Pool water that is “clean enough.” Is that “clean enough” for you? Probably not and if you work with a swimming pool service contractor you can rest assured that your pool water is more than clean enough! A pool contractor will help assure the pool water is free of bacteria, that the chemicals are properly balanced and that the water is always ready to swim in when you’re ready to swim.
Another item your pool contractor concerns himself with when he is cleaning and servicing your swimming pool is its circulation. When is the last time you thought about the pool’s circulation? Probably not recently, right? That wasn’t a trick question because not too many pool owners think of the circulation; it is one of those items that just happens beneath the surface of the pool and no one thinks of it until the circulation suddenly isn’t working.
The wonderful thing is that when you work with an experienced swimming pool contractor you don’t have to worry about the pool’s circulation.
Is Your Swimming Pool Water Clean Enough?
Let’s talk pool circulation
The circulation happens in your swimming pool through its pump and filter.
Here’s how it works
The swimming pool pump circulates the water. It draws it in from the pool and pushes it through the skimmer. Once the water is pulled in and goes through the filter, the filter cleans away impurities. The water’s impurities and bacteria and particles are “scrubbed” by the filter and then the water is circulated back into the swimming pool.
The swimming pool pump and the swimming pool filter work hand-in-hand to keep the water bacteria-free and clean and ready for you to swim in.
Where does it come from?
When you’re in the pool and see water coming into the pool from the jets in the sides, this is the water that has been recently cleaned and is being returned to the water.
Are they multi-directional?
If you aren’t aware of whether your pool’s jets are multi-directional, ask your pool contractor the next time he pays a visit. Multi-directional jets are ideal at pushing the water back into the pool in different directions and this halso helps with circulation. Swimming pools with deep ends benefit from multi-directional jets.
Can the pool circulation be improved?
As mentioned, multi-directional jets can improve circulation. A pool filter with a clean filter helps with circulation. A pool pump that is sized appropriately for your pool helps with circulation.
Circulating the water helps with keeping clean water in the pool and moving dirty water out. Circulating the swimming pool also helps distribute the chemicals throughout the pool.
Does your swimming pool have a circulation dead zone?
Dead zones in the swimming pool are those areas where circulation isn’t as robust as it should be.
Potential circulation dead zones could be:
- In and around the swimming pool steps
- Beneath the skimmer
- Behind the ladder
- In the deep end
There may be no way to address all of the potential dead zones without adding a more robust pump or having a reconstruction project to add in more jets.
Brushing the pool is the “old fashioned” way to help with circulation around the deadzones — especially the deep end. When you brush the pool or when your pool contractor brushes it you’re loosening up any bacteria and algae and helping it circulate out of the pool and through the filter.
Circulation and turnover rates
When it comes to circulation, the key aspect is to turn over all of the water in the pool. On a daily basis you want to turn over aka push all of the water out of the pool and through the filter at least once. If you keep the pump and filter running more hours of the day you can turn the water over more than once and that might be necessary in the peak swim season.
Ask us how many hours a day you need to run the filter and pump to completely turn all of the water over. It usually takes between eight and ten hours to turn the water completely over.
Enhance the water circulation
What steps can you take today to enhance the water circulation in your swimming pool?
- Run the pump as long as your pool contractor recommends
- Clean the skimmer and pump baskets regularly (daily even)
- If your pool has multi-directional jets, direct at least one toward the deep end
- Thoroughly brush the pool and concentrate on the dead zones
Whether you’re a do it yourself pool maintenance person or if you work with a swimming pool contractor, ask for advice and information on your pool’s unique circulation needs.