Chaichara

The swimming pool repackagers are making a killing. Soda ash should be dirt cheap. I bought a 25 kg sack of soda ash in Jomtien 2 years ago (of which I have used 2 kg - my pool tends to need acid; I'm pretty sure it was les than 500baht - anyone passing my way in Kantharalak is welcome to buy a few kg pro-rata!).

I see that Pool Doctors in Bangkok sell 50kg for 800 baht. Presumably the big lad to hump it out of your car at home might be extra!

Edit: just gone and looked at my sack to see if it says anything in Thai. It's actually a 40kg sack and its made in China and labelled in English. Knowing how little sophistication there is to pool maintenance in Thailand I suspect that the only places you will buy it are English speaking anyway. The pool shop has scrawled something in Thai on the back of the sack. I'll ask my wife if its says anything useful when she returns with the hoardes of kids for a swimming pool party later this afternoon. Must go out there now and transfer some water from the pool to reserve and hide anything of value like my fins and goggles

Some stores and online stores sell Soda Ash for around baht 980 for 50 Kg. Smaller quantities such as 5 Kg tubs are of course more expensive due to the repackaging in plastic tubs and relabeling it as 'pH Plus'. The cheapest price I found online recently was baht 350 for a 5 Kg tub, but I've seen it in some pool shops for a ridiculous baht 850! Probably only the owners of large or commercial pools would want to buy the 25 Kg or 50 Kg sacks.

I'm not much of a mathematician, but if I remember my primary school maths from nearly 60 years ago, if a person weighs, say 120 Kg (like me - old and overweight), if s/he is totally submerged, s/he will displace around 120 litres of water, being the volume of that persons body, which of course is a tad lighter than water, otherwise people wouldn't float. So the doctor's 35 litres would be about right for a teenage kid standing waist deep in the water.

I heard somewhere that ideally, the surge tank should have a capacity of 10% based on the pool volume, but probably somewhat smaller would be OK. The actual size of the tank would need to be able to accomodate the surge without wasting water through its overflow - that's were a lot of people's water seems to go when the surge (sometimes called balance tank) tank is too small.

Overflow and infinity edge pools tend to loose more water than skimmer pools due to increased evaporation from the hot surfaces the water runs over and through the gutter, and loss from genral mist spray.

Cavitation is not an issue. You will get some bubbles in the water cause by cavitation from the pump impeller, the same phenomenon is caused ships propellors. In some rare cases, cavitation can cause pitting of the impeller metal, but as far as I know, this is rare in pool pumps.

On a typical 4 x 10 or 4 x 12 pool, a general rule of thum - to keep construction costs down - would be a single slope from 0.80 to 1.40 which seems to please most domestic owners. Naturally, most pool firms will try to sell the widest, longest, deepest pool.

AFAIK, the fibreglass pool firms are a frachise. They are relatively over-priced, perhaps to recuperate the cost of the franchise. The pool shells may even be imported, I don't know.

I'm impressed. Looks as if you have both acid and ORP sensors and pumps. I don't think however that an average sized domestic pool's owner would want to run to this kind of investment - for which 150 Kb would be about right - probably more at today's prices. At some stage, the electrodes in the sensor probes may need to be replaced. If I were to install such a system, I would probably use Hanna™ sytems (which not being strictly marketed especially for pools, are hence cheaper). For comapct santtation systems, Sw Chlorinators start at about 36 Kb for a pool up to say, 50 - 70m3, while compact non chlorine systems with self-sacrificial copper and/or silver anodes cost aboout 100 - 150 KB for even a small pool - if one can get them at that price in Thailand where they are poorly represented, if at all.

The max and minumum pH for pool water is 7.2 - 7.6. For chlorination to function correctly, these parameters should be strictly maintained. Use hydrochloric (muriatic) acid, or proprietary 'pH Minus' (dry acid) to lower the ph, and 'pH Plus' (soda ash) to raise it.

It's a staggering thought, but I have seen many 'professional' pools where none of the electrical equipment is earthed at all. RCCBs are also available as DIn rail modules.

The standard light bule 4x4" ceramic tiles cost in retail about Baht 270 per m2. if laid correctly using adhesive and grout specially designed for pool, they will last forever. The popular cracked glaze 'Antique' style tiles are much thicker and need more of the expensive adhesive and grout (wider joint). The retail prices start at around Baht 700.00 per m2 but they are diffucult to work with and pool firms usually load the price accordingly.

Try Staintrine™. Ask for it in pool shops or search for it online. Comes in 1 quart and 1 gallon bottles.

