Pool Guy Emptied My Pool - should I let him go ? - how much this will cost me ?

[siamjimi]

Anyone know the cost to refill a quite large salt-water pool ? - pool guy came to service the pool and must have changed the valve position before he left and the pool emptied out overnight

He has been dependable before this for 1 year - but honestly my family owned a pool construction and service business and I worked with pools for years - making this sort of costly mistake makes me want to let this guy go

the guy came right away when I called him - never even knocked on the door - put the hose in the pool and left - not even telling me what the problem was

it will take days to refill the pool at the slow rate the water flows here - and if this expense is quite large adding the cost of water and salt - it seems to me the first response is to ask him to compensate me for the cost of the water and salt - I took the reading on my meter immediately.

he says the valve must be faulty - I am apprehensive to let him back in to re-fill the pool bcoz he may start taking the valves out to cover his a** - I know quite well there is only 1 valve position that can make this happen and its due to this guy being asleep with his eyes open - there is no reason to have dumped any of the water to the drain

I can manage filing the pool myself the next few days - I have asked him to leave it alone for the time being - I do not want him changing the valves trying to make it look like faulty equipment to save face if in fact the valves have nothing to do with this - letting him have a free hand to work on the system is liable to wreck my equipment when I know its perfectly good

What would any of you guys do if the tens of thousands of baht were coming out of your pocket to pay for the 100's of thousands of liters of water and many bags of salt it will take to re-fill and condition the pool water ? - should i teach this guy a lesson and let him go ? - or should i consider he visits many pools each day with many different systems and may have just simply made a mistake ?

Public opinion would be appreciated from you fine ladies and gentleman whom praise and scorn the forum daily.

Edited September 13, 2013 by siamjimi

[Potential Teacher]

Sounds like you've already made up your mind about letting him go, if he was, 'sleeping with his eyes open' he quite frankly isn't doing his job and therefor doesn't deserve it.

However this is merely my opinion and I cannot guarantee you that a new pool boy will be any better or even trustworthy.

How much are you paying him?

[h90]

hundreds of thousands of Liters...how big is that pool?

[Briggsy]

If pool is 50m x 20m x 2m then that is 2,000,000 litres of water plus the pipes, overflow system etc.

[jbrain]

but honestly my family owned a pool construction and service business and I worked with pools for years - making this sort of costly mistake makes me want to let this guy go

If you're so experienced, then why you need someone else to fix your problem ?

Edited September 13, 2013 by jbrain

[Briggsy]

So, back to constructive comments, 2,000,000 litres of water = 2,000 units of water. Using a figure of 30 Baht per unit, that gives us a water cost of 60,000 Baht.

I'll steal a line from the boiler boys, "Are you liquid for 60,000 Baht?" You can ask your pool man?

[denby45]

If pool is 50m x 20m x 2m then that is 2,000,000 litres of water plus the pipes, overflow system etc.

Who in hell has an olympic size swimming pool in their back yard. Me thinks you exagerate a little.

[Briggsy]

Siamjimi perhaps.

"We shall see" says Fabrizio.

[harrry]

If I had a pool like that I sure would be praying for rain.

[jbrain]

So, back to constructive comments, 2,000,000 litres of water = 2,000 units of water. Using a figure of 30 Baht per unit, that gives us a water cost of 60,000 Baht.

I'll steal a line from the boiler boys, "Are you liquid for 60,000 Baht?" You can ask your pool man?

Ever considered what kind of pump it takes to empty a pool of " hundreds of thousands liters" overnight ?

[maccaroni man]

Filling a pool with a garden hose?! Crazy call a water truck at between 500 to 1200 baht a truck the job is done. Back wash valves do go bad and can cause the pool to drain. If you like the guy and the valve is bad keep him if he spaced out and did not reset the valves correctly blow it off as being human and fire him if it happens again

[chickenslegs]

It's an unusual valve that has only one position which would drain the pool. Most pools have a multi-port valve. The backwash, waste, and rinse positions will all drain the pool.

Coincidentally, I lost about 1 cubic metre of water from my pool overnight a few days ago. My first thought was that I had a leaking pipe but, with further investigation it turned out to be that the multi-port valve was not quite sealed properly due to a sticky spring. So, in my case, the valve was faulty and needed to be serviced.

In the OP case its sounds like the pool guy must have left the valve in the backwash, waste or rinse position. If the multi-valve was faulty (leaky seal or sticky spring) I can't see how such a small leak would empty the pool overnight.

Filling a pool from the mains using a hosepipe is only slightly less expensive than using bottles of Evian. For that reason alone, I would sack the pool guy.

