Western Pool & Spa Show

Sorry I’ve been away from the blog recently. I’ve had a lot going on in my life and this has slipped some.

I’ve scored an invitation to attend the “industry only” Western Pool & Spa Show this weekend in Long Beach, CA. I’ve been told that it is the best one here in the southwest. Here in North America the pool industry seems to roll out their new products during the winter (January through March), which makes sense since the swim season is just about to get going. I am planning to come back with lots of topics for pool owners to add to this blog.

New Pool Construction Timing

If you are planning to have a new pool constructed to use during the summer 2007, it is probably too late if you have not already selected your pool builder. Most of the better pool builders have already gotten their hands full with work. I strongly recommend not pushing for a new pool to be completed for the beginning of the swim season because it is just too big of an investment to end up with a less than desirable final project.

Now is a good time to find the “best” pool builders (e.g., those that are already too busy) and start to follow their work to see how the entire project goes. If you have friends and/or neighbors starting a pool visit the construction at least once a week to see how things proceed.

I plan to continue with the rest of the photos of my pool eventually.

“Concrete” Pool Wall Construction

Pool Nerd has recently posted a good description of the workings of a reinforced “concrete” swimming pool wall. It is well worth the look if you are new to concrete construction practices.

Pool Contractor

I used Titan Pool Center from Anaheim, CA, 714-998-9620, to construct my pool. I recommend Dale Jochims, the owner, to anyone who is interested. My wife and I selected Titan Pool Center primarily based upon two personal recommendations, interviewing Dale, and viewing some of his completed projects. While they were not necessarily the least expensive pool builder, we felt confident Dale knew what he was doing, would complete the project, and treat us fairly, which he did.

Automatic pool cleaner suction line location

My pool has two skimmers along the south wall spaced at approximately quarter points and the pool vacuum suction port is located between them. The five return “jets” directs the surface water in a clockwise motion towards the skimmers. Since the pool vacuum port is located between the two skimmers the hose is always being pulled towards the skimmers, which appears to reduce the effectiveness of the vacuuming in the far corners (especially at the shallow end).

If I had to do over again, I would strongly consider locating the vacuum port directly across the pool along the north side, so the hose would be less likely to be influenced by the skimmer suction.

That’s it, nothing too significant.

Horsepower Rating

If you have wondered “what is the difference between Full-Rated and Up-Rated horsepower for pump motors,” you are not alone. While I figured out it seemed to be a marketing distinction (a.k.a. ploy) by looking at the flow curves for my Pentair WhisperFlo pumps, the on-line retailer POOLplaza has a short article explaining how this slight of hand is executed. The bottom line is “use the pump/motor curves” for making your choices.

My earlier post “Pump and Motor Efficient Sizing” is related, and may be of interest at this time.

Pool Electrical Hazards

While electrocution in swimming pools and spas are relatively rare, last October Pool & Spa News had a good article “Shock Waves” about the hazards associated with electricity and water, especially in older construction. Also, they provided a link to a Consumer Product Safety Commission safety alert about providing ground-fault protection for pools and spas.

The Pool Biz

The Pool Guy's The Pool Biz blog which primarily addresses his concerns and problems with salt water chlorine generators (a.k.a. SWG). This site is very opinionated but definitely worth a check if you are planning on adding a SWG to your existing or new pool. He appears to be a pool builder and/or service provider in Texas. It is quite obvious that he has a chip on his shoulder but it appears that his intentions are to honestly inform the pool owning public about his concerns with salt added to pool water.

I have a SWG, which in my opinion has only worked marginally since it was installed during 2006 summer. I have not had any of the problems he has noted on his website, but I think one method for minimizing some of the potential damage is to quickly wash off the pool deck to minimize the potential problems associated with higher concentrations of salt on the deck from evaporation.

Arizona Pool Design

Swimming Pool Phoenix is the blog for Arizona Pool Design. There is a wealth of information for the pool builder, soon to be pool owner, and pool owner. Currently this site is getting a new post almost daily (many are pulled directly from other sources). During a quick review, a few items appeared to be misleading (e.g., Three Must Have Chemicals for Your Pool, October 31) so use common sense when using any of the information.

Pool Nerd

The “poolnerd” is a Southern California pool contractor/subcontractor willing to give his advice freely. He does not appear to have any “ax to grind” or ulterior motive, just a good place to find his opinion about swimming pool and spa topics. You will find insight into the pool construction business and process through many of the posts. He covers many construction topics thoroughly from what I can tell through a quick reading of some of the posts.

