We are replacing the concrete deck surrounding our community swimming pool. A contractor we hired to replace the skimmers wants to do a pressure test on the plumbing that recirculates the water through the pool. It sounds like a good idea to find any leaks while the lines are accessible, but I'm a little concerned about damaging something if he tests at too high a pressure.
Any thoughts?
TIA
Ed
He should a leak test with WATER pressurized to slightly above maximum operating pressure of the system
btw the skimmer lines are under vacuum....they suck, they're upstream of the pump
Pressurizing with air can miss small leaks but its better than no test at all.
What material is the piping? I'm not a huge fan of high air pressures in PVC.
cheers Bob
That is usually code to pressure test a new pool. They cap the pipes and put around 30-40 PSI on it and let it sit overnight. If it is still holding pressure it should be OK.
Thanks, Bob. The lines are copper. They look to be in good shape, i.e., inside is clean and not pitted. I was glad to see that because the guy tried to sell us on ripping it all out, saying that the chemistry of pool water can leach out copper, so the expected life was 25-30 years.
Ed
Thanks. Now I'll seem like an expert when I talk to them :-)
Ed
I'm surprised they are copper. My hot tub chemistry is real hard on the little bit of copper in it.
Bob
Ed-
My parents pool has copper plumbing (original from 1959 OC SoCal) still in good shape...as long the water chemistry is properly maintained copper will last a LONG time.
This installation is approaching 50 years.
Soil conditons will have an effect.
If they had to to any repairs they should have used at least Type L (medium wall) preferably Type K
On the other hand my house a few blocks away had copper pool plumbing that is the same vintage but the house had several owners over the years & pool water chemistry must not have been maintained as well.
No failures but some sections were kinda nasty looking (exterior) ....maybe from storing chems near the filter & attendant plumbing.
cheers Bob
Bob F-
If the water chem is correct copper should hold up well
Bob K
Against chlorine? Or bromine?
Bob
I don't know about bromine but DC city water tests just about "perfect" with a 2 bottle test kit ( ~ 7.2 pH and 1.5 ppm Chlorine). If your pool in within that range it looks like city water to copper pipe.
When I test my Seattle city water from the tap, the chlorine never shows at all.
Bob
gfretw-
Thanks for snagging that reply....in my experience pH is the most important factor for preventing copper corrosion
never used Br in my spa or pool only Cl based
YMMV
cheers Bob
Testing how? If you have chloramine instead of chlorine, it takes several minutes to develop with OTO colorimetry.
Fill a clean, 5-gallon plastic bucket with your tap water. Is it greenish? That's chloramine. Compare to distilled water. You'll be amazed.
pH may be the most important one for just about anything pool related. If the pH is too low it attacks all the parts of the pool (pool finish, equipment etc) If it is too high the chlorine won't work right. pH is also the thing that makes your skin and eyes burn. Once you get the routine down it is fairly easy to keep a pool balanced but you need to test often and make small changes over time until you figure out what you need. Trying to fix something too fast will only start a chemical war that usually results in dumping the pool and starting over. Just remember this is thousands of gallons of water. It takes time to see the result of what you dumped in and once you put something in there you can't get it back out. Use less than the predicted dose, wait a half day, pump running and add the more if you need to.
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