Edit:- Just to bring things back into proportion, a 12m x 5m x 2m pool (ie- fairly large domestic pool) comprises 120,000 litres of water.

Edited September 13, 2013 by chickenslegs

[Baboy]

Bring in water trucks to fill it, expense is nothing compared to doing it from mains water. I just put a bunch of salt in our pool & i think the bags where about 150 baht each, I cant remember the exact cost per bag but that is a ball park figure.

[Ticketmaster]

You're in Thailand. Incompetence all over the service sector is the rule not the exception. Frankly, there is no surprise for me. I would be pissed as hell if it happened to me, and I would fire the guy. I never reward incompetence. But as to asking him for compensation, forget it. Bite the bullet and move on. You can probably afford to refill the pool; he probably can't. His error, though inexcusable, was unintentional.

[Longtooth]

If you don't get it "quite full" "quite soon", you run the danger of it floating up like a boat out of the ground. Pool lost. It can happen with heavy rains and mushy soil or sand backfill. Even an inch up would not be good.

[siamjimi]

hundreds of thousands of Liters...how big is that pool?

So, back to constructive comments, 2,000,000 litres of water = 2,000 units of water. Using a figure of 30 Baht per unit, that gives us a water cost of 60,000 Baht.

I'll steal a line from the boiler boys, "Are you liquid for 60,000 Baht?" You can ask your pool man?

If pool is 50m x 20m x 2m then that is 2,000,000 litres of water plus the pipes, overflow system etc.

Who in hell has an olympic size swimming pool in their back yard. Me thinks you exagerate a little. width=25 alt=thumbsup.gif>

Pools not quite that large guys - thnaks for makign me out to be Donald Trump Asia - 5555 - approx size is 8 meters wide X 24 meters long and has a depth of from 1.5 to 2.5 meters. I have not calculated the amount of water and unit cost yet - been way too busy - but the point being - its going to dig into my pocket book

from the looks of it topically it will be hundreds of thousands of liters right ? - that's still a large chunk of money

[siamjimi]

but honestly my family owned a pool construction and service business and I worked with pools for years - making this sort of costly mistake makes me want to let this guy go

If you're so experienced, then why you need someone else to fix your problem ?

Work, travel and don't have the time jbrain - its not being fixed - nothing wrong with the pool (??)

[siamjimi]

If I had a pool like that I sure would be praying for rain.

I have been praying for rain

[siamjimi]

It's an unusual valve that has only one position which would drain the pool. Most pools have a multi-port valve. The backwash, waste, and rinse positions will all drain the pool.

Coincidentally, I lost about 1 cubic metre of water from my pool overnight a few days ago. My first thought was that I had a leaking pipe but, with further investigation it turned out to be that the multi-port valve was not quite sealed properly due to a sticky spring. So, in my case, the valve was faulty and needed to be serviced.

In the OP case its sounds like the pool guy must have left the valve in the backwash, waste or rinse position. If the multi-valve was faulty (leaky seal or sticky spring) I can't see how such a small leak would empty the pool overnight.

Filling a pool from the mains using a hosepipe is only slightly less expensive than using bottles of Evian. For that reason alone, I would sack the pool guy.

Edit:- Just to bring things back into proportion, a 12m x 5m x 2m pool (ie- fairly large domestic pool) comprises 120,000 litres of water.

Yes - I thought about this as well - your absolutely correct - what I was meaning is it takes a conscious effort to position the valve at a dump position and drain the pool

thanks for the estimate of water - my pool likely 2 times that size so about 180,000 liters is what I was thinking as well

I have just been too busy to put my hands on the this problem and not sure how much this guy has cost me

If I let this slide with the pool guy it perpetuates the "Farang pays for everything" theory the Thais already abuse.

[siamjimi]

If you don't get it "quite full" "quite soon", you run the danger of it floating up like a boat out of the ground. Pool lost. It can happen with heavy rains and mushy soil or sand backfill. Even an inch up would not be good.

Yes - this is a major concern as well - if it floats he will certainly take a runner anyways

there is so much more to this than I described really - I think its time to let this guy go elsewhere

my concern is if this happened during my absence and no-one at home - what would be happening - everyone and his brother visiting my home ? - this sort of chaotic crisis management during my absence happened to me before and I told myself never again

[siamjimi]

You're in Thailand. Incompetence all over the service sector is the rule not the exception. Frankly, there is no surprise for me. I would be pissed as hell if it happened to me, and I would fire the guy. I never reward incompetence. But as to asking him for compensation, forget it. Bite the bullet and move on. You can probably afford to refill the pool; he probably can't. His error, though inexcusable, was unintentional.

