want to do it right the first time

[indiana john]

hey guys , a few months ago I bought a house with a big old pool. its IG 24ftx48ft , shallow end is about half the pool 3.5 ft deep, and the deep end at the drain is 9.5ft. Pool sat empty for 5 years so the first thing I did was cut the old liner out.

i've had 3 different pool companys out but have not ordered a new liner yet because i've had to bust some concrete up to repair some 1.5 inch pipe on the main drain. Anyway this is my first pool and when I order the liner I would also like to order a new pump and salt generator.

i've done some reading and belive my pool to be around 50000 gal. I , in no way claim to understand the math to figure out the head and gpm ect to make a intelligent decision on a pump or a salt generator for my pool and was hoping someone here might give me some advice.

It has a hayward sand filter that states filtration and backwash 62gps,50lbs working pressure and holds 300lbs of sand. The pump that is on it now is a 1 hp ao smith but its dead and the pool guys all say its to small. I like the idea of a variable rate pump but don't know if it would be good for my application as it wont run anything but my filter and for vacuuming.

Im willing to put the money upfront for anything that will pay off in the long run as this a long term investment for me and I would like to do it right the first time . I know Im windy , sorry.

A few other things 2 skimmers deep end 1main drain, 3 returns 1 middle 2 shallow. suction and return pipe length are about equal at 130ft and all 1.5 inch .

Anyway love the site , i've learned a lot and cant wait to here from you , thanks john

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

That is a large pool and may even be over 50K gallons. I gave it an average depth of 6.5 feet and came up with 56,000.

You find this to be a good resource. Others will be by to discuss pump sizes and options with you. 1 HP sounds a little small to me for that size pool.

 

[duraleigh]

IJ,

Welcome to the forum :lol: My pool is similar to yours in size. I agree the current pump and especially the filter are too small.

I don't think the VS pump will give you your money back and perhaps not be very useful since you need to move quite a bit of water. A two speed may make better sense but the low speed simply may not give you enough flow. That's a generalized statement and others may be along to either confirm or correct it.

Another good guideline is to have a pump capable of turning your entire pool 2-3 times daily if it was running 24/7 (it won't be). That works out to a pump capable of somewhere around 100 gpm......usually a FULL-rated 1.5HP pump.

The next step is to insure your filter is rated about 25% or so above that 100gpm. The larger filter will give you a lot of benefits and virtually no drawbacks.

The triton TR140 (rated @140gpm) is my filter and I have to say it has been bulletproof. It is a big ole' monster (925lbs of sand) but I have enjoyed the extra filtering capacity it gives me.

 

[indiana john]

dave , thanks for the info. Im just at the beginning of trying to educate myself on equipment and chemicals ect. . There is a push from my family to get it all done right now and Im just trying to buy what would work best for our pool. For some reason all the people i've had come out are vary tight lipped . I get the feeling they just don't know what to tell me which is flustrating. I have, and don't mind spending the money but I want to make sure im buying the right equipment to do justice to the pool and the bottom line.
i had one guy tell me I needed to put down foam over the concrete transition slant from the shallow to the deep end . The concrete is rougher there than the rest of the pool but no one will ever be walking on that, right? I just don't have enough experience to make these decisions. thanks to all that post . Im trying to get up to speed so I can keep everybody happy,wife, kids, and the pool. ha! thanks again