[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by airics

mine is 20x36.. 13000 gallons

Then your pool averages 2.41 feet deep. The average depth in most pools is more than 2.41 feet.

1 cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons.

20 feet * 36 feet * 2.41 feet * 7.48 gallons/ft^3 = 13k gallons

[airics]

i included a huge wet deck / beach entry

[AA702]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

Pools in Las Vegas need to have their water changed for a couple reasons:

1) Buildup to TDS (total dissolved solids). The water here is hard, and when it evaporates from your pool, the dissolved minerals are left behind, and you refill with hard water. This means TDS keeps rising from the day you fill the pool, and the more water you have to replace, the more TDS you have.

2) Buildup of stabilizer (cyanuric acid). A certain level of CYA is needed, to protect chlorine from breakdown by UV light. However, an excessively high level of CYA reduces the efficacy of chlorine. Both di-chlor (powder) and tri-chlor (pucks) are stabilized with CYA, so if you use these, you will build up CYA to too high of a level within a couple years, maybe less.

So if you want to change the water in your pool as infrequently as possible, you need to reduce evaporation as much as possible (cover it), and don't use tri-chlor or di-chlor to chlorinate (use sodium hypochlorite in water, aka bleach, or run a salt-water pool with chlorine generator).

That's what you're supposed to do. If the water company catches you draining your pool to the street you can get a citation. Southern Nevada gets a "net" allocation of water from the Colorado River, so any water returned and treated through the sewer is credited back to the net allocation. That also means it's complete BS when golf courses and resorts claim they have no impact on water consumption because they use non-potable water. If that non-potable water was returned through the sewer and treated, Nevada could get credit for it in their net allocation. That makes their use of it worse than me taking an hour long shower. All of the water is returned and treated when I take a shower, which means a net use of zero water. Water which goes into the ground or which evaporates or otherwise avoids being returned through the sewer and treated is the only "consumption" of water by Las Vegans.

CYA that is too high is a problem with most pools. No everyone can use liquid chlorine because a lot of people do not take care of their own pools or liquid is very heavy and bulky and not to mention it degrades in sunlight if you don't store it correctly. I use pucks in the summer in conjuction with Poly60 algecide. I try to keep CYA under a 100ppm. Winter, fall and spring I only use liquid or bleach to keep CYA from building up. What is nice with most sand and D.E. systems is you can Vaccum to waste and add fresh water all the time. Another good way to shock is CalHypo because it is not stabilized, but it does add calcium. Lithium hypochlorite is also good, but its not cheap. Also a good DPD-FAS test kit is the way to go to insure proper water chemistry and accurate testing.

As for draining pools, some people have no choice when they are not on a sewer hookup (septic). My aunts neighborhood is like that and everyone drains their pools either their lawns or to the street and I have never heard of anyone getting a citation, but i'm sure it can happen.

I'm also not a fan of SWG (salt water chlorine generators). I have a whole write up on that subject and I don't want to get into that right now

[tiger08]

Originally Posted by AA702

CYA that is too high is a problem with most pools. No everyone can use liquid chlorine because a lot of people do not take care of their own pools or liquid is very heavy and bulky and not to mention it degrades in sunlight if you don't store it correctly. I use pucks in the summer in conjuction with Poly60 algecide. I try to keep CYA under a 100ppm. Winter, fall and spring I only use liquid or bleach to keep CYA from building up. What is nice with most sand and D.E. systems is you can Vaccum to waste and add fresh water all the time. Another good way to shock is CalHypo because it is not stabilized, but it does add calcium. Lithium hypochlorite is also good, but its not cheap. Also a good DPD-FAS test kit is the way to go to insure proper water chemistry and accurate testing.

As for draining pools, some people have no choice when they are not on a sewer hookup (septic). My aunts neighborhood is like that and everyone drains their pools either their lawns or to the street and I have never heard of anyone getting a citation, but i'm sure it can happen.

I'm also not a fan of SWG (salt water chlorine generators). I have a whole write up on that subject and I don't want to get into that right now

I replaced my cartridge filter with a sand filter a couple of years ago and it was the best thing ever. I feel sorry for people who have to mess around washing and replacing cartridges.
I backwash my sand filter two or three times during the summer, it takes two minutes and done!

[AA702]

Originally Posted by tiger08

I replaced my cartridge filter with a sand filter a couple of years ago and it was the best thing ever. I feel sorry for people who have to mess around washing and replacing cartridges.
I backwash my sand filter two or three times during the summer, it takes two minutes and done!

Some cartridge filters are actually pretty good when it comes to maint. Sta-Rite System 3 cartridges are pretty durable and will last 10 years if you take care of them. You also do not need to clean them that often, maybe 2 times a year unless your pool gets really dirty. I use a Porta-Vac for a lot of my customers that get a lot of dirt or leaves from their yards. Porta-Vacs are great because I vacuum to my filter instead of their and it keeps their filters clean. Most pool guys do not use them because of cost and it takes more time to set up.

[lanerj]

Can anyone recommend a good pool installation company? We're thinking about having a pool installed in our back yard and would like some feedback and advice regarding this topic. We're new to Las Vegas and pretty "green-gilled".

[airics]

Byob. Build your own pool. Doug day. He did ours! I saved about 10 grand. Done in 4 weeks flat. I'll get u the phone number if you want

[airics]

Originally Posted by lanerj

Can anyone recommend a good pool installation company? We're thinking about having a pool installed in our back yard and would like some feedback and advice regarding this topic. We're new to Las Vegas and pretty "green-gilled".

Stay away from Renaissance (2 expensive for what u get) and bluehaven pools (if their mouth is moving they r lying)

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by lanerj

Can anyone recommend a good pool installation company? We're thinking about having a pool installed in our back yard and would like some feedback and advice regarding this topic. We're new to Las Vegas and pretty "green-gilled".

You need to educate yourselves a bit to avoid being taken for a ride by an unscrupulous or incompetent pool builder. You would not believe some of the lies some people will tell you if you play dumb. A pool guy once told my ex-wife to replace the pump, filter, and everything else because they were the cause of the pool vacuum not running. The actual reason was that the dog swam in the pool, and the cartridge filter was clogged with pet hair, and the filter elements just needed a good hosing down (or replacement, at less than $100 when purchased online) to reduce the backpressure so the vacuum would operate.

Watters Aquatech built my pool 20 years ago, and it's still in excellent shape (hasn't ever been replastered). Dunno if they are the same company today that they were 20 years ago, but if they are, I'd think they can be trusted. Note that I bought my house from the original owner, who is the one that hired Watters to build the pool.

Being your own GC on a pool build is something you should only try if you know something about pools.

[airics]

Originally Posted by airics

Byob. Build your own pool. Doug day. He did ours! I saved about 10 grand. Done in 4 weeks flat. I'll get u the phone number if you want

opps i mean BYOP He's a seperate division of Desert Pools.. everyone bids for the job and you pay each contractor seperately...

I originally went to renaissance for a drop in pool.. 16x9 was 23k... that was very small...
then i went to BlueHaven who measured the backyard wrong (made it smaller, but this is a trick they use to make the pool look larger on the drawings so i'm told)...came in at 25,300 Size was 13x27, basic pump, led lighting, regular entrance, flagstone around the pool, 2' decking around the pool, only add was pebbletec

ill post the finished pic in a minute.. here..