pool/pond building

[Michaela521]

Hi all I have a pool/pond in my backyard. I also have 2 live swans in there so this is a somewhat unique question. I plan on keeping water clean with chlorine and sand filter just like pools but sense the sand filter will have to deal with swan droppings I should probably oversize some.

I also have well water so to keep the water from forming scale I plan on using muriatic acid to get the ph and total alkalinity down. Testing my well water the calcium hardness is 900 ppm, total alkalinity 300ppm and the ph is 8.2

For the major question is do I have to have a bottom drain for the system to work. I having a skimmer where the water flows over a waterfall on the backside and catches all the dead leaves where there is a pump that pumps the water through the sand filter and then back to the pool.

Is that adequate for cleaning and mixing the water alright so when I add the muriatic acid it will mix evenly throughout the water. It is also 25,000 gallons. Thank you for helping

[MarkC]

Where does the Pooh end up? Does the bottom drain catch it?

[bobyoe]

Va-poo-rize? Sorry, couldn't resist....
Boby

[Michaela521]

I have no bottom drain at this time. I think the pooh just sinks do the bottom and slowly dissolve over time. They do have rather large terds though for birds. In fact reading in the encyclopedia brittanica the mute swan, the bird I have, is the heaviest flying bird in the world. These are the same birds you saw in the story "The Ugly Duckling". They have that black knob on there nose. Beautiful birds, they hate humans though. Nobody here knows what they would do in my situation though huh.

Well lets just pretend there are no birds in there pooping. For a normal swimming pool do you need a bottom drain. Or would what I have at this time work. Thanks

[PoolDoc]

Anytime you have an extra heavy dirt load on a pool, a bottom drain makes maintenance easier, and improves circulation. In your situation, I think those factors will be pretty important.

The alkalinity won't be a problem, if you have a waterfall. If you maintain a pH of 7.2-7.4, the waterfall with remove most of the alkalinity (via aeration) over time. But, you'll probably have to add a lot of acid.

I'd recommend that you consider an oversize DE filter, like the large Sta-Rite models. Since you may need to keep chemical levels down, the extra dirt removal capability of a DE filter (compared to a sand filter) may well be significant.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

[Michaela521]

Ya, I will have to keep chemical levels down sense the birds will be drinking the water so the chlorine will have to be kept down to a minimum. When I shock every know and then I'll have to do it while there out and fence them out for that time until levels drop to normal. There is already a fence around it with a gate that I open everyday to allow them to roam in the yard. Anything you or anybody else would like to add would be excellent. Thank you