Swimming Pool System

[Pat James]

I have finally got around to start to work building my AP system. I bought two 55 gal barrels and eight 275 gal IBC totes a few weeks ago and then the weather got cold and wet- progress stalled. At least we have had a few days

The system I now plan to build is quite a bit different than the one I originally planned. That is due to the help and advice of some of the people here.. Thank you.

I will buy the piping itself at one of the big box stores, but I can save a bundle by buying the fittings online.

Today I will begin cutting the IBC's.

[Pat James]

Ordered my  fish today. or rather I hope I hit the deadline as today was the cut off for the next delivery. I ordered 300 channel cats and a pound of fat-head minnows,

[Pat James]

Ok... I did not get to test the water this morning. Now is almost 24 hours after my adding the quart of ammonia.

Still no detectable ammonia nor any nitrates. The pool water is a deep forest green. I added the remaining quart of ammonia, plus all theurine I produced while plumbing my system (and drinking beer) today...

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Wow, nice project Pat!

[Pat James]

Been adding urine as it becomes available to stress the system a little since my last post. I did a test today and MIGHT have had a trace of ammonia present. I looked at the test tube indoors instead of sunlight this time since it is heavily overcast outside.

Then I poured in a quart of ammonia and will test in the morning once it mixes and see if i have any detectable. If not, I'll add the second 1/2 of the jug.

[Pat James]

Tested the water for the first time today. I have been adding urine for over a week (about as much as i produce while at home). I know I should have let it age some but i don;t have enough storage for that much.

The test results surprised me. The pH was between 8.4 and 8.8.  I then tested the house tap water and it is 8.8. What surprised me was that I have been using as much rain water run-off as possible to keep the pool ful and have not added any tap water for a few weeks.

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all had zero levels. I could see the the ammonia and nitrite levels being low as the urine probably has not had much chance to start breaking down, but I figured the nitrate level should be up as I have a good growth of algae going and this pool has some detritus that i did not remove when I added the fat-head minnows and crawdads.

It may be that the algae is consuming the nitrate fast as it is being produced. If I get to the store soon, I will buy a gallon or 2 of pure ammonia and sump that in to give the pool a jolt and see where it goes.

[Pat James]

I changed the direction of 3 of the 4 jets in the pool to shoot water up instead of at an angle. That is going to greatly increase the water oxygenation. We've had heavy rain for the past few days, so not much progress.

Because of the large amount of rain, I have not started testing the water. I had hoped to get baseline readings before I stared adding anything. I do know I have a couple dozen minnows living in the pool as well as some small crawfish. I found one of them about an inch long in the skimmer. It was feisty and tried to pinch me when i grabbed him up and threw him back.

The dark green color of the water makes it difficult to see any of the minnows unless they come close to the surface. i am still not going to feed them for now. They can eat the the algae, insect larvae etc.

[Pat James]

I've had a killer week at work. open  Open heart surgery every day and not getting off work til late afternoon. Yesterday, though I managed to get the time to drill the drain holes in 7 of my IBC tanks. I test filled 4 and all had some very small leakage. I'm not sure if the leaks around the drain pipes were from the pipe itself (which may not have been jammed on tight enough) or around the fitting. I was hoping to avoid using any sealant but I am not sure that I want to accept even a few drops per minute leakage..

I had planned to start the major plumbing from the pool pump to the cistern and then to  one sbank of grow beds, but the weather is not going to permit that. I'll sift worm casings instead until I see how the weather will go...

[Paul Letby]

Wow Pat, this looks like an awesome project.  I'll be watching your updates. 

[Pat James]

Some of my fat-head minnows are still alive. I'd turned the pump off while I added more glue to the ball valve connections and a little while later, I saw minnows at the surface feeding. Maybe 20 or 30 are still alive, but it is hard to tell. They must be feeding on the alga and insect larvae.

[Pat James]

This shows the flow the cistern is capable of at full open:

Here is valve arrangement on my pool pump where I added teh T and 2 ball valves so I can direct water to the cistern.