You appear to be simply biased against salt water chlorination. I swear by it. Prices of chlorine vary, but tablets are the most expensive form and even if you can get them for baht 300 / Kg, in a year for a medium sized domestic pool, that can be almost half the price of a quality saltwater chlorinator starting at about baht 35,000.00 (depending from whom you buy it of course)

" One Thai pool shop owner told me not to be a silly farang and just use high doses of the regular stuff and other shops just sold mini and maxi pucks without knowing whether they would qualify as fast-acting shock chlorine or not. "

I'm not surprised. Many pool shop owners/constructors appear to be former general builders who have launched themselves into the lucrative pool business without any real knowledge of pool chemistry at all. Aluminium sulphate is one of the best and fastest acting clarifiers, but like many pool chemicals, it is often packed and marketed under proprietary brands for pools and sold at exhorbitant prices.

Genuine pool algicides and clarifiers such as those manufactured by Applied Biochemicals are very good especially Balck Algitrine which works well. After treating, algae problems don't stop, regular preventitive dosing will be necessary.

Chlorine will prevent algae growth to some extent, copper sulphate is a well proven santisiser and some pool santitation systems use a sacrificial copper anode. There are plenty of liquid algicides on the maket for pools.

That said, in severe cases of murky pools, because chemicals are expensive, it can sometimes be more economical to change the water and start over. Probably not too practical for a 400 m3 pool, or where water has to be trucked in by tanker, though.

Bear in mind also that you should preferably be pumping for a total of 6 - 8 hours a day here in the tropics. Perhaps a little less if you are using an automated sanitation system such as salt water chlorination, or an inline chlorine tablet dispenser, and Zelbrite or crushed glass filter media or a D.E. filter. If you are spending a lot of money on chlorine, you may for example, wish to consider a salt water unit. The ROI isn't immediate but in 36 - 48, months you will beak even and afterwards of course, your chlorine is free. Salt chlorinators use very little electricity and they have built-in timers for the pump.

fairy tales do not become true even if repeated often. for the record... a salt chlorinator uses salt (NaCL) to produce by electrolysis chlorine (CL) in order to chlorinate pool water. based on the prices charged in Thailand (perhaps my information is outdated) a return on investment is not reached ever, especially when compared with the usage of liquid chlorine.

I would AGF on the 'fairy tales'. Most people are using powder, granulated, or tablet chlorine - and they often throw too much of it in the pool. It is true that some retail outlets charge horrendous prices for salt water chlorination systems - I've seen them priced in pool shops at double the online prices here in Thailand. Of course, there are also the cheap Chinese ones for only Baht 12,000.00 but there is no real gurantee service and no customer support whatsoever. Pool salt is cheap enough at Baht 150.00 a bag, but the cowboys in Khon Kaen are selling it for baht 750.00 for a 25 Kg bag. Caveat emptor.

Bear in mind also that you should preferably be pumping for a total of 6 - 8 hours a day here in the tropics. Perhaps a little less if you are using an automated sanitation system such as salt water chlorination, or an inline chlorine tablet dispenser, and Zelbrite or crushed glass filter media or a D.E. filter. If you are spending a lot of money on chlorine, you may for example, wish to consider a salt water unit. The ROI isn't immediate but in 36 - 48, months you will beak even and afterwards of course, your chlorine is free. Salt chlorinators use very little electricity and they have built-in timers for the pump.

I'm very sad about this. Not only did he design the world's most genial operating system, his innovations have been copied by the competition. Whatever platform we use today, we have Steve and Apple to thank for most of the goodies that make our computer a pleasure to use. I'm proud to have been using M

A proper fully tiled concrete in-ground pool this size with professional with a professional pump and filter in a pump house would cost on average about Baht 800,000 (and very often less with no loss of quality), and you can choose the color of tiles you want and the kind of surrounding deck.

Depending on the constructor's pricing policy, you may even get a fully automatic salt-water chlorinator and computerised pool management system included.

Baht 5,000 a month/3 visits a week or maintenance is excessive and would not be needed at at all with an automatic chlorination system. All that wold need to be done is the daily skimming the leaves and dead insetects of the water surface, vacuuming the pool floor weekly (easy), and backwashing which depending on bather load and debris may need to be done only once a month. Many other pool firms will offer these services for as low as Baht 1,000 a month, perhaps a little more i manual chlorination is done, and the chlorine and ph testing manually. Professionals will have electronic equipment for measuring the water quality, that are far more accurate than any thing that is sold in a little blue box.

Get quotes for your pool from as many constructors as you can, wherever they are located, you may not necessarily get the best quality and service from a firm near you.

Such tour bus accidents also happen regularly on the tourist trail motorways through France down to Spain. For some odd reason, often in the Orange - Nîmes sector around Roquemaure.

Grout is never a barrier. If it's a concrete construction the barriers are :

1. Tile adhesive: proper water barrier tile adhesive for swimming pools should be used, and it should be spread evenly ensuring that it completely covrs the concrete. Brand: Weber

2. Concrete: the concrete for walls and floor should be mixed with a waterproofing additive.

3. Rubber water-stop strip should be installed at the join between the walls and the floor prior to casting the concrete.

4. Silicone sealant under the flanges of the skimmer, the ports that return the water to the pool, under the flange of the vacuum port, and around the conduit where it enters the recesses for the lights.

