How many hours should my pump work per day ?

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C

cadena

Active member
May 9, 2021
25
Spain
Pool Size
20000
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
Hi everyone,

I am trying to determine the No. of hours I should have my pump running in Summer and all other seasons. I live in Malaga (South of Spain) and my pool is inground, the volume is 30 m3 (or 30,000 L) and the pump has 1 HP at rate 15 m3/hour. I have read the pool water has to circulate at least once a day but I have read somewhere else that it should be 2 times (1 time in the morning and 2nd time in the evening). Also I need to take into account the resistance from the sand filter, water moving through tubes, temperature, etc. I believe the calculation for time should be as follows:

30 m3 ÷ 15 m3/hour = 2 hours

2 hours + 1 hour (to account for time passing through sand fiter, tubes, etc.) = 3 hours

3hours x 2 (so that all pool water is fitered 2 times) = 6 hours in total per day

Could someone tell me if this is alright or if I should lower or increase the number of hours ? (Also what about in Winter, Spring and Autumn, can I reduce the number of hours ?)
 

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borjis said:
I only run mine 2 hrs daily. I don't have a chlorine generator so don't need time for that aspect.
I usually run it also when guests are over.
The water turnover concept is a myth.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply @borjis . I have a chlorine generator so does that mean I need the pump to work more time ? Also is 2 hours enough ? I believe what you are saying ( your rank speaks for itself), it's just that it looks too short when all over the internet people say the pump must work between 6-8 hours. Then again my electric bill is over the roof and I want to find the minimum time required the pump must work.
 
It would help the experts if you put your pool information in your signature. Similar to mine. If you are on a phone you will need to turn phone sideways to see sig.

Generally…if you run the pump long enough to generate enough Chlorine, you are good to go.
Provided you are clearing debris with skimmer and other Floaties from pool.
 
What is your Chlorine level and what test kit are you using to check? I doubt you can generate enough in 2 hours. Another reason for signature so experts can see what your swg is and how much it produces.
 
cadena said:
Hi everyone,

I am trying to determine the No. of hours I should have my pump running in Summer and all other seasons. I live in Malaga (South of Spain) and my pool is inground, the volume is 30 m3 (or 30,000 L) and the pump has 1 HP at rate 15 m3/hour. I have read the pool water has to circulate at least once a day but I have read somewhere else that it should be 2 times (1 time in the morning and 2nd time in the evening). Also I need to take into account the resistance from the sand filter, water moving through tubes, temperature, etc. I believe the calculation for time should be as follows:

30 m3 ÷ 15 m3/hour = 2 hours

2 hours + 1 hour (to account for time passing through sand fiter, tubes, etc.) = 3 hours

3hours x 2 (so that all pool water is fitered 2 times) = 6 hours in total per day

Could someone tell me if this is alright or if I should lower or increase the number of hours ? (Also what about in Winter, Spring and Autumn, can I reduce the number of hours ?)
Click to expand...

I like it. I keep meaning to pick up the little timer start and stoppers so I can run my twice a day. Right now I run it 12am-6am. I want to set it up to run 12am-3am, then noon-3pm.
 
I got down to 2 hrs daily after much experiment.
4 hrs is what I did prior. Got it down to 2 and found it fully sufficient for my smaller pool. It's just as clean at 2 than 4 to my eyes. Been running it this way the past 5 years.

If you have an swg (I don't) 2 would not be nearly enough. Need to figure out how long the cel has to run to generate your pool's daily chlorine need.
 
I set my timer clock to run from about 3-8pm+- 15 minutes or so. The dial is not 100% accurate to the time of day. I will manually flip it on earlier on a weekend day because we will presumably be using the pool earlier and I too like a clean surface when I get there. My robot is electric so I can vacuum without the pump running.
 
Msch99 said:
What is your Chlorine level and what test kit are you using to check? I doubt you can generate enough in 2 hours. Another reason for signature so experts can see what your swg is and how much it produces.
Click to expand...
Thank you all guys for your replies. @Msch99 I have just created my signiture detailing as much info as possible (didn't think I'd need it for this post so thanks for the tip btw). Given my chlorinator (which right now is off) generates 25 g/h, chlorine level must be at 2 ppm ( same as 2 mg/L) and I set my SWG to 50% then the calculations should be as follows:

2 mg/L x 30000 L = 60000 mg = 60 g

25 g/hour x 0.5 (because SWG at 50%) = 12.5 g/hour

60g ÷ 12.5 g/hour = 4.8 hours (taking into account my salt concentration would be between 4-6 kg/m3 as specified by the SWG manufacturer).

If my calculations are correct, would 4.8 hours be enough for my pool ? Allowing the pump to work 2.4 hours in the morning and 2.4 hours in the evening ?

P.S. Is 50% a good chlorine production percentage ? I'm aware that 100% at all times is bad for the cell so is 50% good enough ?
 

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Every pool is different, and there are so many variables. I am not a SWG expert but if you set it at 50% just test regularly to see how your FC holds. Up it if necessary.

Same answer on the pump. Some around here run their pump as little as 2 hours a days. Not typically with a SWG so again, run it for 5 hours/day, take regular tests to see how your FC holds and adjust accordingly.