Previously, my post stated that there does not seem to be any comments about the problems associated with elevated levels of CYA (Cyanuric Acid, a.k.a. Stabilizer or Conditioner) from the constant use of stabilized dry chlorine (e.g., dichlor and trichlor). While true, this was not the best statement I could have made about this website. I had been discussing the problem with others and it was just the first thought I had as I was reading through some of the topics. There is a section about pool chemistry that is informative but this topic is not the primary intention of Poolnerd’s website (my apologies for misleading anyone).

Pump and Motor Efficient Sizing

This seems to be one of those topics that have a many different opinions. Before starting construction on my pool I spent time researching information on websites and still did not come up with any specific conclusions. One thing that most pool owners agree about is that pool circulation pumps use a lot of electricity (this seems to be one of the biggest complaints among new pool owners – I’ve lost the link to this forum topic).

I have to admit that I did not fully believe the information available, so I ended up with a 1.5 horsepower (HP) pump/motor for my primary circulation system (down from 2 HP that the contractor originally recommended). One of my reasons for keeping with a larger pump motor is that my solar heating system returns directly to the spa (allowing the spa bypass to be closed), which is separate from the pool return line where salt water chlorine generator is located (needing its own flow to operate properly). This feature keeps my spa warmer (5 to 15 degrees F) than the pool water that is pumped into the solar panels (more later).

This University of Florida, Pinellas County Extension, “Timely Topics” article titled “Energy Savings For Your Pool” does a good job of explaining the basics of hydraulics associated with the swimming pool circulation system. While the comparison table for pipe size and pump motor HP makes sense for single line systems, many newer pool circulation systems have multiple suction and return pipes, which increases the actual flow [e.g., my 1.5 HP system frequently pumps about 110 gallons per minute (gpm) because it draws from two or three 2-inch skimmer/vacuum lines and after the filter returns through 2.5-inch solar heating and 2-inch circulating lines].

Here is the first place I saw information about reducing the size of swimming pool pump motors. This guy is very rough around the edges but knows what he is talking about. “Sizing The Pool Pump” covers many of the basics particularly when looking at existing systems.

The chart in the “Swimming Pool Pump Energy Savings” article shows the approximate monthly electrical usage in kilowatt-hours (kWh) for various pump motor sizes and daily run times. Utilizing this information along with the other sites discussing circulation flow, it is possible to achieve an energy efficient circulating system. While this article touts the advantages of a two speed pump, I was not convinced about its benefit in my case because the low speeds are not capable of generating the pressure (water head) necessary for providing adequate water flow to the top of my solar panels.

Build Your Own Pool

How I Build My Own Swimming Pool was created by a guy in Arizona that decided to save money by building his own pool. There appears to be some good information here. While I do not know that I would have come to all of the same conclusions that he did, he has done a good job of documenting his thought process.

Do not think this is a “how to” site for doing all of the work. It is intended for the owner/builder. There is a good section about “why to” or “why not” be an owner/builder, in general he does a good job of covering the basics; however, I disagree with his conclusion about getting subcontractors in the Sunbelt. It is my opinion that it is possible to get subcontractors willing to work for owner/builders when the construction market is slower (possibly now); however, during the construction craze of the last few years very few good subcontractors are willing to work for owner/builders so you will most likely be picking from the subcontractors that are on the B or C lists.

There is a “paid” section to this site that I have not visited but it appears to have more detailed information for those that are serious about being your own contractor. Let me know your thoughts if you have visited this area of the website.

The Pool Guy

The Pool Guy says he has been in the swimming pool construction business since 1979 working primarily as a plaster subcontractor. He has some ineresting insight on his website in only six pages of information. He does not seem to be pushing any agenda, so it is well worth a look.

Construction (Part 1)

The contract was signed in early February 2007. Shortly there after the design was finalized and construction documents were submitted to the local building department for review and comment. In about two to three weeks the building permit was ready but the rains in Southern California prevented start of construction.
Ground was broken in late March 2007. It took less than two days to dig and form the hole for our 18 by 44 pool. While much of the work was done with a Bobcat, it was impressive to see the skill shown by about half a dozen hand diggers.
In less than a week we had a hole, some plumbing, and most of the reinforcing steel installed.
It took some time to finalize the reinforcing steel, complete the plumbing and electrical rough in.
In mid April 2007 gunnite was placed and for the first time it really looked like it was going to be a pool.