For durability however, a good quality grout should be used, one designed specifically for use in ver wet situations, and premixed with fungicide;

You don't say how big your pool is. The stuff your friend gave you may be algaecide, or clarifier - nobody knows. The sensible thing to do is to leave it alone and either refill the pool or chlorinate the water properly and use a clarifier to remove the algae. Clarifier is expensive, it usually comes in liquid form and some pool shops charge as much as 1,500 baht for a 3.78 litre (1 US gallon) bottle, At that price it may be cheaper to change the water and give the pool a good scrub down.

A pool company will always suggest the most expensive solutions!

These look like the cheap lights that are on sale in GlobalHouse for around 850 baht. They have obviously been installed by a rogue pool builder who doesnù't have the first inkling of pool construction. In view of the extortionate cost of replacement bulbs, you're probably best off replacing the things with new lights that have the full length of cable to wrap round the back.

You do not need to drain the pool to change bulbs later, but if you a re going to change the lights, at least consider emptying the pool to just below the light units. if you have any probems sourcing new light at very reaosnable prices, or need a walk through how to change them, call or email SiamConsulting, their advice is most times free and they speak English, French, and German.

Muriatic acid is just an old traditional name for hydrochloric acid. Yu should always have it around if you need to lower your pool ph. if you buy it from a pool shop, it will be packaged and marketed as 'Ph minus for swimming pools' and will cost an arm and a leg. Buy it from a chemicals outlet in a 25 Kg drum and it will cost about 300 baht. Use it for lowering the ph, and cleaning scale deposits on tiles etc; use it sparingly, diluted, and very carefully on anything else as it is highly corrosive.

The SiamConsulting pool cost more like 500,000 baht, not 125,000, and the original poster had already corrected his typo. Nevertheless, it still represents excellent value considering the next nearest quotes in Issn are more like 1 million for the same size. Always search the Internet, - some of the best builders do not maintain marble palace offices with demo pools with pretty girls in the city centres, and pass the savings on to their clients. Remember, all that marketing hype costs money, and who pays for it in the end?

If you ar going to refurbish a pool, don't even think of using standard domestic tile adhesive and grout. Using the slightly more expensive special products for pools will save you more agony later on. Some pool professionals don't bother because they are speculating on repeat business a couple of years later to regrout your pool. As always, try to avoid purchasing any pool products at the often highly inflated prices practiced by many pool shops. The products, as well as most pool accessories, are widely available in Thailand from other building supplies outlets, at much lower prices.

I've never read such a load of negative bullshit about salt water chlorination in all my pool experience. The comments obviously come from people who have been either horrendously overcharged or over quoted (very common practices in the pool business in Thailand, especially in poolshops in areas of high farang population), or been sold cheap, Chinese crap at ridiculously high (or low) prices. Decent machines, made in Australia by several leading brands start at around 40K baht for a 70 m3 pool and include a fully microprocessor operated pool management system, maintain an extremely accurate dosage, and come with at least a three year guarantee. Some of the machines even come with an automatic acid dispenser. Problems with pool chlorination mostly occur due to neglect of maintaining the pH balance , the thing that most people ignore, but which is the most critical part of the water chemistry. Don't hesitate to PM me for a list of the distributors of reputable brands, at reasonable prices, and where you can get your salt for half the prices often charged. A saltwater chlorination system can be installed in minutes without hardly any technical knowledge. However, the guarantee might in some cases only be effective if installed by an accredited pool professional.

If they are charging you for the chemicals the reason is clear why they made you wait until the water went green. Like all pool supplies, the price of chemicals also varies widely; For a 3.78 litre bottle of concentrated algaecide or clarifier, you could be paying as much as baht 1,850 from a pool shop. They are buying it from the wholesaler from 600 or so. Go figure.

Chlorine in Thailand is usually sold in tablet or granule. There are huge differences in price from the normal price to the standard pool shop rip off.

Normally, a pack of 5 (five) 200gr tablets costs from baht 280 + VAT and a 5 Kg drum of powder or granules costs from Baht 890 + VAT.

There are many kinds of Cl & pH test kits available in Thailand. There are the little 2--tube Cl & pH testers, there are larger ones that use tablets instead of test liquid, and they might test hardness and total alkalinity too. And there are others that use an optical color scale. prices vary from about 250 to 1,200 baht.

There is also a paper test strip system that checks Harness, Isocyanuric Acid, Free Cl, Total alkiliniy, pH. Bottle complete with 50 test stripscosts about 990 baht.

There are also professional multi testers that test for Hardness, Isocyanuric Acid, Free Cl, Total alkiliniy, pH.s, turbidity, salt level, and a few other measures. They cost from about 7,000 to 15,000 baht. Not really necessary for the private pool owner.

I always found that both entry and exit at Don Muang was much quicker. Maybe I was just lucky. (since 1999 average 6 arrivals and 6 departures per year).