# Swimming Pool Costs



## nearly (Jul 28, 2015)

Hi,
If I was to have my own pool. Not large, more a plunge pool. How much roughly does it cost to maintain it.

I have read a few messages on here saying products your may need. But electricity wise and cleaning wise (chemicals), how much does it roughly equate to per month if you have it running most of the year.

Thanks


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

nearly said:


> Hi,
> If I was to have my own pool. Not large, more a plunge pool. How much roughly does it cost to maintain it.
> 
> I have read a few messages on here saying products your may need. But electricity wise and cleaning wise (chemicals), how much does it roughly equate to per month if you have it running most of the year.
> ...


It´s difficult to answer this because everyone seems to have a different experience. In our case, we have a 7m x 4m pool and I guess we spend about €75 a year on chlorine tablets, PH control, flocculant and water top-ups Our pump is 750 watts and it runs for up to eight hours a day in July and August, hardly at all in winter. There are, of course, other occasional maintenance costs such as test kits, replacement vacuum tubes and cleaning heads, etc, but probably not more than another €50 a year on average. You always have to bear in mind the possibility of more serious problems such as pump failure, new sand for filter, tiles lifting, etc - rare problems but always a possibility. On the whole not a major expense over time in the grand scheme of things, especially for the amount of pleasure a pool gives. As a guide, by the way, a lazy friend on the coast, with a similar size pool, pays €40 a week for a professional maintenance service, including chemicals. between June and September.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

It's hard to say. If I were to ask the same question about your washing machine, how would you work it out?

I buy chemicals as needed, sometimes in the supermarket and sometimes at the pool supply shop. The pump runs for more hours in the summer than the winter. Sometimes it needs to be on for hours on end - after adding certain chemicals or in the autumn on windy days to clear leaves out. Water needs to be topped up, sometimes from my well and sometimes from the mains. All these have different costs and can differ from year to year. I probably spend no more than €100 a year on chemicals for my 10x5m (75 M3 of water) pool, but there are odd additional expenses, like the vacuum hose which cracked last week and an aluminium pole which has cracked plastic joints after 10 years. A few years ago I needed a new pump and I've just fitted new skimmer baskets which had cracked. 

Unless you can use well water, which isn't always advisable depending on the quality, all (I believe) mains water in Spain is metered, so you pay to fill. As for electricity, I have 3-phase electricity and my bills are always high, but couldn't calculate how much of that is down to the pool. 

Offset against running costs are the desirability of having your own private pool, no costs of using another one, easy entertainment when visitors come, added value to the property hence easier resale, and the sheer joy of looking out onto, and using, a beautiful water feature!


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## nearly (Jul 28, 2015)

Thank you for your replies. Its really helpful thank you so much


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Our pump was on for 1 hour twice a day in winter, 2 hours twice a day in summer. For a 9 x5 pool. that's over 14 years, no problems.
Problems such as pump failure, leaks are actulally quite common, not rare, and expensive!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

It is best to be aware that in many areas filling a pool or even topping it up with well or mains water (unless the well is filled via an aquifer) is illegal and you are required to fill a pool with water brought in by truck. Having said that I don't know anyone who abides by this law. It is also worth noting that if your water is metered it can be on a system, like ours, which allows you a certain amount of water every month. Should you exceed this limit you pay dearly. We have filled our pool from our well for the last three years but have still not exceeded our monthly limit. So, our monthly water bill is always €24.


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## theiere (Mar 24, 2015)

The examples above are all pretty much on the button because they use old expensive to run pumps. Rejecting that and moving into the 21st century with an Eco system setup the electricity bill can be cut by 90% so reducing the electricity bill to around €30 for the season. 

Doing it really well reduces some of the chemical usage although most chlorine is lost to the sun's UV.

The carbon footprint for an average 750 watt pump is just over 2 tons of CO2 per season, going the Eco route can reduce this to just 128 Kg.

Reducing CO2 is very relevant as it's causing the Oceans to become more acidic and that will affect fish as soon as 2050.

Ocean Acidification -- National Geographic
Home
Ocean Acidification | Smithsonian Ocean Portal

You don't need expensive to run energy consuming pumps, they actually decrease the quality of the water, increase CO2 levels and put a bigger hole in your wallet.

This is something I specialise in and I apologise if I rant on.


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## nearly (Jul 28, 2015)

No thank you for explaining. I appreciate all feedback and will look into this

Thanks Neil


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

theiere said:


> The examples above are all pretty much on the button because they use old expensive to run pumps. Rejecting that and moving into the 21st century with an Eco system setup the electricity bill can be cut by 90% so reducing the electricity bill to around €30 for the season.
> 
> Doing it really well reduces some of the chemical usage although most chlorine is lost to the sun's UV.
> 
> ...


Maybe you'd be kind enough to post some links to these great pumps?


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## theiere (Mar 24, 2015)

Madliz, there are many to choose from, variable speed pumps are available in pool shops (many are labelled Eco) however they may only just qualify in that area.

I have solutions but they are tailored to each pool as the pools vary so much in their setups it's not sadly a one size fits all, wish it were would make my life easier.

Pool equipment was never made to be efficient, thumping great power consuming pumps will make sure water arrives down even the worst plumbing setups, that makes things even noisier and that another area where I score, the systems are quiet so you can enjoy sitting near the pool pump end. Noise is just another waste of energy.

Sorry but as a bit of a pool nerd and a carer of the environment I can go on a bit.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

I run my pump for 4 hours a day at night and by my calculations, that's €12 a month (ex vat and standing charges). So for 3 to 4 months I can see a small saving with an eco pump but I'm not sold yet. What kind of pump would a regular 10 x 5m in ground pool currently with a 760kW pump require?

