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14 September 2023

What Size Sand Filter Do I Need?

How To Clean Pool Tile With Vinegar

The size of the sand filter you need for your swimming pool depends on several factors, including the pool’s size, flow rate, and the specific requirements of your filtration system. Sand filters are commonly used for residential pools and are available in various sizes. Here’s how to determine the appropriate size for your pool:

Calculate Pool Gallons: First, you need to calculate the total number of gallons of water in your pool. To do this, measure the pool’s length, width, and average depth (or depth at various points) in feet and use the following formula:

Pool Gallons = Length (ft) × Width (ft) × Average Depth (ft) × 7.48

This formula gives you the approximate number of gallons in your pool.
Determine Desired Flow Rate: The flow rate is the rate at which water circulates through the filter. A common guideline is to have a flow rate of 2 gallons per minute (gpm) per 10,000 gallons of pool water. You can calculate the desired flow rate as follows:

Desired Flow Rate (gpm) = (Pool Gallons / 10,000) × 2 gpm

This gives you the flow rate required for your pool.
Choose the Right Sand Filter: Sand filters are rated by their flow rate capacity, typically in gallons per minute (gpm). Choose a sand filter that can handle your calculated flow rate. It’s a good idea to select a filter with a slightly higher flow rate capacity to ensure efficient filtration.
Check the Manufacturer’s Recommendations: Always refer to the manufacturer’s specifications and recommendations for the sand filter you are considering. Manufacturers provide guidance on the filter’s maximum flow rate capacity, which should match or exceed your pool’s calculated flow rate.

Keep in mind that sand filters come in various sizes, so you’ll want to choose one that aligns with the size of your pool and the required flow rate. Additionally, consider the quality and durability of the filter, as well as any specific features that may be important to you, such as ease of maintenance.

If your pool has special features like waterfalls, fountains, or a spa, you may need a larger filter or a multi-speed pump to accommodate the additional flow requirements.

Lastly, for the best results and to ensure proper filtration, it’s essential to maintain and backwash your sand filter regularly as recommended by the manufacturer and based on the water quality and usage of your pool. Proper maintenance will help your filter operate efficiently and keep your pool water clean and clear.

Pool Service Gilbert In Arizona

Pool Service Gilbert is a family-owned and operated business that has been serving the valley since 2004. We offer reliable and affordable pool services, including repairs, equipment installations and more! Our service area includes Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona. Contact us right here for your upcoming pool service needs.

How to Convert Your Pool to Salt Water

Even though saltwater pools have been around since the 70’s, their popularity has increased rapidly in the last few years. In large part to their decreased cost to maintain. They’re also gentler on your skin, hair, and eyes, and you’ve most likely heard salt water is more healthy than chlorine, also.

Perhaps you’ve been mulling over a saltwater pool conversion for taking advantage of all those benefits. However, what a hassle that conversion would be, right? The conversion process is somewhat simple, so when you’re thinking of doing it yourself, don’t fret.

Why Do a Saltwater Pool Conversion?

Chlorinated pool water can be hard on people due to chemicals called chloramines. These composites are produced when the chlorine in your pool water comes into contact with things such as sweat and urine, and they can be detrimental in two ways.

First, they are not useful for sanitizing the water the way chlorine does, so water cleaning is constrained. Second, they can cause irritability of the eyes, skin, and lungs. Powerful chloramines can accumulate in the air surrounding a pool, particularly indoor pools. When the air is packed with these chloramines, it could even cause coughing or lead to an asthma attack.

Repeated exposure to chlorine might even cause some individuals to develop an allergy or sensitivity to it. And for those that already have a sensitivity to it, swimming in a chlorine pool could cause hives, rashes, and itchy skin outside the simple dryness you might experience from exposure to chlorine.

Should you have respiratory issues, like allergic rhinitis or asthma, you could find your symptoms compounded by regularly swimming in a chlorine pool. When your pool is causing you irritation, a saltwater pool conversion could be just the solution you’re looking for.

On the less extreme side, when you have blonde hair, you’ve most likely have had your hair turn green in a pool disinfected with chlorine. Colored hair can look awesome, however, this most likely isn’t the look you’re striving for. So, what’s the reason it happens? Science!

Similar to a lost penny at the beach turning green, copper in the pool’s water can make your hair green, and higher chlorine levels only worsen it. Chlorine and copper readily bond, coating your hair in green film. Converting to a saltwater pool can lower the probability of green-stained hair.

If you have this problem, make sure to test your pool water for heavy metals. One typical cause of copper in your pool water is using a copper-based algaecide.

