is we don't want to be saturating the hills around here as well as keeping the clay around the pool from moving around and cracking the walls. Good reason since we don't want the ground to be liquifying and have stuff sliding down the hill when the next earthquake hits. (but small quakes are always rumbling through here anyways...that's just the way it is in CA).

Rather than using a sump pump, it seems more bulletproof to just to trench and lay a drain pipe that empties further down the hill... oh well...

anyways, I've marked the side of the pool with a piece of tape and have been observing the water level. With us using the pool 3x a week, I've lost about 1/4" in the past 3wks or so. I'm guessing that's OK. There's not a lot of loss from splashing.

I assume you folks in Florida are blessed(?) with plenty of water. Maybe too much... The 'Golden Hills of California" are named appropriately. Everything here San Jose dries out and turns yellow as soon as the rain stops in Feb/March.... lol
 
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Old 09-26-03, 11:39 AM
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Like that info so ,so be it. Your doing alright on water loss let it be.
Now as for us here HA ha ha water Oh boy. With the people comeing here now they say by 2030 we will be out of water. The water we drink is from wells here and the more water they take out the more sea water comes in to fill it. I have been here18 years now and they have moved the water wells in from the ocean 3 times sofar. As they take the water out the sea water comes in. There is talk already of going to osmosis set up with sea water. Oh well I dont think Ill be around then. ED
 
 

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