Quote Originally Posted by Watermom View Post
Carl, in her signature it says an 18 ft, AG.

Nicole, I agree with Carl. Your pump is too big. I have a 24ft AG. Used to have a 3/4 hp pump, but when I had to replace it last summer, bought a 1/2 hp pump based on Al's (Poconos) recommendation. He is our resident pump expert around here.
Whoops, I missed the sig line.

You have approximately 8,000 gallons in your pool. I'm assuming your filter uses between 100 and 150 lbs of sand--with a 1.5hp pump. Much too big.

For your pool you wouldn't use anything bigger than an up-rated 3/4 hp, or a full-rated 1/2 hp pump. You'll save hundreds in electrical bills, too.

Go to our sister-site, PoolSolutions.com and read the tips--search out the tip called the Bigger Pump Scam (or something similar) and it's a really good intro to making choices.

Again, I use a 1 hp full-rated pump with 20,000, and a 200 lb sand filter, but that's because it was the SMALLEST 2 speed pump I could find--and I run it on low speed almost all the time--with the solar panels.
On full speed the pump couldn't have a smaller filter.

All filters work better when their capacity is greater than their pump's output, but for sand filters this is especially true--they just catch the detritus far better and the water is clearer.