The first huge 18-wheeler water truck arrived around 2:30 in the afternoon on the same day the plaster was put in - right on schedule! "Needless to say, these trucks are SO big there is no hope at all of them backing up the driveway - so the hose had to be long enough to reach from the street!" Because the plaster was still wet, we had to be VERY careful how the first load was emptied into the pond.  If we just let it spray, the blast would have destroyed the uncured plaster.  Note that the pool water is being carefully run down the side of a large tarp. "It turns out that plaster cures best UNDER water, which actually slows the curing time so that the final bond to the Shotcrete is hard and permanent."         "The man delivering the water had filled many pools before - but none had ever looked like this one!" We can see the second load going in now.  It took a total of 7 loads for about 49,000 gallons. "The problem was that any time you stopped filling, the still water left a white ring on the plaster at the water level." So - to keep the level inching up, we used the garden hose to fill in-between trucks.          Todd spraying hose water while waiting for the next truck.  We kept a meter on the hose so we would know the total gallons it took to fill the pond. "Filling everything was a big undertaking!  The basins and shell are just part of the total water required.  That 1/2 mile of pipe (in various sizes!) took another few thousand gallons!" On the 3rd truck, we could now spray directly into the water as long as we didn't hit the walls that were still soft. "The bottom of the pond filled up a bit faster than the top, partly because of the slope in the bottom, and partly because of the bogs in the top.  It seemed like a bottomless pit!"         While the 4th truck was filling, we used the hose to fill the waterfall basins, again being very careful of the new plaster. Here Todd sits on the waterfall while waiting for the lower basin to fill - he didn't realize how much water they held, or how long it would take!  Those plaster basins had to be kept under water to cure, too. "Todd's feet would have been very wet if the waterfall had been running!" The sixth truck starting to fill.  Note that we have turned on the air lines from the bottom drains for the first time to help keep the water agitated between trucks.         While Karen ran off to do errands, Todd (all you can see is a small head in the water under the waterfall) decided to take advantage of all that nice clean pool water to cool off. "Karen came back to find Mike (the landscaper) and Todd playing in the water and swimming under the waterfall!  They were having a blast!" As the last truck was filling, Todd primed all the pumps and got all 10 of them going one by one - and then took the opportunity to cool off by sitting in the waterfall. "Some people have hot tubs, some have Jacuzzis - but WE have a waterfall!"         "OK!  All right!  All ready - NOW is it time to add fish???" The next day after we finished filling.  The peace and serenity were perfect.  Little did we know about the problems which were about to show up... "You might note in the last picture that the level was down 8"... After only a couple of hours from when it was full...  Imagine what happened after a night's sleep!" "The water keeps getting lower???  I wonder what is LEAKING???..."