Do you have a high water table?
Do you just have water issues?
Water takes the path of least resistance and will essentially find any gap around your pool to fill into. If you have a high water table or a soil base that doesn’t allow water to run through it easily, you can get what is called a “floating liner”. When the ground water pressure is more than the water pressure inside the pool, it essentially pushes the liner off the vermiculite bottom.
The pool water in the pool didn’t have enough pressure to hold back the ground water. While this can happen to anyone that doesn’t have enough water in the pool, it can also happen when your pool is completely full of water. The way to prevent this is to find a way to remove all the water from underneath your pool.
The traditional way to create a sump system is to ::
Dig a 3′ – 4′ deep hole next to the pool
Put a 4″ – 5″ diameter piece of PVC into the hole
Fill the bottom with washed rock
Put a sump pump into the pit to take out all the water.
I have a couple of issues with this system ::
1. It doesn’t work, we replace liners all the time that have customers who accept the fact that liners float.
2. The majority of the time liners float in the deep end where the most water collects, traditional sump systems only go 3′ – 4′ down.
3. What happens in the winter when the discharge pipe freezes and the water has no place to go?
A sump system should do two things ::
1. catch the ground water to allow it to seep into the earth
2. have a way to pump the water out when if it gets full.
Penguin Pools builds sump systems for vinyl liner and fiberglass swimming pools much differently than anyone else. We over-dig the depth of the pool 24″ – 36″ in the entire deep end hopper. For this 8′ deep pool we hit ground water at 6′ down.
We then fill in the over-dug hopper with roughly 12″ of 1″ washed rock. This rock doesn’t have any fine shards or powder in it, allowing water to run through it with no resistance . . . yet it will not settle!
When there is a good base of stone in the bottom of the hopper, Penguin Pools places a PVC rectangle in the bottom of the hopper. The rigid PVC (1.5″ or 2″) has holes drilled into it every 2″ – 3″, allowing water to fill up in the piping. This will be our way to remove the water with the pool pump . . . Yup, we run a plumbing line directly to the pool pump. * Notice how the rock doesn’t settle as the guys walk on it, even with it being saturated with water on wet clay!
Once the PVC grid is placed on the washed rock, cover it with landscape fabric to help prevent dirt from clogging it up over the years.
Fill the sump system with rock, holding the felt in place, until you get to the elevation you need for the vermiculite.
You can now pour your vermiculite like normal knowing that you have a completely functional sump system in the pool.
The sump system that Penguin Pools builds, allows water to collect at the lowest point of the pool and naturally drain into the ground. It also allows you to simply turn a valve and remove all the water from under your pool. You will have to install a discharge pipe if you use a cartridge filter (3 way valve after the filter) or simply turn your sand filter valve to waste if that is what you use.
While Penguin Pools has never had a floating liner with this system, there is nothing to say that we can’t. However, this system uses standard home building practices to remove water while allowing the ground to absorb as much as it can.
Penguin Pools can also use an existing main drain line to create a sump system and get rid of your water issues. We take out the liner, cut the main drains out, and build the above system using the already run main drain line for your sump system.
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Along with just doing vermiculite bottoms on all of our inground vinyl liner pools in WI, MN, & IL, we also apply it with a special mixer and pump from Strong Manufacturing. The mixer and pump give us a perfect consistency throughout the entire pool so we don’t have to worry about some areas being too dry or wet. The time that it takes us to pour a bottom has been greatly reduced, and we have 10% – 15% less waste then with a simple paddle mixer. Penguin Pools is also able to keep the site cleaner as we have over 75′ of hose, so we can keep the mixer away from the house in the corner of your site to minimize the clutter & mess.
Penguin Pools also re-pours bottoms for older pools that had original sand bottoms. The key to a good inground vinyl liner replacement is a solid base. In the Milwaukee, WI & Minneapolis, MN areas we do a ton of vinyl liner pool replacements that are damaged do to a bad or poor subsurface.
