Swimming Pool Equipment Guide
Swimming pool equipment such as pool pumps, filters, chlorinators & heaters… these are the most common pieces of equipment that your pool needs to run. Understanding what job each one does, how they work together, the basic maintenance of each, as well as some examples of the products we use will help you not only keep your pool in good condition, it can also help you reduce your operating costs.
Quick operation overview.
The pool pump pulls water in from the pool and then pushes it through the filter.
The filter then, removes the fine dust, dirt and organic material by trapping it inside. It is then returned to the pool, most often through the chlorinator cell which sanitises the water on the way back to the pool.*
If a pool heating system such as solar or a heat pump is installed the water is pushed through these before going through a chlorinator, or chlorine dosing system.
*due the corrosive nature of chlorine, the water is chlorinated as the last step in the system as to not unnecessarily damage equipment.
Pool Pumps.
Purchasing a quality pool pump is arguably the most important piece of equipment in your pool filtration system. With different sizes, speeds & power options, we always suggest consulting a professional to help with matching the best fit with your system.
There are single speed pumps that operate as the name suggests, at a single speed regardless of the application. Multi speed pumps have 3 or 4 fixed speeds for different operations e.g. slow, medium, high.
Variable Speed Pool Pumps such as the Astral Viron XT are able to be fine tuned to the precise speed (rpm) required to move your pool water through your filtration system. These pumps can operate at the best speed for the optimum flow rate & pressure for each application such as general filtration (low speeds), or short periods of higher speeds when backwashing & manual vacuuming.
READ OUR VARIABLE SPEED POOL PUMP ARTICLE HERE
Pool Filters.
Your pool water needs to filter out fine particles of dirt, dust, algae & bacteria that are present in all pool water. There are 2 main types of filters with variations of each.
The most common is a media filter such as an Astral Viron CA & FG Series are commonly known as a sand filters. The ‘media’ can be sand, other filtration media or glass, with glass providing the best filtration. It is also the most environmentally friendly & has the longest lifespan of all the media types. Regular cleaning of the media is done via backwashing, which is essentially revising the water flow through the filter, to push all the debris out to waste.
Cartridge filters including the Astral Viron CL use a durable paper like material to allow water to flow through whilst catching the fine particles in the folds. These require regular cleaning, usually once a month, by hosing out. then a quarterly deep clean.
READ MORE ABOUT FILTER MAINTENANCE HERE
Saltwater Chlorinators.
A saltwater chlorinator like the Astral Viron & Viron Equilibrium create chlorine by using an electrical charge to ‘split’ the Salt (Sodium Chloride) into Sodium and Chlorine.
This freshly chlorinated water is circulated into the pool so it’s can kill bacteria, viruses and prevent algae growth in the pool water & surface.
This is a closed loop system which only requires you to add more salt after fresh water is added.
READ MORE ABOUT HOW SALTWATER CHLORINATORS WORK HERE
Pool Heating.
Solar pool heating is the most common but not the most reliable method, pool heat pumps are becoming a popular choice for new installs, and Gas pool heating is used less frequently, although it is the most effective way to heat the pool all year round.
Heat pump are an ideal alternative to solar for extending the swimming season a few extra months on either side of summer because they rely on ambient air temperature, which is much more predictable than sunlight, making it much easier to maintain a consistent pool temperature throughout the swimming season.
Pool covers are essential in retaining any heat in the pool water as well as reducing water loss through evaporation.
READ MORE ABOUT HEATING OPTIONS HERE
For all of these pieces of equipment, there are multiple factors that determine which should be used in each situation. For example, just because you have a variable speed pump set to ‘low’, doesn’t mean you can put it on a small filter.
When pumps first start up, the pressure they exert could be more than the filter can handle and crack/damage the unmatched equipment.
Saltwater chlorinators have production/hour rates that are suited to pool sizes, if you undersize your equipment you may not be able to sanitise your pool water sufficiently.
We have experts in our equipment products to ensure that they’re matching your existing equipment for the proper filtration & sanitation of your pool water for years to come.
