Hi, bugsb! I converted my 12,000 gallon pool into a pond of considerably less gallonage due to plants, pots, etc. Although I swapped out my Hayward pump for a Sequence pump to save money on electricity, I'm still using a Hayward pool filter and it seems to be working fine after a year. Did replace the sand with pea gravel to minimize clogging and I back-flush if the flow slows down same as when it was a pool. I've even used my pool vac to clean out the bottom but had to backwash much more often than the pool. As things are now, I could drain it, powerwash it, and have a swimming pool again if I didn't love it as a pond, full of fish, frogs, and what-all. I'd definitely recommend it--basically the same as a pond filter but with different media and I would think a prefilter would make it even more efficient. Good luck whichever way you go with it. Linda

Similar to an earlier posting, my pool company said that the residual germs and microbes from one dog in the pool are equal to those left by about 40-50 humans. They also said that dog hair will damage the filter. We let a friend's dog into our salt pool once for about 15 minutes. It took five days to remove all the dog hair and oils and no one wanted to use the pool for those days. I will no longer allow a dog in the pool for basic hygiene concerns. Here are a few interesting links: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/rwi-what.html Many other RWIs (eye, skin, ear, and respiratory infections) are caused by germs that live naturally in the environment (water, soil). In the pool or hot tub, if disinfectant is not maintained at the appropriate levels, these germs can increase to the point where they can cause illness when swimmers breathe or have contact with water containing these germs. Why doesn't chlorine kill these RWI germs? Chlorine in swimming pools does kill the germs that may make people sick, but it takes time. Chlorine in properly disinfected pools kills most germs that can cause RWIs in less than an hour. Chlorine takes longer to kill some germs such as Crypto, which can survive for days in even a properly disinfected pool. Here's info on crypto (Cryptosporidium): http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/zoonoses/gik9fel/crypto.html It looks like giardia may also be transfered in pools: Giardia is a one-celled, microscopic parasite that lives in many different and often unexpected water sources, including ponds, lakes, streams, backyard swimming pools and even tap water. Giardia has even been found on contaminated animal haircoats. When ingested, it infects the intestinal tract of pets and humans, causing fever, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as other potentially serious and painful gastrointestinal problems. Although any pet can contract the disease, dogs most at risk of becoming infected with Giardia include puppies, outdoor dogs, hunting dogs, farm dogs, city dogs, adopted strays, dogs that live in kennels and dogs in multi-pet households. Many researchers believe there is even the possibility of transfer of Giardia infection between pets and people.

It certainly looks clear and beautiful!

I did the bucket test to account for evaporation and I get 1/16" - 1/8" lower water level in the pool per day vs the bucket. But there could be other issues such as the sun hits the bucket different than other areas of the pool. I just don't know if that amount of water difference between the bucket and pool is big enough to worry about. As for the air, I ran the garden hose and it looks like it is coming from the pump housing inlet pipe. The way it is piped it would be a pain to cut and redo. I was wondering if putting caulk on the pipe next to the housing would work or if there is another chemical one could use.