In the SE WI, Penguin Pools does pool bottoms, for various pool companies in the region who due not have the equipment to do them as quickly or efficiently as us.
* Vermiculite is must easier to apply to steep side walls & will not wash away with changes in water tables.
** Vermiculite forms a monolithic, permanent, cast and will always remain in place.
*** Vermiculite becomes an insulating barrier from the cold temperatures of the soil beneath it.
This step is perfectly functional and will last for 30+ years, however it doesn’t jump out and say “look at me”. While white walk-in steps are common, you can dress them up by having them match the liner pattern.
These steps match the liner exactly and are a really nice upgrade. It makes the pool look more seamless and adds a certain kick from the standard white steps.
Just as a comparison, here is what the corner in-pool steps look like . . . a standard on all inground swimming pools that have an auto cover.
If you are really looking to get custom Penguin Pools can fabricate any type step you want out of steel and have the liner go over it. This allows you to do benches, wading areas for children, sun ledges . . . the options are endless.
You can see that the customer above wanted the feel of a walk-in step, but didn’t want the standard white. He wanted it to look custom and have the entire pool flow seamlessly. The step is centered between his gazebo and deck perfectly (actually we are off by about 1.5 inches).
Here our customer wanted a true Double Roman swimming pool, so we constructed a custom steel roman step for him. The step is seamless in its design and looks great at any view.
This Penguin Pools customer wanted to have an auto cover with a completely custom pool step. We designed a step that went into the corner of the pool & then had the second riser extend as a bench the entire width of the pool. This pool has all the benefits of an auto cover and still has a custom step with the vinyl liner going over it.
Please feel free to contact Penguin Pools of Milwaukee & Minneapolis if you have any questions regarding custom steps for your inground vinyl liner pool.
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Penguin Pools often comes across rock or bad fill in many newer subdivisions. Builders take fill from one site and put it on another site until they don’t have any more sites to hid the fill. Rock and buried construction trash makes building an inground pool very challenging. When building a vinyl liner pool, the walls have to sit on virgin ground so there is no worry about settling. When you hit soil or earth that doesn’t hold its form / collapses, you need to find away to create virgin soil. The way Penguin Pools of Milwaukee & Minneapolis builds vinyl liner pools on rock is fairly simple.
1. Dig your pool like normal to spec. The earth will fall and crumble making your dig shelf and ramps useless . . . Like the above picture.
2. Order Traffic Bond (usually 1/4″ with fines) and fill in the hole you just dug. This is the same material that gets compacted under your concrete flat work.
4. Once you pool dig is level along the entire dig shelf, leave it sit until it is completely dry. It is usually fine to work with the next day, but may take up to 24 hours.
5. Now you can re-dig your pool to specs and the walls will hold. The compacted TB dries like concrete and you now have virgin ground to build on. Your vinyl liner inground swimming pool will not settle or have issues due to poor soil. Just be aware that hand forming will be difficult due to the strength of the compacted TB.
*** Just an FYI, this requires a lot of TB 10 – 15 full dump trucks (quads). Don’t worry, this can then be used as backfill if you so choose.
Here is another slideshow of a pool we did in 2004.
Many pool builders will just use a patch to cover a wound. Using vermiculite to patch voids is an easy and cheap way to rectify the problem, however it isn’t the correct way to do it. You need to create the correct earth to build on so you pool will not have issues 5, 10, 30 years down the road. This costs more, but it is the correct way to do it.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Penguin Pools of Milwaukee or Minneapolis.
]]>Many inground pool builders don’t give customers the options to maximize your shallow end. You may think that the amount of shallow end doesn’t matter, but think about it. How often do you stand in an inground pool and not have to tread water? Most people jump in, swim a little bit then go to the shallow end or a part of the pool that they can stand. Face it, we aren’t all Michael Phelps in the pool and we need to stand.
