Circulation continued 1.1

Now that we have covered circulation in some detail, lets summarize in a table, some of the physical attributes that will influence the circulation of a swimming pool.

Circulation = Water Flow

1. Large/small pool
2. Low/high head pump
3. Small/large diameter pipe
4. Small/large filter area
5. Suction/pressure side cleaner
6. Single/Dual skimmers
7. Long/short pipe runs
8. Convoluted/straight pipe runs

So we can start with the first category in our table, which is the size of the pool. There is a formula that states that a swimming pool should be able to have it's entire volume pass through the pump and filter within an eight hour period. If you have a 20,000 gallon pool and your pump, filter and piping have been correctly sized, then the pump should be able to draw 20,000 gallons of water from the pool and push that water through the filter and back into the pool, within that period of time. With a larger sized pool, it will be more difficult to accomplish this goal. A much larger pump, filter and pipe diameter will be necessary.

This is the very essence of the problem: When you double the width and length of a pool, you increase its total volume by four times. So if you have a pool that is 12x24 foot and that pool contains 20,000 gallons of water, an increase in size from 12x24 to 24x48 foot will give you a pool with a volume of 80,000 gallons.

Do you think that a new pool builder is going to give you four times the pump, four times the filter, and four times the pipe, in order to keep to the parameter of getting all that water (80,000 gallons) through the filter in eight hours? With few exceptions the answer is no. Unless you insist upon it, what you may end up with, if you are lucky is, twice the equipment capacity of the smaller pool. Why? Because of cost.

In fact, I have often seen large swimming pools with equipment that should have been installed on a much smaller pool. The reason for doing this is again cutting corners to keep to keep the expense of building the pool down. What does the first time pool owner know anyway? Not much. What does the second time pool owner know? They know that taking care of a pool can be a lot of work!

Here, I just have to interject an old joke that is kicked around in the swimming pool industry and that joke would be that "You only tell your enemies to buy a swimming pool!" Can I hear you laughing? If not, it is because you own a pool, and the joke appears to you as being sarcastic, and it is, for you the pool owner. Another short one that I made up is "The easiest swimming pool to take care of is none whatsoever!"

When I have told prospective pool owners, not to buy a pool, usually they can't believe their ears! I tell them that even if you use your pool regularly, when you average it out over the course of a year, you are going to swim in the pool for maybe one hour and think about and work on the pool, for two hours, maybe more. After the first, second and third years, the swimming pool's novelty has worn off and is not used as often. I believe that most pools are not used at all, unbelievable but true. There are about 250,000 pools in Maricopa County, and most are not used whatsoever.

You may be thinking "What is he saying here, not to own a pool? Well, almost but not quite. What I am going to say here is that what you want to buy is the smallest pool that you can get away with, not the biggest you can afford. What this will do is enhance the circulation of water. What you actually need is a tea cup sized swimming pool, one that has equipment that actually belongs on a much larger pool. This type of swimming pool is going to be one that is very easy to take care of. You may even get two complete pool volumes through the filter in eight hours. You may not need to vacuum this type of pool, the automatic cleaner or in-floor pop up system may clean the pool sufficiently for you. This type of swimming pool is known as a play pool.

If you really, really want or need a large pool, because you have the money for one, or you need to host a lot of social activities, be aware of the equipment sizing issues. If you are a person that has gotten stuck with a large pool with smaller equipment, the reverse of the ideal, what you are going to have to do is either remodel the pool, or if that is not possible, then double the running time of the pump, at least during the summer. This will partially offset the small equipment sizes.

To summarize: You will increase your total circulation by keeping the pool small and over sizing the installed equipment.