If you live in the campo and do not have "town water", ie pure tap water from the local authority, you will be reliant on deliveries of fresh water or, more likely, water from a well. Whichever system you have you will need a pump or two.
[DFGW - Deutsche Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches e.V.]
We live in the campo just outside Ronda. The 50 or so houses/fincas in this area have no water supply other than from a huge aquifer deep below ground. To haul that water up into a deposito, or holding tank, you need a pump right down at the bottom of a flexible pipe to force the water up - an artesian well.
[Live Science]
Then you need a second pump to get the water up out of the underfloor deposito and headed for your house and garden.
If you have a swimming pool, you need a third one as part of the control system for the management of the pool water and to circulate that water to prevent it from stagnating and turning green.
Water problems 2026
With the extreme bad weather this year, we took a big hit. Apart from lots of damage caused by flooding and high winds after the eight or so danas experienced in Andalucia, we lost one of our three phases of electricity, the one for the pool and garden.
What happened? The water in our pool quickly turned dark green. With the swimming season fast approaching we needed to take action.
[Brady's Pool & Spa Care]
How to get your pool prepared for use
First of all I needed to establish whether the pump in the poolhouse was working, as it had been submerged for long periods. Our poolhouse is part below ground, as is the norm here. Doh!
I dis-assembled the pump unit and took it to my repair man. He quickly established that the moving parts were jammed.
"I can probably sort that out for you", he said, "but don't ask me when".
He showed me about twenty pumps that were before me in the repair queue.
"This is the worst winter it's ever been," he said.
"Well, who's surprised after the weather we've had?" I responded.
I decided to check out the cost of a new unit.
At some 300 euros I decided to abandon another project I had planned and use the money for this instead.
I bought the unit and with a bit of pipework adjustment had it fitted within half an hour.
[ESPA]
24 hours later after the adhesive for the joints in the plastic pipework had set hard, it was the moment of truth*. I turned the electricity on and crossed my fingers .....
..... the new pump immediately sprung into action, there were no leaks and the process of cleaning up the pool water began in earnest.
My wife Rita had carried out some thorough research online and gave me my instructions.
1. Get the pH value down to below 7.2 using agua fuerte (we used a total of 10 litres over two days).
2. With the pH down to 7.2 we gave it its first Chlorine Shock treatment. This is a highly dangerous toxic powder which you dilute in water and distribute across the surface of the pool water The amount of choque cloro to use depends on the capacity of the pool in cubic metres.
3. Leave the pump on "circulate" overnight and assess in the morning.
4. In the morning, the pool was a shade of very light green. Eureka! A thorough clean with the pool vacuum cleaner and another choque cloro treatment overnight.
5. A further vacuuming and then a treatment of floculante to bind the particles in the water and send them to the bottom followed by more vacuuming. Repeat the floculante treatment if required.
Above two photos [Paul Whitelock]
5. Swim! Yes, time to test the water .....
[Saatchi Art]
Links of interest
All’s well that ends well! - Secret Serrania de Ronda - Paul Whitelock
Spain... where the grass is greener – not! - Secret Serrania de Ronda - Paul Whitelock
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Wikipedia - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
WATER THERAPY: In at the deep end... Secret Serrania de Ronda - Carolyn Emmett
Water, Water Everywhere -Youtube - Bright Beginnings EFK
© The DIY Guy (Paul Whitelock)
Pictures:
Brady's Pool & Spa Care, DVGW, Deutsche Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches e.V., ESPA, Live Science, Paul Whitelock, Saatchi Art
Thanks:
Carolyn Emmett, CESPA, DIY Guy, Paul Whitelock, Rita Whitelock, Secret Serrania de Ronda, Voltasur, Wikipedia,
Tags:
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