To make things even more exciting, you can create a sport pool which puts the deep end of the pool in the middle . . . great for volleyball and basketball setups. This has recently become common place, but you would be surprised how many pool builders will not do this or even offer it to their customers.
Penguin Pools in Milwaukee & Minneapolis allow you to customize every part of your pool depth and layout. We personally recommend maximizing your shallow end for maximum enjoyment. You will never stand in the deep end of an 8′ deep pool, so why make it so big. Penguin Pools is about safety first, so we always make sure our dig specs meet Federal Regulations for diving envelopes. Basically the pool has to be a particular depth and the ramp a particular angle.
Here you can view a standard shallow end.
Here is the same pool with a larger shallow end, both meet regulations for diving boards. The extra footage in the shallow end really make a big deal on even smaller pools like a 16′ x 32′.
Penguin Pools also likes to put in safety ledges for all of our pools that have smaller children. A safety ledge is a walking platform all the way around a pool that is the same depth as the shallow end 3′ – 3.5′. Now when a child jumps into the pool, wherever they are, only have to get to the side of the pool to stand. They no longer have to swim all the way to the shallow end. While most safety ledges are 12″ wide, Penguin Pools can also put a safety ledge in a pool regulated for diving. Instead of the 12″ wide, it can only be 6″ to meet Federal Regulations.
To give you even more to think about, we can put a safety ledge on certain walls. Here you can view a pool that Penguin Pools of Milwaukee did that had a safety ledge on the back wall and is rated for a diving board.
If you have any concerns that your pool builder can’t do a custom dig, they shouldn’t be building your pool. Penguin Pools of Milwaukee & Minneapolis will and can provide you with custom dig specs before you even sign the dotted line. We will create the pool of your dreams, regardless of how deep it is.
]]>Public pools across the country are open for the summer season, but a recent survey could make you think twice about jumping in. According to the poll, almost half of swimmers admit to one or more behaviors that contribute to an unsanitary pool. And you’ve probably suspected as much, since the poll also shows 84 percent of us believe our fellow swimmers participate in unhygienic pool behavior.
THE DETAILS: The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted in late April and early May of this year by the Water Quality and Health Council, a body of scientific and other experts who advise the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade association. One in five respondents (17 percent) admitted to urinating in the pool, while almost eight in ten (78 percent) are convinced that their fellow swimmers are guilty of this act. Plus, about a third (35 percent) jump in without showering first, and three-quarters (73 percent) think other swimmers do the same. Even though most people seem wary of the hygienic standards of the swimmers around them, only 36 percent say that pool water cleanliness is on their mind when they take the plunge.
WHAT IT MEANS: Besides being just plain gross, filthy pool practices can lead to unsafe swimming conditions. Urine—as well as sweat and even sunscreen—contain nitrogen, which eats up a pool’s free chlorine. Free chlorine is what kills waterborne germs that could make you sick if ingested. So if too many people are peeing in the pool or diving in while sweaty, that could mean less chlorine’s available to wipe out nasty critters.
Even when chlorine levels are at proper levels, some illness-causing organisms can survive. For example, about two-thirds of all recreational water illnesses (or RWIs) are caused by Cryptosporidium, a chlorine-resistant microorganism that causes diarrhea. “Crypto can survive for as many as 10 days, even in a well-maintained pool,” says Michele Hlavas, epidemiologist in the Division of Parasitic Diseases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Which is why swimmers need to take on some of the responsibility for maintaining the safety of their pools. “Pool operators can’t do it all by themselves, as it’s the swimmers who bring the parasites into the water,” says Hlavas. “Swimmers have to get invested in keeping their pool clean and keeping themselves healthy.”
Here are a few tips to help you protect yourself, and other swimmers, from pool-related illness:
Don’t swim if you have diarrhea.
It sounds like common sense, but it bears repeating. And don’t send your kids to the pool if they’ve been having stomach problems.
Get to know your pool operator.