Pool Service Gilbert

Pool Service Gilbert is a family-owned and operated business that has been serving the valley since 2004. We offer reliable and affordable pool services, including cleaning, replacement, repairs, equipment installations and more! Our service area includes Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona. Contact us right here for your upcoming pool service needs!

Pros and Cons of a Saltwater Pool

While salt by itself does have minor abilities of being a cleanser, making a saltwater pool is not as easy as dissolving salt in the pool and leaving it alone. Alternatively, a salt chlorine generator machine is going to convert sodium chloride, or common salt, into chlorine. Having said that, a saltwater pool indeed does contain chlorine. Contrary to a conventional chlorinated pool, nevertheless, saltwater pools create a pure form of chlorine that’s transferred in a controlled way to stop irritating byproducts referred to as chloramines. Salt is added directly to the swimming pool’s water. The pool water gets drawn into the generator, in which it passes through a salt cell. Through the cell, metal blades coated with ruthenium or iridium are electrically charged. Following electrolysis, the water that exits the generator is now chlorinated water.

Pros of Saltwater Pools

Little or no chlorine odor
Pool water has a smoother and softer feel
Lower expense for chemicals
No burning or harshness on the skin
More safe to store and work with than chlorine
Salt is typically freely available and easy to locate

Cons of Saltwater Pools

Routine replacement of salt-chlorinator electrode cell
High upfront expense of saltwater chlorine generator
Bulk salt for chlorinator is heavy, hard to store
Routing cleaning of the salt cell
Powered by electricity
Eats away metal in the pool

Benefits of Saltwater Pools

Saltwater pool users love the feel of the water because it’s silky, smooth, and soft. It feels a lot like swimming in a clean, fresh lake or possibly like swimming in the ocean, without the fishy smell and the all the sand. The pleasant feeling continues following the swim, too. Chlorinated pool users know that harsh post-swim feeling well: dried-up skin; burning eyes; oils of their hair stripped. Following a saltwater pool swim, a user’s skin can feel soft and moisturized, not dried out. Devoid of caustic chlorine, swim wear and towels last longer and retain their colors. After the chlorine generator has been installed and the pool water brought up to its quality requirements, ongoing expenses are somewhat low. Bags of 40-lb pool salt cost $5 – $20. In comparison to 40 lbs. of chlorinating tablets costing $250 to $350 annually, this is a considerable cost saving. Following setup, it’s somewhat simple to keep the pools water clean. Unlike chlorine, salt is easy to locate and is budget friendly. A lot of newer chlorine generators are managed by touch-pad panels or by apps from your tablet or phone.

Pool Service Gilbert In Arizona

How To Take Care of A Saltwater Pool

How To Take Care Of A Saltwater Pool

Do you wish you had a saltwater pool? Want to discover more concerning how to take care of a saltwater pool? You have come to the right site! Pool Service Gilbert is a trailblazer in saltwater decontamination and a professional in saltwater pool maintenance.

Maintaining a Saltwater Pool

For maintaining a saltwater pool, you should keep the pools pump, filter, and its skimmer clean and in good operating status. With these pools, you are required to go over the salt chlorinator cell and have it replaced when required. Test routinely for correct water chemistry for maintaining clean, clear pool water.

Saltwater Pool Chemistry Tips

Using a saltwater pool strip for testing, test the water for salt, pH levels, free chlorine, complete alkalinity, stabilizer, and complete hardness. Use a water chemistry calculator online for helping make those alterations and balance your pools water. After severe weather or times in which the load is higher, like at pool parties, make sure to test again to keep your pool’s water chemistry within adequate levels. After you testing your pool, balance as necessary.

6 Common Saltwater Pool Care Concerns

What’s are the differences between a saltwater pool and a conventional chlorinated one?

In a conventional pool, chlorine is added straight to the pool’s water. Progressions in the pool industry have led to a more streamlined and safer option. Saltwater chlorination is natural and a more handy sanitization method. Salt gets dissolved in the pool and the system then turns it into the perfect amount of chlorine for clear, clean, and lavishly soft water.

Is a saltwater pool maintained easier?

Absolutely, a saltwater pool is easier to take care of! There’s no need to buy, store and add chlorine to the pool. Just add salt made for pools and the pool’s salt chlorinator is going to take care of creating chlorine. Whereas all pools require chemicals to keep the pool water clean and clear, saltwater pools are more balanced than conventional chlorinated pools, so they need less chemicals.

Is a saltwater pool less costly to maintain?

Absolutely, saltwater pools have a reduced expense of operation in comparison to a conventional chlorinated pool. This cost savings is because the chlorine is created from salt and there is no need to purchase chlorine. In addition, saltwater pools require less chemicals to keep the water clear and clean.

