Pool Planning Picture - Feedback sought

[skijunkie]

I am getting a new fiberglass pool. My pool will be relatively small (8" x 17" x 5" with approx 3900 gallons of water). The pool is really an exercise pool for my wife and I. We both like to swim regularly and are tired of fighting the crowds at the local gyms. We are installing a swim machine, but that's about the only equipment I have firmly picked out.

I am having trouble determining the size of the normal equipment as most pools are double or triple this size in gallons. My pool will have 2 drains, 1 skimmer, and 3 returns. The equipment pad is about 15 feet from the pool and I am using 2" rigid pipe.
Here is the list of equipment I am interested in having on my pool:
2 speed pump w/ controller
salt chlorinator
cartridge filter
natural gas heater
track based security cover (likely manual, but automatic is not ruled out yet)

I'd appreciate any suggestions on right sizing the equipment for this small pool. I've been reading a lot on these forums and know there are lots of opinions on brands, so I really just looking for sizes (pump, filter, heater, etc). Hayward seems to be really popular with all the pool builders in this area. Most builders I have talked to use their products.

I also worked up a mock up on how I plan to place the pool in my backyard along with some deck modifications and concrete pad. The pool will be partially out of group (less than 18"). It will have a wall about 18" thick to provide a place to sit around the pool. Between the house and the pool will be a bed of smooth small rock/large gravel. Possibly river rock.

Take a look at the picture and please feel free to critique. I am new at this and might be committing a serious blunder in my ignorance with this layout. Let me know if you have any suggestions or improvements.

Mockup image here:
http://home.roadrunner.com/~karnfamily/poolPlans.jpg

Thanks,
Mike

[PoolDoc]

Quick, partial reply:

1. Unless you've got money to burn, try the swim machine you plan to use BEFORE you start your pool. I've seen quite a few installed, but none that were used after the first few months.

2. Unless you're planning to have the 2 speed pump power the swim current, go with a 1/2HP 1 speed. Your pool is too small to ever need the high speed setting on a larger pump, except for a swim current.

PoolDoc

[skijunkie]

Thanks for the quick feedback PoolDoc.

On (1), my wife and I did try out a few swim machines. The only one that really felt like swimming normally was the Fastlane machine by Endless pools. Granted, this was the only one we tried that was not just a jet. The jets are way turbulent and choppy. The Fastlane creates a laminar current using an underwater hydraulic motor and propeller. It is more expensive than a swim jet system, but it generates no bubbles. It looks like there is a smooth powerful river running through your pool. I was lucky enough to find a pool builder who has installed them locally and he took us to a previous install to test it out. It was amazing how natural it was swimming in the current. My wife is a better swimmer than I am (she introduced me to swimming about 6 years ago) and she had trouble keeping up with it just over half speed. We have been contemplating this pool for the last 12 months now so it is not a sudden rash decision.

I do appreciate the advice, I should have mentioned these details in the original post. I would not advise anyone to get any type of swim machine, even this Fastlane machine that I really like, without first testing it out.

On (2)
The swim machine has it's own 5 hp motor located with the pool equipment. It powers the under water propeller using hydraulic fluid. So the pool pump would not be involved with the swim machine.

I am new at this, but I was under the impression that I might need the higher power when vacuuming the pool or to circulate the water faster when shocking/adding chemicals to the pool.
Also I am contemplating the idea of adding solar heating in the future and keeping the gas heater as a secondary heat source. I was thinking the higher power might be needed to get the water on the roof.
I had been thinking of a 3/4 HP 2 speed pump if I can find one. I hear they are rare.
Of course I should have included this information in the first post as well.

Again, I am new at this, so this extra information might not change your 1/2 HP single speed recommendation. I definitely don't have money to throw away, so if I can get by with a smaller single speed pump I can have a simpler controller and save money.

Thanks again for the feedback.
Mike