Showing you care about pool cleanliness can ensure that certain standards are met. Ask pool management about the training employees receive to operate and keep the pool clean, and how often they check the chlorine and pH levels of the water (both should be checked at least twice per day, more often on crowded days). You can also ask about how they fared on the most recent inspection, and how they’re correcting any problems that were uncovered.
Test the water yourself.
Inspectors aren’t on site every day, so what’s happening when they aren’t around? To find out, the CDC recommends purchasing easy-to-use testing strips at a local hardware or pool supply store, and measuring the pH and chlorine levels before swimming. The pH should be between 7.2 and 7.8, and there should be 1 to 3 parts per million of free chlorine in the water, according to CDC standards.
Don’t swallow pool water.
Don’t even swish it around in your mouth! You don’t have to swallow large amounts of contaminated water to get sick.
Shower before swimming.
Shower with soap and water before entering the pool so you don’t bring anything unhealthy in to the water. Don’t think you need to? Consider this fun fact: The average person has about 0.14 grams of feces on their bottom! Parents should also wash their children before swimming.
Check diapers often.
And make sure older children take regular bathroom breaks when swimming. It’s also important to change diapers in the bathroom, or other designated changing areas, and never on the pool deck or anywhere near the water.
Know the signs of a clean pool.
These include clear water, smooth pool sides (no sticky or slippery tiles), and no strong odors. A well-maintained pool should have little smell of chlorine, as a strong chemical smell can actually indicate a maintenance problem. You should also be able to hear the sounds of properly functioning pool equipment, such as pumps and filtration systems.
]]>If the total alkalinity is in the right range, pH won’t be so volatile. If your pH is bouncing, chances are the TA is too low. TA is the real driving force to controlling the pH.
If a service tech or do it “yourselfer” doesn’t understand this relationship, poor water balance can result.
TA is the governor of pH. Don’t try to change the pH unless the TA is in the right range. The first correction is always TA…then you address any pH issue. And you may never have to change it if the TA is OK.
Here’s a look at exactly what pH and TA are, how they relate and interact and what service techs can do to keep it all under control.
What is pH?
Let’s go back to High School chemistry class (I’ll keep it painless and I promise there’s no test at the end).
pH is defined as a measure of water’s acidity or alkalinity. This is done by determining the power of hydrogen ions (H+) in the water. These ions are measured on a logarithmic scale from 0-14, with 0 being the most acidic and 14 the most basic or alkaline.
In simplified terms, pH is actually counting how many hydrogen ions are in the water.
Ideally, one is shooting for 7.4 to 7.6, slightly on the base side of neutral. This is a comfortable range for humans as well as the optimal pH range for chlorine to do its job.
Keep in mind that extraneous factors from both people and Mother Nature can alter pH levels. Things such as pool parties with high bather loads or heavy rainstorms, especially when the rain tends to be on the acidic side, all have an impact. In the wake of such events, we need to check water chemistry variables as soon as possible.
If the pH is allowed to dip below the 7.2 minimum standard, the water becomes more acidic or, as it is sometimes known, aggressive. This can lead to equipment corrosion, pool surface damage and inefficient sanitizer use.
If the pH rises above the 8.3 level, the pool may experience scale and high turbidity. In either case, skin and eye irritation can be an end result here.
It is important to monitor pH levels because the number drastically impacts the Saturation Index equation – a formula used to diagnose water’s chemical balance.
When the pH changes (for any reason), so does the Saturation Index.
That’s because although both TA and pH figure into the Saturation index, pH has a larger impact on it.
For example, a TA reading of 150 ppm uses a factor of 2.2 in the formula. A reading of 200 ppm is represented by a factor of 2.3. In fact, TA ranges from 100 to 300 ppm are represented by factors ranging only from 2.0 to 2.5. Consequently, it takes a major shift in TA ppm to affect the results of the Saturation Index formula.
On the other hand, the Saturation Index uses the actual pH reading in the formula – not a factor–so the change in the pH will have a profound effect on the outcome.
