[notmytarga]

I had a $68K, 42K gal pool put in 4 years ago. "Best" company around. Despite using good equipment at the time I have made some changes, and anticipate others. I consider pool maintenance to be the closest thing I have to using my undergraduate chemistry degree.

My pool does not have a chlorine generator/salt water system. My parents live locally and seem to struggle with a system that tells them to add endless bags of salt - I have given up telling them they are overdoing it. It is SALTY and I read it should be below the taste threshold. Theirs is like brine..... My pool has a Nature 2 system which, as I understand it, is a cartridge you place in an inline feeder at the beginning of the season which uses metallic ions to condition the water and reduce chlorine needs - they suggest a 0.5 ppm chlorine level which is "barely there". I still have an occasional Algae Bloom - but I'm hoping phosphate reduction will forstall that problem.

One improvement that gave great bang for the buck was the $80 chlorine tablet feeder. It taps in before and after the filter, holds a stack of about 10 3" tablets and you adjust the little flow dial to maintain the chlorine where you need it. Much more effective, safe and aesthetic than a floater.

Pumps can be noisy. They also use a substantial amount of electricity. Brand is probabaly less important than type. As noted by others, minimizing the time the pump is on directly reduces that cost. I run mine for 3 hours off season (water less that 60 F) and 6-8 hours during the swim season. The new, low or variable speed pumps are now required by my local code because they are so much more efficient. For 1/4 th the energy and noise the lower speed does a better job filtering. The filters are more effective when they don't have a pressure and flow excess. I would like to upgrade my main pump eventually.

My Polaris cleaner works fine but I have few trees and a Baby Guard screen fence so there is not much stuff in the pool.

You ask about pumps on PPOT - and we're building your pool for you...