Add water ...

We live in the country and have a well for water, but it is a poor quality well.  We can pump about 300 gallons from it before it runs dry, and it takes a few hours for it to replenish.  We need about 9,000 to 10,000 gallons for the deep zone alone, so filling it from our well is out-of-the-question.  Fortunately, there is a local water hauler who delivers 3000 gallons at a time at $110 a pop.  The delivered water is chlorinated, but by the time we are ready to turn on the pond pump and get this "natural" water filtration system going, that chlorine will be long gone.

We thought it would be a good idea to fill the deep zone initially to get as many liner wrinkles as feasible out of the swimming area.  The deep zone is the only area where people will be in contact with the liner (in the regeneration zone the liner is going to be covered with lots of gravel) so it should be made as good looking possible.  Also, the water will make sure that the liner is pressed against the walls and into the corners so we can establish exactly how much liner we have to drape over the outside of the deep zone walls and regeneration zone, and how much liner we need to splice on to finish the job.

It was amazing how fast the water ran out of the truck.  Before we knew it, there was already a couple of inches in the deep end and it was getting difficult to lift the liner and work the wrinkles from the center towards the edges.  We had to hustle to stay ahead of the water as it covered the floor, but we found that the wrinkles could be moved by lifting and pulling just a few inches at a time rather than lifting large section of liner.  Once the floor was done, smoothing the walls proceeded at a much more leisurely pace.  I was pleasantly surprised that, other than where we folded the liner to fit the corners, there is hardly a wrinkle the in the swim area -- I didn't think that was possible without a custom shaped liner.

Next jobs will be to start plumbing this thing and to splice in the extra width of liner.