pool pump hours per day

[ilovebkk12345]

hey everyone i need some help with the hours my pool pump runs. the pool guy keeps changing it to run 18-20 hours a day which i find absolutely ridiculous and expensive. its an 8 year old house/pool. every 2 months it gets gross green and he has to put tons of chemicals into it for a week then it finally get clear again. i let it run his crazy hours for a few days until its clean again, then i turn it down to run 3 hours, 3 times a day for a total of 9 hours per day. its good and clear for a month, sometimes 2, then goes gross green and he blames the timer again. the pump is brand new, 4 months old. pool does not circulate very much. he even cleaned the overflow tank, and put in a new water line to fill the overflow tank. and he has the nerve to blame the overflow and overflow tank even AFTER HE FIXED IT AND CLEANED IT. unbelievable. ''ya i fixed and cleaned the whole system but you still cant use it''. then he told us not to run the overflow then and it will be fine. ya he fixed it but still blames it for the green stuff. but the pool drains down about 2 inches a day if overflow isnt on (it stops draining the water after a few days when it gets about 6 inches from the edge, and its really low and looks dumb). the water inlets feel like someone is blowing through a straw. i suspect the tubes and setup is poorly designed. it is a 0.75kw pump

 

is 18+ hours per day normal? i highly doubt it, i am thinking my 9 hours per day is lots.

 

pool is 3.5m x 7m x 1.2m deep

calculated it around 7700 gallons or 29000 litres i guess?

[Crossy]

What sort of filter do you have?

Chlorination, salt or tablets / automatic doser?

How often does your man come?

Do you check your chemistry?

 

Pool going green is obviously an issue, there are many here with the necessary expertise to assist but they need some information to get started.

 

If you leave the pool running on the man's settings does it stay clear?

 

By the way, our pump runs 8AM to 5PM every day which should be 1.5 water changes, slightly undersize pump, sand filter, salt water chlorinator.

 

EDIT Which pump do you have?

 

A quick look suggests your 1HP pump should move around 10k litres/hour so it should be ok, but your description of the flow rate suggests something is awry.

 

EDIT 2 If you could post the make and model of your pump, filter and chlorinator it would be useful.

[BEVUP]

.75 kw pump fine (on google) = 317 lt p/min x 60 = 19,000 lt p/hr x 3 = 57,000 trs

I would be checking your chemical dispensing method as to why it goes green in a couple of mths 

How often does the pool man come, He sets the pump for so long because he has just added bag loads of stuff & needs to keep the circulation maxed out to clear it up

& also would be worried about your inlet pipes since you said " It's like some one blowing through a straw 

Blockages or bad pump set up

[sappersrest]

Looks like you have several problems.

The first problem is I suspect you have a leak, as you state if you don't use the over flow system, and are just drawing from the bottom drain. the water level should remain static save water loss due to evaporation etc.

The need for a new fill  maybe would indicate  that you were using a lot of water.

As the water remains static after about 150mm Would suspect the leak is on a vac point.

If you have a leak you will be constantly diluting the water thus the levels of chlorine will decrease and the pool will eventually turn green through lack of chlorine.

The balance tank to use its correct name is an intrinsic part of the pool hydraulic system, it is imperative that it is used.

The idea is that 75-80 percent of the pool water should go over the channel to ensure good filtration the top 75mm is the most polluted water in a pool.

 

The first task is to check for leaks be it in the channel ,balance tank, or pipes.

 

So lets assume you have no leaks, and some of the causes that may turn the pool green.

First and most obvious not enough free chlorine.

To much stabilizer i.e. cynuric  acid this will  mask the effectiveness  of the ability of chlorine, (actually hypochlourus acid)

Very high pH also will alter the killing properties of the chlorine.

As a general rule 6-10 hours of circulation should suffice unless your pool is heavily used.

As others have said a few more details would be great, inc some photos.

Pump data plate. plant room balance tank pool layout showing inlets and bottom drain.

 

You state that the inlets are not that powerful that really is not a problem if you have sufficient no of inlets as the velocity of the water will decrease significantly the more there are.

When was the sand last changed in the filter? Incorrect use of a combination of certain chemicals will cause blockage of filters.

Alum as a clarifier plus dry acid forms a plaster of paris in the filter.

 

Do you have a pool test kit if so can you supply latest results.

Get a second opinion from another company.

Just feed us the info we are here to help.

[ilovebkk12345]

19 hours ago, Crossy said:

What sort of filter do you have?

Chlorination, salt or tablets / automatic doser?

How often does your man come?

Do you check your chemistry?

 

Pool going green is obviously an issue, there are many here with the necessary expertise to assist but they need some information to get started.

 

If you leave the pool running on the man's settings does it stay clear?

 

By the way, our pump runs 8AM to 5PM every day which should be 1.5 water changes, slightly undersize pump, sand filter, salt water chlorinator.

 

EDIT Which pump do you have?

 

A quick look suggests your 1HP pump should move around 10k litres/hour so it should be ok, but your description of the flow rate suggests something is awry.

 

EDIT 2 If you could post the make and model of your pump, filter and chlorinator it would be useful.

thank you all for your replies. i attached pics of the setup. the chloromatic in the picture isnt setup anymore. its not on.

the pool guys come 2x/week. tuesdays/fridays. i dont check the chemistry myself as i was hoping they would take care of it. they do for the most part, but if i want to use the overflow of the pool, it has problems. attached is a pic if i turn the overflow off for 1 day (they came yesterday and we told them to turn it off. too much issues with it).

pump says qmax 360l/min. so would be max 21600/hour.

if i leave the time at his 20hours/day, it might stay clear. never tried running it 20 hours a day for months as i imagine would be expensive. usually do it for a week if theres a problem, then turn it back down to 9 hours a day and its clean and clear for almost 2 months sometimes.

 

3 water inlets on the side opposite the overflow edge. 2 outlets in the bottom of pool. all are 1.25inch pipe.

 

as you can see, without overflow it gets low and looks bad, not to mention all the crap floats on top and stays in the pool. and the pool is shallow enough already.

just like many other things, i cant afford to lose and inch or 2

 

edit.

as you can see the pool is less then 1 day since overflow turned off. they were here at 4pm yesterday. pool was filled to top edge of overflow. we told them turn it off, nothing but problems. this is how low it has gone in < 20 hours.

i suspect a good size leak, thus overflow constantly putting fresh uncloronized water in, and slowly causes the problem.

on the tuesdays and fridays they come, each day they check the ph of pool and always add chemicals to it

[sappersrest]

Do you have a picture of the the inside of the balance tank showing inlet pipes and  outlets and new fill please.

Am working on it promise.

 

[sappersrest]

When you run the pool without the overflow do you close any valves?

 

[Valentine]

Isolate the overflow tank from the pool & fill it up & turn off water fill up line. Observe overflow tank to see if it remains steady. Stop the pool pump & close the valves. Add chlorine to keep your water looking ok. Observe for a few days to see if water still loses. If it continues to drop then let it go until it stops which will show  you the lowest point at which the water is leaking. If it does not drop then run the pool again from the main drain, not the tank & observe for losses. If still losing then you likely have a problem in your return line.

The lines can be pressure tested but you need someone who knows what they are doing.

Leaking pools is a process of elimination.

Silly question but have you looked at your waste line to see if water is going out there when pool is running. This can happen when multiport valve on filter is turned when pump is running. This can damage the spider gasket & cause some water to go out the waste line even when set to filter.

[sappersrest]

Spot on  valentine.