This guide will cover how to find and identify your built-in swimming
pool’s automatic water fill. written by www.WCPandS.com. Also included is adjusting them to set the water
level and how to replace one since these occasionally break and need
replacement or repairs.
How to find your automatic water
fill water shutoff valve
If the automatic water fill breaks, it can run continually and overfill
the pool (and then flood the yard) so it will need to be shut off. To do any work on the water fill, it will
first need to be turned off. There is no industry standard on where to put the
shut off valve or what it will even look like. It can be near the pool
equipment, at the house (where the backyard hose connects), or somewhere else
in the backyard (i.e. in bushes or grass).
Below are a few examples of automatic water fill shutoff valves. (Click on any image to see a larger version)
Finding your automatic water
fill device
These are generally found on the pool deck near the deck edge with a
skimmer lid top.
It may be held in place with screws that will need to be first removed
to open the lid.
The most common type, this is a float connected to an adjustable
leaver. These leavers are screwed into the side of the water fill cubby. A nice
aspect of this model is that there is a large variety of easy to find third party replacement leavers and floats
available for this unit.
To adjust, loosen the wing-nut. This allows the float to be raised or
lowered. The higher the float, the higher the water level of the pool will be;
the lower the float, the lower the water level of the pool.
The Poolmiser:
(From the Poolmiser website)
The second most common, this one has a moveable float that sits around
a center pipe. These are screwed to the bottom of the water fill cubby. Because
of the limited space, the top may need to be removed to turn the center shaft
without rotating the float when replacing one of these. See the included
instructions for more information on installing a replacement Poolmiser.
To adjust, turn the top screw left to raise the float (raise the water
level) and turn right to lower the float (lower the water level).
Paramount Paralevel:
(From the Paramount website)
Unfortunately, I have never worked with or seen one of these installed
so I am unable to provide comments.
Replacing the automatic water
fill (Pentair Autofill)
Note: This side connecting water fill needs to be placed with the
water faucet side down.
Unscrew the existing broken leaver at the base near the wall in a
counter clockwise direction with either a crescent wrench or pliers.
On the new replacement leaver, use a thread tape or thread paste on the
exposed thread of the water fill.
Screw in the entire piece clockwise hand tight. Using a crescent wrench
or pliers, align this water fill so the faucet side is down.
The water fill level can also now be set. There is an adjusting wingnut
on the side of the leaver that can be loosened to allow the float to be moved
up and down. The lower the float, the lower the water level of the pool.
Once the level is set, turn the automatic water fill shutoff valve back
on.
This article will focus on finding the reason(s) a spa (in a pool with
connected spillover spa setup) would drain after the system is turned off and
how to fix it. Written by www.WCPandS.com
1 - Incorrect valve position
The most common reason for a spa to drain is because of an incorrect
valve position. This also happens to be the easiest to fix.
Since there is no industry standard setup, below is a picture of the
most common suction and return pipe setup. Your system may differ but the
principals are the same. (Click on any picture to enlarge)
Suction side (directly in front of the pump):
There are usually two moveable valves on the suction side for selecting
between pool and spa. Some, however, have another next to that on the pool side
for selecting between the skimmer and pool cleaner.
Return side (either immediately coming out of the filter or immediately
coming out of the heater if one exists):
There is a valve to select between pool return and spa return on the
return side.
A brief note on valve actuators:
The pictures in this example have valves with electronic actuators on
them.
Automatic pool controllers use the actuators to move the valves to
change between different filtering modes i.e. Spa mode, pool mode, spa fill,
and spa drain. Below are a few examples of automatic systems that use actuators.
These actuators are sitting on standard 180 degree valves.
During normal operation, both valve fronts will be pointed to “spa off”,
while the handles point to the open side (as seen in the main setup picture at the top).
These valves can be changed manually via a toggle switch either under
the actuator or behind it. Automatic controllers cannot detect if these toggle
switches are used and will not auto correct the valve position if manually
moved. Sometimes, one of these are accidently switched from being bumped, and
will need to be manually toggled back.
How the spa would drain if the
valves are turned incorrectly:
A few examples of why your spa would drain if the valves were changed
are shown below.
Note: Click on any picture to see a larger version. the blue arrows represent water flow after the system is turned off.
A - A split 50/50 water return.
The idea is to return half the water to the pool and the other half to
the spa. When the system is off, the weight of water from the spa pushes water
back though the spa return pipe and into the pool return pipe, which drains the
spa.
B - Full spa return.
This is the most common mistake and very messy for the pool. The idea is
to send all of the water from the system to the spa. When the system is turned
off, the weight of the water is pushed through the spa return line, backwards
though the filter (pushing dirt with it), backwards through the pump, and then
out though the pool suction line.
C - A split 50/50 water suction
Even with a working bypass, this will probably drain the spa when on or
off.
