Outdoor swimming pools - cost considerations. Upkeep vs infill!

lstar337

curiosity101 wrote: »

I'd stop drinking / eating all products that contain water then.
Every manner of creatures poop / pee / any other bodily fluid you can think of has probably been in there are one point or another... then filtered out over time.

Now we have water treatment plants so you can add chemicals and mechanical filtration to that.

Think of the astronauts!

The water 'recycling' that goes on in the space station is practically an art form!

CrazyRed

1.0HP pump = 550W. We run ours 24/7 during the season (you need to keep the water flowing through the filter, skimmer and pool to ensure that algae growth doesn't start) - our season is generally Easter through to mid-October - I normally winterise the pool mid/late October.

MIL pays £20 a month, all year round, for the electricity (bear in mind, for the best part of six months, electricity use is zero on the pool - because it used to have an electric heater, it's got it's own supply and meter). At the end of each year, she's normally in credit to the tune of about £60.

Chemicals : Using the supplier I named, we normally buy one "winterising" kit (£21), 5L of liquid shock (£9.99) and some 200g Multifunction tablets (currently 5kg for £21) every season. One tablet per week = 25 week's use out of a 5kg tub and the rest of the stuff gets used up over the course of the season and in winterising. Bear in mind, though, that the pool stays pretty clean, so the doses of chemicals don't need to be very high. If you have an algae problem, then initially it'll need a darned good "hit" with the liquid shock (sodium hypochlorite 14/15%) which might mean the purchase of the 4x5L set from swimmingpoolchemicals @ £37 to ensure you can get the chlorine levels high enough (needs to be 10ppm+) to ensure the algae is killed initially, then just use the long-life algaecide once every couple of weeks to keep it gone.

Very possible to run the pool for £200-250 per year - cold, naturally. My MIL's been doing so for the last 4 years since she retired (with my help!).

In terms of the comment made re the "green water" I can assure you that there is no need to drain and refill it - you'll do nothing but waste money and, in fact, can make the algae problem worse because pure eau-de-tap is not the same PH level you keep pool water at and algae just loves developing in eau-de-tap that's exposed to sunlight! (Don't ask how I found out - the original pool frame and liner split and we lost the entire 10,000 gallons of pool water. Once we'd rebuilt the frame and fitted a new liner, I had a massive problem getting the algae under control once refilled. I will point out that this was the first time the pool had been drained and refilled since it had been installed in the early 1990's).

Being outdoor, the pool does lose some water through evaporation during the year - if you're on a meter, you'll need to factor in a few 'top ups' of water during the season - I can't help with cost here as we are not metered! As a rule, we need to pop a hose in there, roughly once every two weeks, for an hour or two a time if it's been sunny, to top the pool up to the correct level and prevent the pump running dry or cavitating.

Ballpark electricity/oil costs are very, very difficult for me to give, due to the variation between not only the heating systems, but the cost of the oil and electricity in different areas of the country, but the best guess I can give is as follows:

To heat our pool from ambient, using electricity, would take 4-5 days with the old electric heater on 24 hours a day. On E7 that would work out at around £45-50 a day (I warned you it was expensive!). I know for sure the electricity bills for a season would regularly hit a couple of thousand for the pool meter, so I persuaded the MIL to 'invest' the equivalent of a year's electricity bills in an oil-fired system about 6 years ago.

Now, we just heat the pool for parties or special occasions when we know there will be a lot of people in attendance and using the pool. 700L of oil costs around £350, plus a small amount of electricity to run the boiler. 700L of oil contains approximately 4,200Kwh of energy and, assuming 80% efficiency in the boiler and heat exchanger mechanism, gives 3,360Kwh available for heat in the pool. We are currently still using the 700L of oil that was put in the tank last year, and I'd say there's still 150-200L left - pool's been heated from cold three times this year and was heated from cold 4 times last.

The oil system heats the pool from cold in 2-3 days - a full 48 hours less than the electricity ever did and it is noticeable how much lower the heating bill is for the pool and, indeed, how much warmer the pool feels once it's been heated. We normally get the boiler serviced every other year, on account of the fact that it's only in use for half the year! Standard service is £80-100.

Once heated, the pool stays noticeably (and usably) warm for 24-48 hours with no further heat input required. On sunny days, it's actually better to NOT heat the pool as it makes a swim nice and refreshing and the water does absorb quite a bit of heat from the sun.

This is an outdoor, uncovered, 24x12x4ft deep above-ground pool in the South East.

From the OP's perspective, I'd be inclined to allocate double the above chemical costs for the first season, as the water's going to need some significant treatment and filtering and you'll find it beneficial to keep a small "stock" of chemicals to hand (don't buy too much, though - chlorine - both liquid and solid - loses it's potency if stored for more than a year) but, once done the once will only need 'maintenance' doses of the chemicals (as ours does now) and the costs will be as I have quoted.

Hope this helps not only the OP, but others that have joined the thread with questions.

JimmyTheWig

Thanks again, CrazyRed. Very helpful.

Ivana_Tinkle

We find that as long as we keep the chlorine topped up to the minimum level specified on the pack, we don't get algae growing. When I forget to top up the chlorine and it all turns green, I just stick a bigger than usual dose in and it's clear again in a couple of days. We rarely have the pump going as we're too mean, sorry, moneysaving.

It's very easy to make your own solar heating system (basically a load of black polypipe connected to your pump and laid out in the sun) if you don't want to use an electric heater.

Mallotum_X

If you have ever fancied keeping koi to a good standard the old swimming pools make a great koi pond. The same filtration pretty can usually be used and you don't need the chemicals. But koi are an expensive hobby in all kinds of other ways. I've seen several swimming pool to koi pond conversions and they do normally work well.

nobulljusttruth

Koi is a good one, but goldfish, tench and basic fish are easier.

You could even take up fishing then..... LOL