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PoolGuyNJ,

Thanks for the link. I just read the blog. I have not owned a pool very long but the information from this site about properly and safely maintaining a pool will always out do any extra electric costs. The safety of my family and friends is much more important than trying to save a buck.
 
Scott,

While I believe you, I don't follow your logic. You said, "Running the system during the day replenishes lost residual free chlorine that would otherwise be lost by sunlight and activity."

Unless you have a SWG or in-line chlorine feeder, I don't see how running the system can replenish chlorine. Unless you mean areas of localized chlorine loss, like at the surface, and running the filter will keep everything mixed so there are no small localized areas with no chlorine ???

I know a lot of people who use liquid chlorine and the only time they have to pour it in is after work, so they run the filter during the evening hours. Is this bad?

Thanks
 
Yup, I remember him. We were all over him like stink on....well, stinky pool advice.

I don't think this particular article is necessarily bad advice...running the pump when electricity is cheaper certainly makes sense. Lots of people don't like the idea of water not being circulated during the heat of the day, but lborne is right; without a feeder/SWG it's not going to make any difference, unless your FC was too low already.
 
Here we are on a peak/ off peak system when it comes to what we pay for electricity.
So I would say most everyone runs their systems at night here, even with lots of sun, and heat. I have not seen any appreciable difference or problems.
Every pool I have ever set up, is set up to run off peak hours.
 
@Melt: Yes it will make a HUGE difference. Chlorination systems are designed to meet normal demands. The loss of all the residual will take time to rebuild., not something chlorinators are designed to do. That will let the bio badies run wild! Then when they system starts back up, it has to take whe it's producing to fight the badies instead of rebuilding the residual.

Scott
 

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Thanks for the link, definitely worth a chuckle. So is this one

http://www.swimuniversity.com/blog/10-b ... -heard-of/
6. Liquid Solar Blanket (Flexible Solutions)
What It Does: Keeps the heat from escaping your pool like a normal solar blanket.
Solar blankets are big and can sometimes be a real pain to take on and off your pool every time you want to use it. Solar covers work by keeping the heat in your pool – not by attracting the sun’s heat towards your pool. Liquid solar blankets do the same thing except you don’t need a giant cover. Simply drop the ball or fish pouch in your pool and a small amount of the liquid coats the top of your pool for an entire month. Don’t worry, you can’t see it, feel it or even taste it. It’s only about 1 molecule thick. My only suggestion when using a liquid solar blanket is to not run your pool’s filter system at night. In the evening you tend to lose the most heat because the nights are cooler. If the water is still, the liquid has a better chance of keeping the heat in your swimming pool overnight.
Click to expand...

:lol: Now not only will his readers believe that you should shock the pool every week and run the filter only at night but they'll also use these solar fish!
 
The main focus of the website appears to be selling products for an on-line vendor.
The information provided would probably be the same as you would receive from your local pool store.
The recommendations provided may not be in the best interest of the pool owner, but in the best interest of the website sponsor(s) :shock: :wink:
 
That same thread pitched copper algaecide too. I especially love the way it stains a deck blue or makes green stains on surfaces. Those aren't harmful to people so I chose not to shoot that page full of the bullets as it so deserves.

The running at night article raises the risks to swimmers health. As a pool professional and CPO, I was obligated to comment there. If any others wish to pile on, I ask that you be non-adversarial, don't mention other sites by name except industry or governmental authoritative sites such as the APSP or EPA, and come across as wanting to help the public on a selfless basis.

Scott
 
PoolGuyNJ said:
@Melt: Yes it will make a HUGE difference. Chlorination systems are designed to meet normal demands. The loss of all the residual will take time to rebuild., not something chlorinators are designed to do. That will let the bio badies run wild! Then when they system starts back up, it has to take whe it's producing to fight the badies instead of rebuilding the residual.

Scott
Click to expand...

I agree with Melt, whether you run the system at night or during the day it makes NO difference. The chlorinator produces the exact same amount of chlorine whether it runs during the day or night. Measuring FC level should be done at the low point during the day. In the case of running the chlorinator at night this measurement should be done right before the chlorinator kicks on. That measurement should never be below the minimum FC level for the CYA level you have. Its not like during the day when the chlorinator is not running a bunch of bio badies, as you call them, are going to take over. There is chlorine in the water! That chlorine with kill these bio badies and yes the sun will get rid some also. But at night it builds up again. And if it doesn't you have it set too low. I have been running my chlorinator at night for as long as I can remember and NEVER had a problem. My FC at night is around 3.5 and in the morning 5.5.

Not defending the author but just don't want misinformation getting out there. I don't know about other articles this guy has put out but this one does not strike me as all that bad.
 
It all depends on the chlorine level when the pump shuts off and the loss of chlorine from sunlight and bather load (assuming an SWG is being used, of course). One could certainly have a residential pool where at a higher CYA level there was lower loss from sunlight as well as a higher FC to provide enough buffer to handle a 1.5-2.5 ppm drop during the day without running out of chlorine or getting too low. For example, having 50 ppm CYA and starting with 6 ppm FC when the pump shuts off sometime in the early morning (before rates go up) and then having the FC drop to 4 ppm by the time the pump starts again at night would be fine.

However, for a commercial/public pool with moderate-to-high bather load, this approach certainly would not work since the chlorine demand is so much higher that chlorine addition during the day is pretty much a requirement. The approach is also not good if the bather load in the residential pool spiked, such as from a pool party, though even daytime running doesn't completely solve that problem since the chlorine demand is simply higher than normal and needs to be supplemented in some way.
 
In an unused pool, the loss might be that low but if it's got activity, it's all over.

The sun, the temps, the activity will drop the FC below the effective level needed for sanitation and oxidation and continue to leave any bio-badies to do their version of the wild thing and the oxidation needs unmet. That added demand needed to counter the unchecked period and the time needed to rebuild the residual is pushing the chlorination system more than needed, if it can meet that at all, and leaving the pool cloudier each day with a significantly increase opportunity for unsightly algae growth or not getting high enough to kill any chlorine resistant (at lower levels) organisms.

How many people do we see every year that don't pay close enough attention finding their way here? How many mistakenly rely on others that claim to be professionals or experts? How many have been "pool stored"?

How much money will be saved when they have to keep adding chlorine boosters to clear the cloudiness? Or balancing chems? Or drainings because of the added CYA or CH? Etc.... ad infinitum ad nauseum. :blah: :blah: :blah:

Scott
 
Scott, you turn a nice phrase :goodjob: :cool:

While I've always supported running the pump when folks are using the pool, that advice was only for folks that had a chlorine introduction system that only introduced cl when the pump was running. Even then, I'd suggest a split run time so that fresh cl is introduced when folks are 'normally' using the pool and a night run, so that the freshly introduced cl can both 'burn out' the daytime load and replenish the 'reserve' for tomorrow's sun and bather load :)

Commercial/ public pools are different, this is the 'joy' I'll have to deal with this season.

I hope you're well and that your season is off to a great start :-D
 
chem geek said:
However, for a commercial/public pool with moderate-to-high bather load, this approach certainly would not work since the chlorine demand is so much higher that chlorine addition during the day is pretty much a requirement. The approach is also not good if the bather load in the residential pool spiked, such as from a pool party, though even daytime running doesn't completely solve that problem since the chlorine demand is simply higher than normal and needs to be supplemented in some way.
Click to expand...

I completely agree.

When I have a pool party I leave the pump on to ensure a more level FC curve instead of spiking the FC at the beginning of the day to handle the load.
 

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