I'm intrigued by your "energy consuming pumps...decrease the quality of the water" statement. How exactly does a pump do that?

PS I can go on a bit...please indulge us..


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

> I run my pump for 4 hours a day at night and by my calculations, that's €12 a month (ex vat and standing charges). So for 3 to 4 months I can see a small saving with an eco pump but I'm not sold yet.


I wonder how long it would take to amortise the outlay for a new pump. If the energy savings are 50%, that's €24 over a summer. 

I read this on one site about an eco pump:
" EcoPump runs on just 1/3 kW while starting at less than $700".


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## theiere (Mar 24, 2015)

Sadly we don't pay our electricity bills ex vat and standing charges so I haven't a real idea of how much you pay in Spain?

So I assume you run just June, July, August & September? So yes on a 4 hour pump run you would see a saving but 4 hours is not normal and certainly wouldn't be for a pool used with guests, just a private very low user pool?

The rapid short runs of the standard pool pumps are not the best way to filter as some of the particles brought into the filter get a rough ride so get broken up and then re circulate. Research carried out by a Swedish university showed skin to get broken up and recirculated along with other parts.

Filtering slower improves the filtration considerably so the electricity you do use is more effective. A chef want's a clear consomme, they don't push it through the sieve at 10PSI as it would come out cloudy, same with wine makers and pools.

It is the Industry, and they are trying to impress everyone with "Hi Rate" filters which is counter intuitive. Commercial pools do not try and filter at the rates domestic pool do so it's a vicious circle. Too much power, poor results more work cleaning manually or with another expensive product the pool robot. Even if you have a good clean pool it can be improved and the running costs reduced.

By contrast and because My pool is surrounded by trees because we like it like that, others may not have that issue so can modify the run time but I run 24/7 and it cost me less in electricity to do that than you would spend on 2 hours running your pump.

You can't run too slowly or you loose the skimming action but at night I use 39watts per hour and during the day because of swimmers 52 watts per hour. 

I have a customer with a 12m X 6m who has reduced his pump down to 89 watts still filtering at 12m3/hour so a 10m x 5m around the same as mine possibly a bit more but you could still run for less than 24 hours if you don't have the trees that I have. 

The problem I have is needing to empty the skimmers more frequently because that is where the leaves end up. They used to end up on the bottom where I would find them in the morning having left a clean pool the night before because skimmers only work when the pump is running.

I sold my robot a few seasons back as it's not needed any more, of course I get the odd few leaves maybe 2,3, 4 or 5 that miss the skimmers so I take care of that with a battery powered pool vac in a couple of minutes.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

That all sounds highly desirable. I understand your points perfectly as I have trees around my 10x5 pool, too, and soon I will be clearing leaves from surface, bottom and skimmer baskets several times a day, especially when windy.

I guess I'll have to put one on my 'lottery list' or bear it in mind if my current pump gives up the ghost. :fingerscrossed:


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## theiere (Mar 24, 2015)

Madliz said:


> I wonder how long it would take to amortise the outlay for a new pump. If the energy savings are 50%, that's €24 over a summer.
> 
> I read this on one site about an eco pump:
> " EcoPump runs on just 1/3 kW while starting at less than $700".


Madliz whilst it would still help, I have developed a system to reduce running costs by 90% and the OP was asking about a new install so buying a brilliant system doesn't cost much more than buying a bad one and you will recoup the costs. The normal kind of pump run is about 10 hours in summer so the savings are around €3000 over 10 years enough to pay for the small above ground pool outright.

Also how long does it take to amortise the damage we are doing to the Oceans and fish, crustaceans etc. The Oceans are one of our main CO2 sinks now we have removed most of the forests. If the Oceans pack in so will mankind and 2050 is maybe too far off for some but think that again when your grand children visit.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

The amount of time you need to run your pump depends on the type of system you have. A SWG requires considerably more run time than a sand filter so without knowing what anyone has, you can't possibly say what is 'normal'. One rule of thumb is to rotate the water in your pool once a day which for me is just over 3 .5 hours (private with an hours use every day). I just looked out my window and I'm surrounded by pine trees so I tend to suffer from pine needles rather than leaves. I also saw that my pool was looking sparklingly clear so whilst I'm not in the market for a new pump just yet, running a pump on 39 to 89 watts does sound very impressive so when I do need one I'll give your eco pumps some consideration.


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## theiere (Mar 24, 2015)

Yes Desiato, your point on what I described as normal is spot on, that's why I have to bespoke design rather than off the peg, too many variables.

Pine needles yes fortunately they don't drop so often being evergreen but more of a problem when they get in.

Thanks for your time.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

theiere said:


> Yes Desiato, your point on what I described as normal is spot on, that's why I have to bespoke design rather than off the peg, too many variables.
> 
> Pine needles yes fortunately they don't drop so often being evergreen but more of a problem when they get in.
> 
> Thanks for your time.


You're having a laugh!!!!!!

During the summer I must pick up 20 builder's sacks (1m3 each) of pine needles. I have, perhaps, 15-20 pine trees.

The heat makes them drop a lot faster than if we were in Uk.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> You're having a laugh!!!!!!
> 
> During the summer I must pick up 20 builder's sacks (1m3 each) of pine needles. I have, perhaps, 15-20 pine trees.
> 
> The heat makes them drop a lot faster than if we were in Uk.


I know exactly what you mean! In May we felled the four huge pine trees beside our house and my pool cleaning chores have been made so much easier. And we have loads of firewood for winter (but are missing the shade!).


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## theiere (Mar 24, 2015)

Well of course I wasn't to know that :eyebrows:


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