Hey Guys - Long time no post (I mean REAL long time). Got a pool question - of sorts. Given the high cost of electricity here in the northeast, I was thinking or running my pool filter motor at night to get the off-peak rates. So, my question - Is my family going to swim in emerald green water all summer as a result? Has anyone thought of doing this? Any help/opinions would be appreciated. Thanks Frank Orlando sbcglobal.net (put a dot in between my first and last name)
Green grows when chlorine and other chemicals levels drop below a certain amount. The only possible thing I see wrong is that during the daytime, pollen and dirt will settle in the pool and go to the bottom without the pump running and unless you have a creepy crawler cleaning your pool at night thats where it will stay until you cleen or sweep the bottom.
It has always been my understanding that the pump should be on during periods when the pool is in direct sunlight. That's because that's when algae grow best, and because chlorine is dissipated by ultraviot light, and you need to keep the chlorinated water mixing. Otherwise, water at the surface will become chlorine depleted and algae will bloom there. If your pool uses a chlorinator that only works when the pump is on, it would be particularly important to run the pump during sunlight periods.
Anyway, that's what I do most of the time - match the pump to the direct sunlight period. And when thunderstorms are expected. I guess that doesn't match your lowest pricing time, but if you have some shade, maybe the sunlight period is short enough to make up for the higher cost per KWH.
At one time I contemplated a switch that would sense bright sunlight and turn on the pump accordingly. That still might actually be a good way to do it it you could find such a switch and didn't mind doing a bit of rewiring.
Let us know what you end up doing, and how it works out for you.
5 year old pool in Phoenix AZ. Pool builder's startup guy set the timers to run at night, left them that way ever since. Never a green pool. Well, other than the fact that the Pebble Tec finish is green.
Speaking of electric rates, the local utility, Salt River Project, just sent around a letter announcing their new rate plan. Used to be, they had 2 rate periods - Winter (NOV-APR) and Summer (MAY-OCT). Summer air conditioning season, of course was higher. They have now added a third rate period, Peak Summer (JUL-AUG). That's when the temperatures here hit 110 or more. I can hardly wait to see what my Peak Summer electric bill looks like.
If green water is an issue it is algae that you need to control. I've had pools for years and have watched in amazement as my neighbors became slaves to their pools. Chlorination, at modest levels is one way of controlling bacteria, etc., but, it is not the most effective way of dealing with algae. Chlorination is not nice if your users relieve their bladders in the pool as it then yields chloramines which irritate eyes.
Algae requires phosphorous to grow. Phosphorous gets in to your pool in a myriad of ways, including dust and dirt that is blown in with the wind. A small amount of lanthanum carbonate, mixed to form a slurry and the poured into the pool or skimmer is a good way to eliminate algae. The lanthanum binds the phosphorus so that it is no longer available for the algae to use it. I don't believe Lanthanum is toxic, nor is it very expensive.
Leslie's used to sell lanthanum carbonate. The last time I was there you had to buy a lot of other "stuff" with it that ran the price up for no good purpose.
I used to follow the "run during daylight" doctrine.
Then I thought, why not let the stuff grow in the daylight, and give it a whallop of filtering and chlorination at night, when the chlorine isn't dissipated by sunlight. In theory it should sterilize the pool of both microbes and algae during each night, and algae can't really get going too much from zero in one day. And nighttime chlorination is so much more effective, more sanitizing power per dollar, than during the day.
Now this won't do for a public pool where you have to keep the water sterile during daylight usage. You gotta have chlorine and filtering then to take care of all the "cheek wash".
But it certainly works well, and economically, for my residential pool, to run only about 6 hours from dusk. On occasions when there is daylight bathing load, we turn it on manually.
Well, it's more effective if you're still not using stabilizer. Would this still work if you were using stabilized chlorine at night?
And, I'd also like to second the idea of whoever suggested controlling phosphates as a way to control algae. In my experience this works quite well. The product my pool store carries is PhosFree. Superchlorinating can remove nitrogen compounds, but apparently doesn't burn off phosphates at all.
No filter I'm aware of removes or prevents algae, that's chemistry.
Filter use is somewhat dependent on how much the pool is used (and what oils, etc. they might have on their bodies) and what else and how much of what else ends up in the water.
Our pool is mostly used by the freakin dog, and consequently SWMBO insists the filter run 24/7 during the season. It's worth to me whatever it costs to hold that noise to a minimum.
There's oodles of "expert" advice available on the web, but I see no problem with your idea for a pool that sees "normal" use. -----
I'd like to thank you all for the great information you gave on this subject. I have had a pool for 20 years and never heard of the phosphate thing before - I'll have a pointed discussion with my pool store about that one. I'll follow up with the group in a couple months, the cover won't come off until memorial day week end. Thanks again. frank orlando at sbcglobal dot net
The phosphate thing was never a problem here until the mid-1990's. Well, except for people whose lawn service broadcasts a regular supply of fertilizer into the pool.
But gradually everybody started having algae problems. Over time, the cause became clear - the phosphates were now in the water supply. Not enough to affect potability, but enough to significantly raise the levels in pools. Algae absolutely needs phosphates to grow, but it only needs a tiny amount.
And the source of the phosphates - chicken shit. Seriously. A large number of poultry processing operations moved into the watershed, and the "waste" was converted to fertilizer that began to be widely used by area farmers. It's high in phosphates, and just runs off the fields into the creeks and rivers, and eventually into the lakes we draw water from.
So now pretty much everybody uses PhosFree, or some equivalent, based on the free testing the pool stores provide, and it really works well. But in your area, it might not be a problem, depending on the tap water situation. On the other hand, it doesn't take much lawn fertilier to get you in trouble if it contains phosphorus. Superchlorinating will neutralize the ammonia, but not the phosphates. Anyway, testing your pool water will tell the story.
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