Is a saltwater pool, well, salty?

Not a bit! In fact, your pool’s level of salinity is about 1/12 of the salinity in the ocean and a drop from a saltwater pool has less salt than found in human tears. Additionally, saltwater is soft and feels really nice on your family and guest’s skin!

How much salt does the system require?

Salt Systems work ideally with roughly thirty-two hundred parts per million (ppm) of salt, which is approximately the comparable to a teaspoon of salt per gallon. When salt levels get outside of this range, differing salt systems provide a way (usually an LED light) to signal homeowners to the need to modify their salt level.

What happens if my saltwater pool is cloudy?

Without regard to pool type, cloudy pool water is usually a sign of a chlorine insufficiency or inadequate circulation and filtration. Make sure to identify the issue by first checking your pool’s chemistry and then adjusting the chemistry as required. In saltwater pools, the salt level may be poor or there might be a problem with the pool’s salt chlorinator. Keep the filter of the pool clean and run the system so that all the water is turned over daily.

Pool Service Gilbert In Arizona

Salt Water Pool Advantages

If you’ve been looking up sanitizing alternatives for your swimming pool, you might have come across saltwater pools vs conventional chlorine pools debate.

Whereas both have their advantages and disadvantages, oftentimes the benefits of saltwater pools are lesser well known than those of conventional pools. Below is a breakdown of some of the reasons that make these pools favorable among residential pool owners.

What is a Saltwater Pool?

First, what exactly is a saltwater pool? If its name has you thinking of a swimming pool filled with ocean water, you’re most likely not alone.

Nevertheless, a saltwater pool is not the same as swimming in the ocean at Pismo Beach; its name comes from the kind of equipment the pool uses to keep its pool water clean and uncontaminated. Instead of adding chlorine to the pool to keep its water chlorinated, you pour in a predetermined amount salt directly into it, stir it up a little and the salt chlorinator is going to then convert it into chlorine.

When you still have the taste of ocean water or images of Catalina Island’s beaches darting through your mind, don’t be concerned. A saltwater pool uses a concentration of salt that is a lot lower than ocean water. Certainly, if you can taste the salt at all, it is going to be mild, nearly saline-like. While ocean water has salt levels of around 35,000 ppm, whereas saltwater pools typically have 3,000-4,000 ppm.

5 Advantages of Saltwater Pools

Now that you have the basics, here are 5 advantages of saltwater pools.

Saltwater pools are more gentle on your body and swimwear

Saltwater pools are more gentle than conventional chlorine pools. If you have ever spent time in a conventionally chlorinated pool, you’ve most likely experienced the red and irritated eyes that typically come along with the enjoyable times. Conventional chlorine pools also add some significant wear and tear on your swimwear. While saltwater swimming pools are more gentle on you, your family and your guests eyes, hair, and swimwear.

There is no sharp chlorine smell

There will be no chlorine smell. Since the chlorine in saltwater pools is created naturally instead of a man-made manner, you will not have the same sharp chlorine smell.

The water is softer

The water is going to be softer. Salt can be utilized as a water softener in your shower in your home, and it has a similar result on your pool’s water. Pool water that is salt-chlorinated is smoother, leaving your skin less dried out than a conventionally chlorinated pool does.

There is no need to store chlorine

No more chlorine storage. The handling and storing of chemicals are dangerous and annoying. Especially when there are younger children or pets in your home, it can be unsafe to store chlorine. Overall, saltwater pools don’t use chlorine in its synthetic form, as the chlorinator is going to convert the salt into chlorine. The exception to this is when your pool’s water balance gets significantly off track. A lot of the time though, the handling and storing of chlorine are not things you are going to be concerned with.

Lower maintenance cost

Decreased chemical maintenance costs. Salt is a lot cheaper to buy than chlorine. Subject to the size of your pool, you could save hundreds of dollars annually in chemical costs with a saltwater system.

What Size Sand Filter Do I Need?

Pool Service Gilbert In Arizona

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How to Convert Your Pool to Salt Water

Why Do a Saltwater Pool Conversion?

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Pros and Cons of a Saltwater Pool

Pros of Saltwater Pools

Cons of Saltwater Pools

Benefits of Saltwater Pools

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How To Take Care of A Saltwater Pool

Maintaining a Saltwater Pool

Saltwater Pool Chemistry Tips

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Salt Water Pool Advantages

What is a Saltwater Pool?

5 Advantages of Saltwater Pools

Saltwater pools are more gentle on your body and swimwear

There is no sharp chlorine smell

The water is softer

There is no need to store chlorine

Lower maintenance cost

Pool Maintenance In Gilbert, AZ

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