Whatever the pH changes, the index will change in the exact same amount. It’s a 1:1 factor. If you want to change the Saturation Index, lower or raise the pH.
When pH levels stray, most employ muriatic acid to lower it and sodium bicarbonate or soda ash to raise it.
However, it’s not always that simple. If all the variables are not in their proper ranges as well, particularly total alkalinity, it can be difficult keeping the pH within ideal limits.
The TA/pH relationship
Total alkalinity has an important relationship with pH in swimming pool water. But first, what exactly is TA?
Total alkalinity is essentially a natural buffering system that helps to stabilize pH readings. If pH is counting how many hydrogen ions in the water, TA is counting how many things in the water are capable of absorbing hydrogen.
Simply put, total alkalinity is made up of things that can take on hydrogen.
At higher pH ranges, total alkalinity is the combined presence of hydroxide ions (OH-),carbonate ions (CO3) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3).
However, in swimming pools and hot tubs, where the pH range shouldn’t stray too far from the recommended mid 7 range, TA remains strictly a bicarbonate.
TA is nearly 100 percent bicarbonate in pools unless the pH is in the 9.0range or better. You can define TA as the sum of alkaline salts and, in essence, to simplify things…the primary one is bicarbonate.
When TA levels are too high or too low, it affects overall water balance. For example, with water that has very low TA levels, the pH is under stabilized and will change dramatically whenever even small additions of chemical are made.
Water becomes more corrosive to plaster and metal fittings and heater elements. In conditions of excessive bicarbonate alkalinity, the pH is overstabilized and tends to remain around 8.3. The pH level is likely to bounce back to the 8.3 range even after acid is added. With TA and pH in such high ranges, dull, turbid water also can result.
I truly hope this pH and TA “overview” helps manage this interesting relationship – it can be a complicated one. I’ve really tried to break it down to something that isn’t terribly technical so it can be better understood.
]]>On standard rectangle or grecian pools our rate is $3,000 + water. That includes draining the old pool, removing the liner, and up to 5 bags of patching for the bottom of your pool (vermiculite). We will install new gaskets for your lights, skimmers, main drains, returns, and wall mounted fountains.
The vinyl liner is a standard 20 mil with a 15 year pro-rated warranty. Upgrades can be done if you want a 30 mil liner, a solid pattern, or foam on the floor of your pool.
You can view all of our liner selections here.
For free form shapes or a pool with excessive curves / bends, the price might go up as we have to take a lot more measurements to make sure your liner fits perfectly.
In certain circumstances it might be necessary to turn your main drain system into a sump system to alleviate water issue with your pool or to prevent future “floating liners”.
Penguin Pools specializes in custom pool builds and inground swimming pool service. Please contact us with any questions you might have.
Pricing for swimming pool openings are as follows ::
$200 for the pool opening
$75 to remove your cover
Generally most pools have to be drained some as the winter snow and spring rains fill them up past the mid point of the skimmer. We will un-plug your return lines, return the plugs to your pump/filter/heater/chlorinator, prime your pump and to get everything running again.
Remember to dry out your cover before you store it away for the summer, you don’t want mold when you take it out next spring.
Penguin Pools also specializes in pool closings if you are also interested. If you close your pool correctly in the fall, you will not have ANY green algae and will not need to use chemicals to get you pool clean and clear again. If you pool company is charging you for chemicals in the fall, you shouldn’t have to USE ANY chemicals in the spring to get clear water. When Penguin Pools opens pools that is has closed the year before, it has the same clarity as when we closed it!
Contact us directly if you have any questions.
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By having your designs pre-built, we can install them quicker and for less money than if we built the whole thing from scratch. You can combine fireplaces, wet bars, grills, benches, tables, firepits … the options are endless.
These units really transform and inground vinyl liner pool into something great.
If you have any questions or would like Penguin Pools to give you a free estimate, don’t hesitate to contact us directly.
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