Also, I am guessing based on your signature that you are using an OTO chlorine test kit? Unfortunately, all that test tells you is that you have chlorine in the pool. I would highly suggest getting a proper FAS-DPD chlorine kit. This link will help: Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool
 
LoneWolfArcher said:
Every pool is different, and there are so many variables. I am not a SWG expert but if you set it at 50% just test regularly to see how your FC holds. Up it if necessary.

Same answer on the pump. Some around here run their pump as little as 2 hours a days. Not typically with a SWG so again, run it for 5 hours/day, take regular tests to see how your FC holds and adjust accordingly.

Also, I am guessing based on your signature that you are using an OTO chlorine test kit? Unfortunately, all that test tells you is that you have chlorine in the pool. I would highly suggest getting a proper FAS-DPD chlorine kit. This link will help: Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool
Click to expand...
@LoneWolfArcher thank you very much for the link ! I will check it ASAP, the tutorials look very detailed and complete, and I regret not having found the tutorials earlier (would have saved me many painstaking hours of searching online). Perhaps, if there were a "Tutorials" tab on the left-hand side it would be easier to notice and access for new members like me. But now I know about them at least.

Also you are right. I have an OT kit but so far it has never given me any issues since my SWG automatically pumps FC when the pump is on. However once I finish it I will definetely buy a DPD kit.

For the number of pump hours, I will wait until a SWG expert replies to this thread to know for sure how much time the pump must be on with my pool and SWG specs. In any case, thank you very much.
 
cadena said:
P.S. Is 50% a good chlorine production percentage ? I'm aware that 100% at all times is bad for the cell so is 50% good enough ?
Click to expand...
You can use PoolMath to dial in your needs based on model output and runtime. The cell does not care if it runs 12 hours at 100% or 24 hours at 50%. Either way the cell does what it’s told for 12 hours. (Or whatever equivalent math you throw at it….. 6 hours at 100% or 24 hours at 25%).

A cells lifespan comes solely from runtime. It does not ‘work harder’ with a higher percentage. It’s either on or off that moment. Most times if you run it a little more for some wiggle room you would never know 10k runtime hours from now that you were 300 hours short when it died.
 
Newdude said:
You can use PoolMath to dial in your needs based on model output and runtime. The cell does not care if it runs 12 hours at 100% or 24 hours at 50%. Either way the cell does what it’s told for 12 hours. (Or whatever equivalent math you throw at it….. 6 hours at 100% or 24 hours at 25%).

A cells lifespan comes solely from runtime. It does not ‘work harder’ with a higher percentage. It’s either on or off that moment. Most times if you run it a little more for some wiggle room you would never know 10k runtime hours from now that you were 300 hours short when it died.
Click to expand...
Hi @Newdude thanks for your comment but what do you mean with "Most times if you run it a little more for some wiggle room you would never know 10k runtime hours from now that you were 300 hours short when it died." ? That it doesn't matter how many hours I use the cell to produce Chlorine ? Also then how many hours do you recommend per day ? Like do I set it up 2-5 hours a day and check 1-2 times a week just to make sure the SWG is producing 2ppm Chlorine ? It's a bit confusing trying to determine the No. of hours :confused:
 
cadena said:
It's a bit confusing trying to determine the No. of hours :confused:
Click to expand...
Don’t worry you’ll get there. It just takes some trial and error. Most people start at 12 hours runtime for a 2X oversized unit and go from there. Test daily at first and if you’re a bit high, decrease the runtime until you find the sweet spot. From there test every few days as you’ll need to bump it up a few times in the first half of the season, and then turn it down 3-4 times as the back half of the season winds down. By year 2 or 3 you’ll test weekly and just know where it needs to be.
cadena said:
but what do you mean with "Most times if you run it a little more for some wiggle room you would never know 10k runtime hours from now that you were 300 hours short when it died
Click to expand...
Many people become so obsessed with cell life that they miss the big picture. If they need a small boost they will manually treat with liquid chlorine all in the name of extending cell life. But what’s 4 hours in the grand scheme of 10K?

Many of us boost the FC by 4-5 ppm before a party for example. I would use the cell for a few extra hours starting the night before if I had the time for the cell to do the boosting. It costs 7-15 cents an hour to run depending on the model VS $4 for a gallon of liquid chlorine. It was a no brainer, but technically I lost cell life.
 
Also to be clear, If at any point you are several FC low, add liquid to boost it immediately. If you are just lower but still in range let the cell handle it.
 
Hi, I downloaded Pool Math but I have seen no option to calculate the number of runtime hours ? Is there an option I'm missing or is there another way for me to find out ? I'm not closer to finding out how many hours I need to have my pump on. Also could someone explain me why water turnover is a myth ? Shoud the pump be on just to produce enough chlorine to get to 2ppm ?
 
Click on the tab for FC. Make the target FC higher than the actual and scroll down. Next enter SWG and your models output. Then you can select % or run hours depending on what you’d like to see
 
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This is all very helpful. For those with VS pumps, knowing the RPM of power % is also interesting.

I do not have a SWCG and am beginning to try 3 hours per day at 1800 RPM. I will adjust based on satisfactory cleanliness...
 
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