Pool Flow Rate - CPO® Math Tutorial

A Tropical Aquatics Educational Program

Things to know about Flow Rate

LEARN HOW TO OPERATE YOUR PUBLIC POOL SPA FACILITY
  • (2) The pool has a volume of 65,000 gallons. The pool filter is dirty from the weekend, and the flow rate is down to 165 GPM.
    What is the actual Turnover Rate?
Flow Rate is expressed in gallons per minute (GPM) or liters per minute (LPM):
  • Flow Rate is measured by a flow meter.
  • A decrease in flow rate is usually caused by some form of obstruction, such as a dirty filter.
Formula for Flow Rate:
  • Flow Rate (FR) = Gallons divided by Turnover Rate (in hours) divided by 60
  • Simplified: The formula is FR = Gallons ÷ TR ÷ 60
Formula for Turnover Rate:
  • Turnover Rate(TR) = Gallons divided by Flow Rate (FR) divided by 60
  • Simplified: The formula is TR = Gallons ÷ FR ÷ 60
Examples:
  • (1) The pool has a volume of 65,000 gallons. The pool has excessive loads on the weekend, and was designed for a 4.2 hour turnover.
    What should the flow rate be?
We will continue to use a series of "plug-and play" boxes as they are applied in the CPO® class. Just plug the correct number as given by the problem a perform the math (play) as indicated.
The formula is FR = Gallons ÷ TR ÷ 60
FR = ÷ ÷ 60 =
The formula is TR = Gallons ÷ FR ÷ 60
TR = ÷ ÷ 60 =

This pool would be out of code compliance.
See the previous section



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