My thoughts exactly - this is what I am leaning towards doing - thanks for the confirmation - I do not reward or imply complacency with acts of incompetence.

[steelepulse]

I have a 15 X 6 metre pool at an average depth of 1.5 metres and it took 14 trucks to fill it up. You're probably looking at 25-30 trucks.

Edited September 14, 2013 by steelepulse

[siamjimi]

Bring in water trucks to fill it, expense is nothing compared to doing it from mains water. I just put a bunch of salt in our pool & i think the bags where about 150 baht each, I cant remember the exact cost per bag but that is a ball park figure.

OK - this is the sort of advice I was hoping for - thank you - I have been wondering what cost for water trucks to avoid days of my water pump running continuously - and the amount of time to fill this pool it will take ages

I am still not confident about the cost - i don't want to engage these water guys not knowing the cost per liter and measuring their delivery amount (??) - they must have water meters on their trucks for deliveries - right ?

[SantiSuk]

So that's close to 400 cu.m. = 400k litres, adding a bit for pipework. Get tanker lorries in. About 30 bags of 25kg pool salt at 140-180 a bag to dose it up. Worth calling TRS direct and having 80 bags delivered to get the 140 price (or is it 150, cant remember - I think that is their min deivery. Theey will also give you tel nos for local suppliers - ring around fir cheapest price - I had quotes from 160 to 300 a bag!

Can't see it costing you more than 20,000.*

I would fire the guy and move on.

*but I live in isaan where water is cheap in trucks and pipes (4 baht a unit village water - my village would have a fit if i sucked 400k litres out of the ground in a year let alone a week!)

Edited September 14, 2013 by SantiSuk

[siamjimi]

I have a 15 X 6 metre poo at an average depth of 1.5 metres and it took 14 trucks to fill it up. You're probably looking at 25-30 trucks.

OK - without talking specific liter amounts - how much did you pay per truck - thank you for this valuable info that will enable me to ballpark the cost to fix this problem - cheers

[steelepulse]

500 baht per truck for approximately 8000 litres, but prices of trucks vary, so call a few different companies in your area.

[SantiSuk]

Either you have massive/multiple pumps or the draining took longer than overnight.

I have an 85 cu.m. pool and a 1.5HP pump drains it at roughly 1cu.m. per 5 mins. So my system would take 33 hours to drain your pool!

[inquisitive]

If pool is 50m x 20m x 2m then that is 2,000,000 litres of water plus the pipes, overflow system etc.

Who in hell has an olympic size swimming pool in their back yard. Me thinks you exagerate a little.

Suppose he HAS exaggerated. What's your point? You just want to show off that your so smart? Admit it denby, you know absolutely nothing whatever about this pool and yet you see fit to put somebody else down based entirely on your own ignorance. What does that say about you? I'd suggest you find a more constructive way to work out your issues. Siamjimi asked us for help. If you are too ignorant to help him, then stay the hell out of it. Nobody's impressed.

Sheesh!

Edited September 14, 2013 by inquisitive

[johnlandy]

If pool is 50m x 20m x 2m then that is 2,000,000 litres of water plus the pipes, overflow system etc.

Who in hell has an olympic size swimming pool in their back yard. Me thinks you exagerate a little.

Read his post, he didn't say he had a pool of any size let alone a 50 x 20 x 2 he was merely providing an example.

And I know of people who do have large pools.

[julemanden]

It's an unusual valve that has only one position which would drain the pool. Most pools have a multi-port valve. The backwash, waste, and rinse positions will all drain the pool.

Coincidentally, I lost about 1 cubic metre of water from my pool overnight a few days ago. My first thought was that I had a leaking pipe but, with further investigation it turned out to be that the multi-port valve was not quite sealed properly due to a sticky spring. So, in my case, the valve was faulty and needed to be serviced.

In the OP case its sounds like the pool guy must have left the valve in the backwash, waste or rinse position. If the multi-valve was faulty (leaky seal or sticky spring) I can't see how such a small leak would empty the pool overnight.

Filling a pool from the mains using a hosepipe is only slightly less expensive than using bottles of Evian. For that reason alone, I would sack the pool guy.

Edit:- Just to bring things back into proportion, a 12m x 5m x 2m pool (ie- fairly large domestic pool) comprises 120,000 litres of water.

I just regraut my pool, 8X4X2 meters, it costed me 4150 BTH for the refill by water trucks... BTW, it's not legal to fill up your pool from a public water line ( i was told)