Supply the pool and landscaping from the property's own water — the well storage tank and the rain-catchment tanks — with treatment sized by lab tests, two new pipe runs, tank telemetry into the /81 console, and a sourcing policy that decides which tank feeds what.
For a salt pool the usual well-water problems are iron & manganese (the salt cell oxidizes dissolved metal straight onto surfaces as stain), then calcium hardness (scale, especially with a heater), then TDS. Which problem this well has is unknowable until the panel comes back — so the route is pre-registered against thresholds: Fe+Mn < 0.3 ppm → A · 0.3–2 ppm → B or C · > 2 ppm → D · extreme CH/TDS → E. Route F pairs with any of them.
| Route | What it is | Right when | Capex | Ongoing / yr | Capex range ($0–5.5k scale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Sequestrant-managed fillfill through a sediment cartridge; pool co. doses metal sequestrant | metals low (< 0.3 ppm) | $100–250 | $100–200 | |
| B | Fill-time filter skidsediment → oxidizing media (Katalox / greensand) inline on the fill line; slow fill by design | metals moderate (0.3–2 ppm), plug-and-play preferred | $900–2,500 | $50–150 | |
| C | Batch-treat in the tank we ownaerate to oxidize Fe/Mn → settle → draw from above the sediment; flush periodically | metals moderate + tank has power & headroom; cheapest hardware | $350–900 | $0–50 | |
| D | Permanent wellhead treatmentAIO air-injection + backwashing Katalox/Filox bed treating all well water | metals high (> 2 ppm) or whole-property symptoms; set-and-forget | $2,500–5,500 | $50–150 | |
| E | RO polish for pool fillor a mobile RO fill service per event | only if TDS/CH extreme — rare; overkill for metals | $1,500+ | varies | |
| F | Blend with rainwaterfill mostly from RW tanks (near-zero minerals); dilution does the heavy lifting | RW volume meaningful vs pool volume; pairs with any route | $200–500 | $0 |
| Task | Who | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| Well water full panel — Fe, Mn, hardness, TDS, pH, alkalinity, Cu, sulfide, tanninssample from the storage tank, not the wellhead — the tank feeds the pool | certified lab | $60–150 |
| RW tank sample — pH, TDS, metalsvalidates the blend route (F) | certified lab | $30–80 |
| Pool water metals + independent salt testbaseline before the pilot; verifies the 4300 ppm AquaPure fault reading | pool co. | $0–50 |
| Walk + measure both pipe routes — distance, elevation rise, obstaclesevery 2.3 ft of rise ≈ 1 psi the pump must add; sizes P1 and P2 | DIY | $0–60 |
| Document the well system — tank size, fittings, pumps, power at tanknot in the equipment log yet | DIY | $0 |
| WaterSprout login hunt — local web UI on the scanned hosts, portal, or manual defaultthe greywater worklist has the capture list | DIY | $0 |
| 811 utility locate before any dig is scheduledfree; ~2–3 business days lead | 811 | $0 |
Lab results in → pick the treatment route by the pre-registered thresholds, and lock the sourcing policy (pool ← well + blend; landscaping ← RW-first with well fallback is the recommended split — the counter-argument to well-first: full RW tanks overflow in the next storm, wasted free water, while the well refills itself).
