When I began my career in the swimming pool industry, I remember looking at a swimming pool's equipment pad and, in some cases, my thoughts reflected the spaghetti of pipes I was gazing at in front of me. Hopefully, your equipment plumbing doesn't look like spaghetti, but maybe you can relate to the feeling of disorganized thoughts as you try to understand how your swimming pool works. My goal in this article is to simplify the swimming pool system and the three basic pieces of equipment with their specific purpose.
Pump and Motor
One of the best analogies I've heard regarding a swimming pool system is a swimming pool is like the human body with its many organs. Just like the human body has a heart that pumps blood through the arteries and receives blood from the veins, so the swimming pool pump and motor, as a combined unit, pumps water into the pool through what is called the "pressure" plumbing and draws water from the pool through the "suction" plumbing.
In its simplest form, the purpose of the pump and motor is to facilitate the continuous flow of water from the pool through the filter, chlorinator, etc. and back into the pool. Because the pump is in charge of circulating the pool water, it is also one of the most important pieces of equipment. Water circulation is crucial for achieving even distribution of chemicals and adequate filtration of bacteria and debris. If the pump goes out, the swimming pool can begin to grow algae in a matter of days even if the other pieces of equipment are working properly. Again, just like the body, every organ could be completely healthy; however, it won't do you much good if your heart's not pumping.
Filter
After the water is drawn in by the pump, the next stop is the filter. Continuing with our body analogy, if the pump and motor is like the heart, then the filter would be like the swimming pool's kidney. It filters out the impurities in the water as the water passes through. There are several different types of filters that are available. Each type of filter has a different minimum size of bacteria, measured in microns, that it would be able to filter out of the water. Differing types of equipment will be covered in another article. For now, we're just focusing on what the purpose is for each piece of equipment.
If the debris that the filter is removing from the water begins to build up within the filter, the flow of water can become restricted. A tell-tale sign of debris build-up is rising filter pressure indicated by the filter pressure gauge. A good rule of thumb is to backwash your filter every time the pressure rises 10psi from the last clean. For guidance on how to backwash your specific filter, refer to the user's guide provided to you by your contractor or located online. Filter pressure should remain below 20 - 25 psi. In the event that backwashing no longer brings the filter pressure down to an acceptable range, it may be time to open and clean the filter, evaluating the interior components for repair or replacement at the same time.
Sanitizer
At this point in the article, the human body analogy may get a little odd, but bear with me. In all swimming pool systems, there needs to be a sanitizer of some kind. There are several types of sanitizers that exist from ozone to UV light to chlorine to nanobubbles. The sanitizers, whichever one your pool uses, act like the white blood cells of your body. For the medical professional out there this will sound like an oversimplification, but the white blood cells in your body kill any germs or bacteria before they are able to produce a disease or sickness inside you. It's the same with pool sanitizers. If the sanitizer levels are kept at the optimal range and all other equipment is working properly, then any bacteria or algae spores that develop in your pool water should be killed before they are able to multiple and become a hazard for you or your pool. Once the bacteria or algae is killed, it is then drawn in by the pump and sent to your filter for removal from the water.
It's a fascinating system that we are all too familiar with, we just may have not realized it yet! We have successfully covered the purpose of each of the three basic pieces of pool equipment, and at this point you may be wondering, "I have a heater, where does that fit in?" or "My pool has little heads that pop-up on the floor, what are the purpose of those?" We are working on getting more articles out over time to address more complex systems and pieces of equipment which are often variants of the three basic components of a swimming pool - pump, filter, and sanitizer. For now, I hope you found this article insightful and will continue checking back for new blog posts to help you understand your swimming pool!
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