This will pull half the water from the pool, then the other half from
the spa while returning everything to the pool. When the system is off, the
weight of the water pushes water though the spa suction, then backwards down
the pool suction line.
D - Full spa suction
Again, even with a working bypass, this one will also probably drain
the spa regardless of whether it is on or off.
When the system is off, the weight of the water pushes water though the
spa suction pipe, through the pump and filter, then out the pool return line.
On most equipment setups, the valves should be set in the “Spa off”
position.
2 - A bad check valve
When working correctly, check valves are inline devices that allow
water to flow in only one direction. The most common use of these is on a
bypass pipe between the pool and spa return lines.
This is done so that when the system is in pool mode (Spa
suction/return off), a small amount of water is allowed to flow in to the spa
to keep the spa water moving.
There are many different models of swimming pool check valves and below
are pictures of a few different variations.
Some have the option to remove the check valve with quick release
unions or a few screws; this is helpful if the problem happens to be an object
stuck in the flap or simply replacing a broken flap.
Others will need to be cut out from the system and be replaced with new
check valves. These units are cheaper than their removable counter parts. I
would never install or recommend a check valve that did not have a removable
flapper since it is common for a check valve to fail.
3 - A leaking valve
This one is less common but needs to be checked if all of the above has
been already been checked and confirmed to be working properly.
There are rubber gaskets inside of each selectable valve. If this
seal/gasket fails, water will flow freely from the spa into the pool.
To replace them, the insides of the valves will need to be replaced.
These parts are not a universal size, so you will need the exact make/model and
pipe size to replace these.
4 -A cracked pipe or plaster
The most difficult to find and costly to fix is a cracked pipe or
cracked plaster. In this case, the water leaving the spa will not return to the
pool. Instead, the water would be lost underground. There are various companies
that can detect underground leaks without unearthing the pipes. One that we
have used in the past is “American Leak Detectors.”
(New)5 -A faulty 3 port valve seal
Although unlikely it is possible for water to flow through a closed three-way valve with or without an actuator attached. This happens when the raised rubber seal breaks or becomes deformed, allowing water to flow past a closed seal. On a perfectly working system, when the system is turned off there should be no sounds coming from the pipes.
I have only seen this happen twice and each time was with a Waterway TruSeal 3 port valve.
Below is a picture of a valve that allowed water to pass through even when closed.
The rubber seal around the edge has torn.
The fix is to replace the insides of the valve. Once the screws holding the top are removed, the top plate can be pulled up and off.
This is a guide on checking your swimming pool or spa chemical levels. Written by www.WCPandS.com. There are a variety of ways to check chemicals, including but not limited to
liquid test kits, strip testers, and digital testers (using either vials of water
or strips)
Note: Two different types of test kits can each give slightly
different readings from the same water samples. None of the three types of test
kits are 100% accurate. Choose one type of test kit to check your pool or spa
and base all of your chemical needs off of that.
The most commonly checked chemicals that any pool or spa owner should
know how to check are the sanitizer (usually chlorine or bromine) and PH
levels. While checking the water alkalinity level is also important, it only
has to be checked once every xxx days/month(s)/week(s).
Sanitizer and PH
The two most checked chemical levels in any swimming pool or spa are
the sanitizer and PH levels. These two are the foundations of healthy pool
water and should be checked at least once every week.
The tools needed to check these two are included in almost all water
test kits.
Most swimming pools use chlorine as its main sanitizer. However,
occasionally, pools and spas will use
bromine instead. Most test kits test the chlorine/bromine levels from 0 to
3-5ppm.
Note: The ideal level of sanitizer for a pool or spa is 3.0.
If you have a liquid test kit, most of these will test for chlorine and
bromine with one solution using the same steps for both.
How to check the chlorine/bromine with a liquid test kit:
1) Fill the chlorine/bromine side and then the PH side of the test
beaker to the levels shown on the beakers.
(Pic of beaker with correct amount of water while pointing out the fill
line)
2) Add 5 drops of the #1 solution. (pic of adding drops to chorine side
of beaker)
3) Add 5 drops of the #2 solution to the PH section of the beaker. (pic
of adding to PH side)
3) Mix. (pic of mixing solution and water)
4) Match the color of the mixed water with the side color guide to
determine the level of the sanitizer/pH.
This really comes down to looking for specific colors.
For chlorine you want bright yellow. Light yellow or clear needs
chlorine. Orange or red is too much chlorine.
For pH a pink or a light red color is ideal. Purple needs acid. Orange or
Yellow needs soda ash.
Below are a few examples.
Note: Do keep in mind that these shades will look different when you do
them because of the different color properties from the camera taking the
pictures, the photo editing software used to edit the pictures and your home
computer screen setup.
