One of our neighbors put a similar unit on her pool that we've seen in action when we swam there, so here are my thoughts:

1) Not very attractive, but much cheaper/easier than intalling an auto-fill system.

2) Use the best hose you can buy, one that's designed to hold full pressure continuously (our neighbor went the cheap route, and her hose lasted 3 weeks before it blew). If I did this, I'd try to run as much of the hose inside PVC as possible, to keep the sun off of it.

3) Kids tend to want to run on the deck, so they need to be warned about this tripping hazard.

Steve

For that kind of money (don't forget a $40 hose for a good one) you could buy a sprinkler timer, valve, a hundred feet of pipe, wire for the valve, and all the glue, paint and fittings you'd need - and have about $50 left over.

You'd have to spend a day or so digging, cutting, gluing, etc..., but you'd have a 'semi-auto-fill' for a lot less. And it would be way more reliable, permanent, and out of sight. It would take some monitoring - you'd have to adjust the timing for the weather if you wanted to run it weekly or so, or if you're going out of town. Or, you could just figure out how much '10 minutes' adds to your pool, and when it gets there, go press a button.

In the end, it's just a very fancy hose with a timer - but it would look way better, and it would be far easier to use.

This might be against the code in your area, of course - but that's up to you.

Digging not a possibility with my set up. I agree on the potential for tripping over it. My thought is for vacation use so no one should be around hopefully to trip over it, except maybe the landscaper and ducks. I will give it a try and let you know.

Digging not a possibility with my set up. I agree on the potential for tripping over it. My thought is for vacation use so no one should be around hopefully to trip over it, except maybe the landscaper and ducks. I will give it a try and let you know.