|
Covers
Pumps
Filters
Designs
Repairs
Maintenance
Swimming
Pools Pumps South Africa
|
No one likes to walk out in his or her yard and find a green swimming
pool and yet green pools are now in style. We are not talking about
letting your swimming pool water turn green - instead, we are talking
about creating a pool that is easy on the environment and easy on your
budget. Armed with just a little information you can easily save R250 on
your monthly utility bill and your pool water will never look better!
Before we start the transformation there are a few terms and concepts to
understand. The overall goal of the pool circulation system is to cycle
the pool water through the filtration system, where dirt and debris are
removed and water is sanitized and returned to the pool clean and
inviting. The heart of the system is the pool pump. An American National
Standard, ANSI/APSP-5 Standard for Residential Inground Pools, provides
guidelines for maintaining proper water cleanliness. In it we find that
a "turnover" is the amount of time it takes to move a volume of water,
equal to the size of your pool, through the filtration and sanitation
process once. |
|
  
How Much Pump Do I Need?
If your pool volume is 60,000 litres, then one turnover would be equal
to 60,000 litres. This turnover is required every 12 hours, or twice a
day. Pumps, on the other hand, use a slightly different description of
"litres per minute" or LPM. Think of this a little like the km per litre
(KPL) quoted as petrol mileage on your car. Our goal is to meet or
exceed our minimum required turnover and to use the least amount of
energy doing it.
Here is the problem - most pools are designed to sell, not to operate.
It has become very popular to "sell on horsepower" or how powerful a
swimming pool water pump is, not how efficiently it operates. Many pool
builders routinely sell against their competition by quoting a "bigger"
pump as a "free upgrade." As a result, the vast majority of pools have
pumps that are severely oversized. Water pumps of 1, 1.5, and 2
horsepower are very common - and for the average size pool, very
oversized.
While it might not seem possible, it is actually less expensive to run
your pool water pump 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you have the
correct pump in place. Unless you have a two-speed, or variable-speed
pump, chances are you cannot operate around the clock. The savings with
one of these pumps can be so large, you might want to invest in one, and
you certainly want to consider if it is time for a replacement. One
other key advantage of these pumps - you can't hear them. Not only will
you save money, but when they operate, they simply don't make any noise.
|
