What you need to know about your pool’s water circulation, the swimming pool service contractors from Express Pool Care in Phoenix, Arizona offer tips. Not many pool owners give much thought to the pool water circulation. Honestly, when is the last time you thought about it? Even though you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, your swimming pool service contractor does.
You should know, though that the water circulation is what helps move the water through the filter to be cleaned and pushed back into the water. The pool water should be “churned” or “turned over” at least one time every twenty four hours — this is why you need to run your pool pump for eight to twelve hours per day — to circulate all of the pool water through the filter.
What you need to know about your pool’s water circulation
To be considered “good” the circulation of your pool water will — again — be accomplished one full time in a twenty four hour period. The pool pump circulates the water by drawing it in from the pool and pushing it through to the skimmer. After the water is drawn in and it goes through the filter, the filter does its job by filtering out miniscule debris particles. A functioning pump and filter assures the pool water remains clean and bacteria-free.
After the filtering is complete, the water is pushed back into the swimming pool. When you’re in your pool and feel water coming out of the jets — this is the cleaned and newly recirculated water making its way back into the pool. Your pool may have more than one jet to push the cleaned water back into the pool. Depending on the size of the pool, it may make sense to have multiple jets and those that are multi-directional. The size, depth and style of pool will determine how many and the direction of the return jets.
If the pool has only one jet, it should be directed to the opposite side of the skimmer and should be downward facing; this helps circulate more water faster and will also circulate water from the bottom of the pool.
Many swimming pools have “dead zones” when it comes to the circulation. The dead zone is an area in the pool in which the pool circulation is lacking. You can find these areas of poor circulation in these areas:
- The swimming pool steps
- In creases, cracks and crevasses
- Beneath the skimmer
- Behind the ladder
- In the deep end of the pool
Brushing the swimming pool not only loosens any debris or algae spores, but it helps circulate the water.
Do you know your pool’s “turnover” rate?
Pool turnover is the length of time it takes to circulate every gallon of water in the pool through the filtering system. Your pool contractor can run the numbers for you. The importance of this number is it shows you how many hours a day the pool pump needs to run in order to “turn over” all of the water in the pool. The usual running time is between eight and twelve hours a day.
If you have any questions about your pool’s circulation, ask us the next time we pay a service visit.