An ideal chemical reading CL2.0 pH 7.6
Cl 0.2 pH 7.2 Needs chlorine and soda ash
Cl 2.0 pH 7.8 Needs acid
Cl 1.0 pH 7.0 Needs chlorine and soda ash
Cl 1.5 pH 7.6 Needs chlorine
Cl 2.0 pH 7.3 Needs soda ash
If you have a test strip kit, check the instructions to see if your kit
will test for chlorine or bromine. Though it is not uncommon for test strip
kits to offer testing for both, most will only test one or the other. The
option for also checking the pH level is common for most test strips.
The instructions for strip tests can vary slightly from one manufacturer
to another. In general, they involve placing a test strip underwater for a few
seconds, then removing it from the water and comparing to the color guide
usually found on the side of the test strip container.
How much sanitizer to
add
There is no set answer to how much sanitizer should be added to change
the levels by a specific amount. This is because after adding chlorine/bromine
to a pool, there could be things in the water that will “use” the sanitizer,
causing the levels to drop back to zero in just a few hours. What you will want
to do is add a little and see how that changes the chemical levels. If the pool
or spa needs more, you can always add more. What you don’t want to do is add
too much and have to remove chemicals that you just added.
For chlorine used in a full sized pool, add 1/2 gallon of chlorine,
wait about 20 minutes, and then recheck the chlorine level.
If the pool is smaller than the average sized (less than 10k gallons)
pool, you will want to add less, from .25 gallon or less at a time.
How much is too much chorine/bromine
This can be difficult to determine since most test kits readings will
max out between 3-5ppm. One of the ways to tell if the chlorine level is too
high is by the color of the beaker after adding the testing solution.
At 3.0, the chlorine/bromine test side will be a bright yellow. As the
level goes up, the colors will change from yellow to orange to an orange red. See the example readings above.
If the color of your beaker is orange or darker, do not add any more
chlorine/bromine. You should also remove any tablets from a floater, or
automatic feeders, and/or turn off salt systems (if your pool has one).
If your beaker color is orange or darker(higher),
your skin feels drier than normal after using the pool or spa, and/or you
develop a rash after using the pool or spa, sanitizer should be removed from
the water. A sanitizer remover can be purchased from most swimming pool supply
stores.
How much acid or soda ash to add
Note: The ideal PH level is 7.4 – 7.6
The PH level is ideally 7.4-7.6 and needs to be moved slower than the
chlorine levels. If you add too much chlorine, it will not damage the equipment
or cause injuries but it might dry the skin of anyone that swims in the water. However,
changing the PH level too far any one way could damage the pool or spa plaster
and/or equipment.
Note: Adding too much acid can cause heater damage, copper sulfate
stains in the plaster, and/or equipment damage.
Note: Adding too much soda ash can cause water scaling, tile calcium
buildup, and lead to ineffective sanitizers.
To lower the PH, use either liquid or dry acid.
Liquid acid is the most common and cheapest way of lowering PH. If you
are adding acid to an average sized pool, only add 1/4 gallon of acid at a
time. While the system is running, wait 30 minutes or longer, then
retest. If the PH level is still 7.7 or above, repeat this step until it
reaches the desired level.
For dry acid, check the instructions since the usage amounts will vary.
To raise the PH level, use a soda ash product. Check the instructions
that come with the soda ash to determine the amount needed.
Note: Do not use baking soda. Since baking soda was not intended for
use in pools or spas, its application is complete guess work. Experimenting
while trying to find the correct usage amounts can cause damage to your pool or
spa.
Testing the Alkalinity level
Alkalinity can be tested on some liquid and strip test kits. This
should be checked when the PH level changes too much or not at all after adding
acid or soda ash.
Note: The ideal alkalinity level is between 80-120ppm
Steps for checking alkalinity
with a liquid test kit
1) Fill the PH side of the beaker with pool/spa water to the line
marked for the alkalinity test on the pH side of the beaker.
2) Add one drop of solution #4 to this water sample, then mix.
3) Add one drop of solution #5 to this water sample, then mix. The
solution will turn the water to a light purple tint.
4) Add one drop of solution #4 to this water sample, then mix.
5) If the water sample is still purple, add another drop, then mix.
Keep count of every drop of solution #4. Continue adding a drop, mixing, and
checking for a color change until the color changes to clear.
When the water turns clear, multiply the number of drops of solution #4
used to make the water clear by 10 and that is the alkalinity level.
So if it took 8 drops for the water to turn clear, 8*10 is 80, the
alkalinity level in this example is 80. Remember that the ideal alkalinity level is between 80-120ppm.
Now the process done in a video:
The purpose of the test above was only to determine if the alkalinity
was too low, just right or too high.
- To find if it is too low add 7 drops then mix. If the
solution goes clear the alkalinity is low.
- If the solution was still purple add an additional 5 drops (for
a total of 12 drops) then mix again. If the solution is clear the alkalinity is
within its proper range.
- If the solution is still purple the alkalinity is high.