| Task | Who | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| Trench ~75 ft, rough/hilly, below frostone excavator mobilization can cut BOTH runs — schedule P2+P3 together | excavator / DIY rental | $350–3,000 |
| 1.5″ HDPE SDR-11 (~100 ft) + spare conduit with pull stringthe trench is the cost; the conduit is a dollar a foot of future-proofing (sensor wire, power, brain I/O) | DIY / plumber | $180–320 |
| P1 transfer pump, check valve, unions, camlockssized from the P0 elevation walk | DIY / plumber | $400–1,050 |
| Power at the tank if absentGFCI circuit for P1 + future sensor/aeration | electrician | $0–1,500 |
| Treatment install per gate ① (route A/B/C/D)see routes table — the swing item | DIY / treatment vendor | $100–5,500 |
| Terminate with an air gap (or autofill port per pool co.)an air gap sidesteps backflow/cross-connection compliance entirely; never hard-tie well water into potable plumbing without an RPZ | DIY / pool co. | $50–150 |
| Pilot: the salt-fault partial drain + refill, pool co. presentmeasure fill rate; re-test pool metals after; tune | pool co. | $100–250 |
| Task | Who | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| P2 constant-pressure pump at the tanksself-priming, dry-run protected — behaves like a pressurized spigot, runs only when a valve opens | DIY / plumber | $350–950 |
| 100-mesh screen ahead of the pumprain tanks carry grit and organics | DIY | $50–120 |
| Pipe run around the house (length TBD in P0 — est. 100–200 ft)buried below frost, or surface-run with a documented winter drain-down | excavator / DIY | $700–3,800 |
| 2× frost-proof yard hydrants at the back of houseself-draining — the right "spigot" for freezing winters; label NON-POTABLE | DIY / plumber | $150–500 |
| Stub a tee for the future irrigation tie-indon't build it — just don't have to dig twice | DIY | $30–80 |
| Task | Who | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| Well tank: submersible hydrostatic level transducer + ESP32tank is "nearly always full" — so any level drop is itself a leak/well-failure alarm | DIY | $60–130 |
| RW tanks: WaterSprout API if the login recon opens it, else tap the existing sensors in parallel with the same ESP32 | DIY | $0–60 |
| Optional: pulse meters on both new linesgallons per source per day — Flume can't see these lines | DIY | $80–180 |
Console: /81/api/ingest/tanks endpoint, Water-tab cards, health-strip entriessame INGEST_KEY bearer pattern as ring/cars/mail | in-house | $0 |
| Phase | Low (DIY-lean) | High (contracted) |
|---|---|---|
| P0 — tests & recon | $150 | $400 |
| P2 — pool fill line (excl. treatment) | $1,200 | $4,200 |
| Treatment route (gate ①) | $100 (A) | $5,500 (D) |
| P3 — RW service line | $1,300 | $5,500 |
| P4 — telemetry | $150 | $350 |
| Total | $2,900 | $15,950–18,000 |
| Item | Spec / sizing rule | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| P1 — transfer pump (well tank → pool) | size after the elevation walk: 1 psi per 2.31 ft of rise + friction; target 10–20 GPM fill. Ballpark 1 HP cast-iron transfer / shallow-well jet. | $250–700 |
| P2 — constant-pressure pump (RW service) | self-priming, integrated dry-run protection. Grundfos SCALA2 $700–950 · DAB E.sybox Mini 3 $550–800 · budget jet + pressure tank $350–550. | $350–950 |
| Aeration kit (route C only) | compressor or venturi + diffuser in the storage tank | $150–400 |
| Pipe — 1.5″ HDPE SDR-11 | ~100 ft pool run + 100–200 ft RW run (measure in P0) | $300–700 |
| Spare conduit + pull string | same trench, both runs — sensor wire / power / future brain I/O | $120–250 |
| Frost-proof yard hydrants ×2 | self-draining below frost line; NON-POTABLE labels | $140–260 |
| Screen filter, valves, camlocks, check valves | 100-mesh ahead of P2; check valve at P1; unions for service | $250–550 |
| Level sensor + ESP32 | submersible hydrostatic transducer (0–5 psi ≈ 0–11.5 ft of water) + ESP32 in an enclosure | $100–210 |
| Pulse water meters ×2 (optional) | one per new line — per-source gallons into the console | $80–180 |
| Test | What it decides | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| Well full panel — Fe, Mn, Ca hardness, total hardness, TDS, pH, alkalinity, Cu, sulfide, tannins | Gate ① — the treatment route, by the pre-registered thresholds | $60–150 |
| RW tank — pH, TDS, metals | whether blend (route F) is worth plumbing | $30–80 |
| Pool water metals + independent salt | baseline before the pilot; verifies the AquaPure 4300 ppm fault | $0–50 |
| Post-pilot pool metals re-test | confirms the chosen route actually works — before trusting it for big fills | $0–50 |