Is my pump strong enough for my new pool?

[nbrogan]

Appreciate any advice or insights on the following-- thank you.
Just finished construction on a new vinyl 20' x 40', 30,000 gallon rectangular pool. We are beginning to suspect that the pump and skimmers are not working properly- either they are not strong enough for the pool size; not programmed correctly (running on high cycle 9am to 5pm then turns off); or not set up/installed correctly or defective. The pump is a Hayward 1.5 hp, 2 floor drains, 4 jets and 2 skimmers. There is a thick ring of pollen formed around the edge of the water (after 4 days of running the pump) and a cloud of pollen on top of the entire pool several inches thick. The water appears stagnant even when the pump is running on high. Thank you.

 

[PoolStored]

Let's start here...
1) What is the water level in the skimmer mouth? 25%, 50%, 75%.
2) post a picture of your equipment pad so we can see all the equipment and valves.

If you know how to change your valves, pull 90% from the skimmers and 10% from the MD, my guess is your skimmer will go to town.
If you don't, post the pictures and we'll help...

 

[Jimrahbe]

N,

Do you have a single speed pump or a 2-speed pump or a VS pump???

When your pump is running, what is your filter's pressure??

We need to see pics of everything...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[wireform]

Following

 

[Bperry]

Appreciate any advice or insights on the following-- thank you.
Just finished construction on a new vinyl 20' x 40', 30,000 gallon rectangular pool. We are beginning to suspect that the pump and skimmers are not working properly- either they are not strong enough for the pool size; not programmed correctly (running on high cycle 9am to 5pm then turns off); or not set up/installed correctly or defective. The pump is a Hayward 1.5 hp, 2 floor drains, 4 jets and 2 skimmers. There is a thick ring of pollen formed around the edge of the water (after 4 days of running the pump) and a cloud of pollen on top of the entire pool several inches thick. The water appears stagnant even when the pump is running on high. Thank you.

The pump is strong enough for the pool. You likely have something wrong like a valve closed/open when it shouldn’t be.

 

[Newdude]

Post a pic of the pool and label the skimmers and where the returns are pointed. They are probably adjusted wrong, or some water was added since they were adjusted and now there is too little surface movement.

Changing their direction and/or angling them up a little makes a huge difference. Also, the slightest breeze will overcome even the perfect system/setup. So sometimes, it'll just be like that.

Or someone left too much suction from the drains as said above and we'll wait for those pics too.

 

[nbrogan]

Thank you for the input everyone, it is much appreciated. Attached are photos of the state of the pool after almost a week of running the pump and skimmers. There is a thick ring of dirt and pollen around the top and pollen on the bottom.

 

[nbrogan]

Some additional photos:

 

[Jimrahbe]

N,

We also need to see the valves that send the water back to the pool..

Your skimmers do not appear to be working at all..

Is the pump running?? What speed is it running?

Do you have water actually coming back out of the pool returns into your pool? Is is a strong flow or very weak?

Take a step back and show us the whole pad.

Edit.. I just saw the new pics..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[nbrogan]

Additional photos thank you!

 

[nbrogan]

N,

We also need to see the valves that send the water back to the pool..

Your skimmers do not appear to be working at all..

Is the pump running?? What speed is it running?

Do you have water actually coming back out of the pool returns into your pool? Is is a strong flow or very weak?

Take a step back and show us the whole pad.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thank you. The pump is not running the contractor programmed it to run 9 to 5 and the skimmers are barely working.

 

[Jimrahbe]

N,

Shut off your main drain and just run off the two skimmers...

Everything looks dead to me..

What position is the valve on top of your filter in??

If you move the valve from pool jets to waterfall, does the waterfall work well? (Don't leave it in waterfall, just want to see of the pump is actually moving any water??)

Look between the mouth of the skimmer and the skimmer basket and see if you have any weir doors.. They like a small door laying on its side. They are anchored at the bottom and the top floats up and down with the water.. Please let me know if you can see the doors??

As a test, you can pull out a skimmer basket and see if you can feel any suction at the pipe in under the skimmer basket..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[nbrogan]

Thank you for the input everyone, it is much appreciated. Attached are photos of the state of the pool after almost a week of running the pump and skimmers. There is a thick ring of dirt and pollen around the top and pollen on the bottom.

N,

Do you have a single speed pump or a 2-speed pump or a VS pump???

When your pump is running, what is your filter's pressure??

We need to see pics of everything...

Thanks,

Jim R.

The pump is a VS pump. The contractor programmed it to turn off at 5pm and we don't know how to override it. He is supposed to return to show us how to work everything meanwhile the pool is essentially stagnant and pollen filled. Thank you.

 

[Jimrahbe]

N,

I suggest that you turn the pump on and see how things work.

With the pump on, look at the things I asked you to look for and then get back with us..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[nbrogan]

N,

Shut off your main drain and just run off the two skimmers...

Everything looks dead to me..

What position is the valve on top of your filter in??

If you move the valve from pool jets to waterfall, does the waterfall work well? (Don't leave it in waterfall, just want to see of the pump is actually moving any water??)

Look between the mouth of the skimmer and the skimmer basket and see if you have any weir doors.. They like a small door laying on its side. They are anchored at the bottom and the top floats up and down with the water.. Please let me know if you can see the doors??

As a test, you can pull out a skimmer basket and see if you can feel any suction at the pipe in under the skimmer basket..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks again, the skimmers have some suction when running and the waterfall worked well when we tested it. Now we can't test anything because it is all turned off and we can't override the program. Valve on top of filter attached. Thank you.

 

[nbrogan]

Just got it running. Attached is a photo of the pressure while running.

 

[nbrogan]

Just got it running. Attached is a photo of the pressure while running.

Turned the bottom drains off and skimmers on full power but still not much suction in the skimmers we can feel the suction it's just weak.

 

[nbrogan]

Turned the bottom drains off and skimmers on full power but still not much suction in the skimmers we can feel the suction it's just weak.

 

[PoolStored]

When was the last time you backwashed the filter?
Do that next.

 

[nbrogan]

Thick layer of pollen evident when lights are on. Shouldn't the filter be circulating and filtering out some of this? Thanks everyone!