[SportyandMisty]

I'm posting here in the Las Vegas forum (rather than the House forum) because I'm looking for how things are typically done here.

Do you have auto-fill for a pool? This replenishes water lost from evaporation, splashing, etc. We have a lot of evaporation here in Southern Nevada, of course, because we live in the desert.

Here's how mine is plumbed. I think it is incorrect, so I'm trying to collect info from those of you who have it.

In my house, I have a large ball valve in my garage; this turns off the water to the house. Examples of why you'd want to do this might include cutting into an existing water line for some reason, installing a water softener, -- or -- going on a long vacation and you don't want a water line under pressure inside the house to accidentally leak or burst.

I've discovered that turning off the water to the house if you go on vacation ALSO turns off water to the pool auto-fill. This means after several days of evaporation, the pool level goes down below the skimmer level, and then you have a problem with the pool pump & filtration system.

I thought it would be plumbed so that it would be separate from the water shut off to the house. After all, the landscaping is separate - turning off the ball valve inside the garage doesn't effect the landscaping system.

How does yours work?

[timothyaw]

Mine is the same. I put a ball valve at my water softener. This cuts off water to all of the house except the kitchen sink. I'm not so worried about that. I was kinda irritated too when I found out that if I cut the main off, it also cut off my auto fill.

[beachhead]

Mine was tee'd into the irrigation system supply line. So if the irrigation stays on with the house valve closed, my auto fill still has a source of water. I have an additional anti siphon valve/ball valve for the pool (oh boy two of 'em to worry about in the winter!) as well. Perhaps your sprinkler supply line is close enough that you could re-route your pool auto fill in a similar way?

[Packrat1]

On a rental I had the pool didn't come with an auto fill. I used this brand for many years worked great. Hooks up to your garden hose. Marpac Poolkeeper.
https://www.mypool.com/Product-Detail/poolkeeper.asp

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by beachhead

Mine was tee'd into the irrigation system supply line. So if the irrigation stays on with the house valve closed, my auto fill still has a source of water. I have an additional anti siphon valve/ball valve for the pool (oh boy two of 'em to worry about in the winter!) as well. Perhaps your sprinkler supply line is close enough that you could re-route your pool auto fill in a similar way?

Yes, my irrigation line is close enough to re-route, but my irrigation system also has a tank for liquid fertilizer. Periodically, my landscape maintenance guy adds liquid fertilizer to the tank, which in turn distributes liquid fertilizer throughout the irrigation system. While I can tell him not to add fertilizer when I'm on vacation and use the auto-fill from the irrigation supply, we all know mistakes happen.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by timothyaw

Mine is the same. I put a ball valve at my water softener. This cuts off water to all of the house except the kitchen sink. I'm not so worried about that. I was kinda irritated too when I found out that if I cut the main off, it also cut off my auto fill.

That sounds like a reasonable work around. Thanks for the idea!

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by Packrat1

On a rental I had the pool didn't come with an auto fill. I used this brand for many years worked great. Hooks up to your garden hose. Marpac Poolkeeper.
https://www.mypool.com/Product-Detail/poolkeeper.asp

My hose bibs are turned off when I use the ball valve in the garage to turn off water to the house. In fact, the auto-fill supply is a tee from a hose bib.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

My hose bibs are turned off when I use the ball valve in the garage to turn off water to the house. In fact, the auto-fill supply is a tee from a hose bib.

just hook it up to your neighbor's hose bib

[beachhead]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

Yes, my irrigation line is close enough to re-route, but my irrigation system also has a tank for liquid fertilizer. Periodically, my landscape maintenance guy adds liquid fertilizer to the tank, which in turn distributes liquid fertilizer throughout the irrigation system. While I can tell him not to add fertilizer when I'm on vacation and use the auto-fill from the irrigation supply, we all know mistakes happen.

I'd check into the fertilizer system, as I'd be surprised there wouldn't be a one way valve as part of the install, to keep the fertilizer from somehow back flowing into the freshwater lines in case of a pressure loss. Or you could put something like that in if you were to go in that direction.

[justthe2ofus]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

Do you have auto-fill for a pool?

I've discovered that turning off the water to the house if you go on vacation ALSO turns off water to the pool auto-fill. This means after several days of evaporation, the pool level goes down below the skimmer level, and then you have a problem with the pool pump & filtration system.

How does yours work?

We do not.

When we go on vacation we overfill the pool with a hose, higher than normal to offset. For a 3-4 night trip, it's about 2-3" add. Ymmv depending on your pool size.

So if you do want to turn off your main, just overfill about 2-3" for a short trip. If you're going longer, you may want to ask a neighbor to come by an add some water, or your petsitter (mine will retrieve mail, water plants, lights, etc. while pet visiting), friend, family, housesitter.