Sand filter/pump question

[Steve V]

Thanks Carl! I will look today. I need to order on tonite as I want to open the pool next weekend

[CarlD]

Sorry..I had a typo--I meant to write 150#, not 15#. Good luck with it! Just remember it's better to oversize your filter than your pump, especially sand filters. I can't think of any reason to have more than a 3/4 hp pump for a 10k pool unless you're going for a 2 speed you intend to run on LOW. If I were doing it all over again, I'd get the same pump but get a 250# or 300# sand filter. BTW, my sand is the original sand...sand works better as it gets older.

[Steve V]

Pool has been up and running for about a week. I bought a Hayward 18in #150lb filter. Used sand from Home Depot. It has been running almost a week and water is almost clear. Been keeping the FC above 15 CYA is 30-40 PH 7.4 so far so good. Gotta vaccum it this weekend and temps is already 74! Once I get it right how many hrs a day do I need to filter? Day or night better? Thanks

[CarlD]

The object is to turn over the water at least once a day. That means running 10,000 gallons through your filter. It all depends on how many gallons a minute are being pumped through. But usually 8 hours / day seems to be enough.
Lots of people have different opinions on day vs night. Day, when people are using it, keeps it cleaner when they are using it. Running it at night distributes the chlorine better without UV breaking it down.

[mas985]

This Study, courtesy of Ben, suggests that only 3-4 hours per day is necessary for run time. Time of day didn't have much of an effect but a split run time helped some.

I actually did this last summer and averaged about 4 hours per day (2 hour high speed and 2 hours low speed). This turned out to be less than a 1/2 turnover per day and I didn't even notice a difference in water quality. I am not sure that every one can get away with such short run time but it is worth a try.

[CarlD]

Well, the shortest run you can saves electricity, though with a 2spd you can run at least 3x longer on low than high for less kwhs.

[Steve V]

Thanks for all the help. It is amazing that in 1 week my pool is clear and ready to swim, eventhough the air is not quite warm enough yet. I will let my FC come down to about 5 and run the pump once a day for 6-8 hrs instead of 24hrs non stop.