Pool Volume Question

[Gregory C]

This is likely a dumb question.

I believe that I have been miscalculating my pool volume. My pool is rectangular and is 20' x 40' with 4' x 8' stairs thus making the overall length 44'. I learned this yesterday while shopping for winter pool covers. I have always considered it to be 20' x 40' for volume and chemical calculation purposes. I now think that this may be wrong

My question is - for volume calculation purposes - is my pool considered by industry standards 20' x 40' or 20' x 44' ??

Thanks in advance!

 

[needsajet]

Nice to meet you via TFP

I don't know what industry would call it, but for chemical additions, it's fine to round off to the nearest thousand gallons, or maybe nearest 500 gallons. If you're over-shooting on chemical addition, reduce the volume in PoolMath. If you're under-shooting, raise your volume. A 1" difference in depth is 500 gallons, so that's close enough.

 

[Oly]

Hi Gregory,

I too had to rethink my pool volume. In my case the pool slope is very steep between the drain end and all but about 3' from the wall at the shallow end. Just averaging the measurements of the deep end and the shallow did not accurately calculate the volume. I used some advanced math along with a few beers and it added about 600 gallons to my initial 30,000 estimation. Not a huge difference but did account for a slight difference in my test recommendations and results.

 

[Gregory C]

Nice to meet you via TFP

I don't know what industry would call it, but for chemical additions, it's fine to round off to the nearest thousand gallons, or maybe nearest 500 gallons. If you're over-shooting on chemical addition, reduce the volume in PoolMath. If you're under-shooting, raise your volume. A 1" difference in depth is 500 gallons, so that's close enough.

Nice to meet you as well.....maybe it is considered a 44' for winter cover purposes only and not necessarily for volume purposes...as the cover needs to be longer than 40'

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Gregory C]

Hi Gregory,

I too had to rethink my pool volume. In my case the pool slope is very steep between the drain end and all but about 3' from the wall at the shallow end. Just averaging the measurements of the deep end and the shallow did not accurately calculate the volume. I used some advanced math along with a few beers and it added about 600 gallons to my initial 30,000 estimation. Not a huge difference but did account for a slight difference in my test recommendations and results.

Greetings Oly - I would tend to agree with you - the more I think about it...I don't think that the difference in volume will be near what I thought it was. The pool is literally 20' x 40' with an extra 4' x 8' step area...I would think that I could multiply L x W x average depth of stairs = additional volume and that would likely be a small number.

I would also agree that when doing advanced arithmetic calculations - a few beers should always be considered to be part of the equation...preferably a micro brew or similar.

Thanks for the feedback!