Pool Equipment on Mallorca: Pump, Sand Filter, and Valves

Most calls to the pool company are not about broken equipment, but about equipment nobody understands: the water runs cloudy, the pump hums, and there is a valve in the equipment room that no one dares to touch. Once you understand your pool equipment on Mallorca, you can skip half of those calls. This post explains the water circuit, the positions of the six-way valve, how long the pump needs to run in an island summer, when the filter sand needs replacing, and what a tradesperson charges for the jobs you would rather not do yourself. The running costs belong to the running and operating costs on Mallorca that many people underestimate when they buy a house.

How the pool water circuit works

Pool equipment is the part of your pool that sits outside the basin: the pump, the filter tank, the six-way valve, the pipework, and the controller. Together they keep the water moving, filter out dirt, and distribute the chemicals. Without this circuit a pool on Mallorca turns within days in July, which is why the equipment is the part you should understand first.

Water leaves the pool through the skimmer and the main drain, flows through the pump's pre-filter basket, gets pushed into the filter tank, seeps through sand or filter glass, and returns through the inlet nozzles. The six-way valve sits on top of or beside the tank and decides which path the water takes inside it.

The pressure gauge on the valve is your most important instrument. Note the pressure right after a backwash - usually between 0.5 and 1.0 bar. If it climbs 0.3 to 0.5 bar above that reading, the filter is full. If it drops well below it, the pump is not getting enough water, usually because of a clogged basket or air in the system.

The six-way valve: what the six positions mean

Most pool owners are wary of the valve. Only one rule really matters: turn the pump off before you move the lever. Switching under pressure destroys the seal beneath the handle, the most common reason a valve ends up dripping in every position.

1. Filter: normal operation. Water runs down through the sand and back into the pool.
2. Backwash: water runs up through the sand from below and flushes dirt out through the waste line. Run it two to three minutes, until the sight glass runs clear.
3. Rinse: run this for 20 to 30 seconds after every backwash, otherwise stirred-up sand ends up back in the pool.
4. Waste: water bypasses the filter and goes straight to the drain. Used for partial water changes and vacuuming up algae sludge.
5. Recirculate: circulates the water without filtering, for example after a shock chlorination.
6. Closed: shuts off the tank, for example while you clean the pump basket and the equipment room sits below the water line.

Backwashing once a week is a good rhythm in season, more often during a Sahara dust event. Each backwash uses 200 to 400 liters of water, though, and municipalities pay closer attention to that during water shortages - see the post on filling your pool during water shortages.

How long does the pump need to run in summer?

How many hours a day does a pool pump need to run on Mallorca?

A rule of thumb: take the water temperature in degrees Celsius and divide by two to get the run time in hours. At 28°C (82°F) in July that is 14 hours a day, at 20°C (68°F) in October it is 10 hours. In winter, 3 to 4 hours are enough to keep the water from sitting still.

Behind this rule is a simple requirement: the entire pool volume should pass through the filter two to three times a day in summer. A 50-cubic-meter pool with a pump that moves 10 cubic meters an hour needs 10 to 15 hours to do that. Spain's Real Decreto 742/2013 requires exactly this turnover for public and community pools and sets reference values such as free chlorine between 0.5 and 2.0 mg/l and turbidity of no more than 5 NTU. Private single-family pools (Type 3B) are exempt from the requirement, but the values are still a useful benchmark for your own pool. You can read the full text at the Boletín Oficial del Estado; the Balearic addition through Decreto 53/1995 is published by the Balearic Government's environmental health service. For a community pool these rules are binding, and worth raising at the owners' meeting.

Split the run time into two or three blocks so the chemicals stay evenly distributed through the day.

What the pump costs in electricity, and when a variable-speed pump pays off

In a household with a pool, the pump is often the single biggest electricity user in summer. A typical 0.75 kW pump running 14 hours in July draws around 10.5 kWh a day. Over a six-month season averaging 11 hours of run time, that adds up to about 1,500 kWh, or roughly 300 EUR at 0.20 EUR per kWh just for circulation.

A variable-speed pump runs at half speed most of the time. Because the power draw of a centrifugal pump falls with the cube of the speed, running at half speed uses only about an eighth of the energy. Manufacturers such as Fluidra or Zodiac quote savings of 60 to 80 percent compared with a fixed-speed pump. Spain's national energy institute IDAE lays out the same physics for variable-speed versus fixed-speed pumps in its guide to energy-saving measures in hydraulic circuits (PDF), and the math for a pool filter works the same way.

The catch is the price. A variable-speed pump costs 700 to 1,400 EUR installed on Mallorca, against 300 to 500 EUR for a simple pump. At 200 to 250 EUR of savings a year, the extra cost pays for itself in three to five years. For a small pool it is barely worth it; for a 60-cubic-meter pool in full sun, it usually is.

These are typical prices from the island. Companies that advertise in German or English tend to charge toward the upper end.

Filter sand or filter glass: when to change it

Quartz sand in the filter lasts 5 to 7 years under Mallorcan conditions. After that, the grains have worn smooth, clump together with lime and sunscreen residue, and stop trapping fine particles. You notice it when the water will not clear even though the chemistry and run time are correct, or when the pressure climbs quickly again after every backwash.

Filter glass lasts 8 to 10 years, filters finer, does not clump, and needs about 20 percent less water for backwashing - a real argument given water prices on the island. A bag costs roughly twice as much, but you only need about 80 percent of the weight the tank specifies for sand.

The changeover takes about two unpleasant hours: the old sand has to come out of the tank with a wet vacuum or a scoop, without breaking the filter laterals at the bottom. A 600 mm tank needs around 100 to 125 kilos of sand. Pool companies on Mallorca charge 200 to 350 EUR for the full changeover including material. What else can go wrong with the filter is covered in the post on pool repair for cracks, rust, and sand filters.

What you can fix yourself, and when to call the pool company

Many faults in the equipment room can be fixed with simple tools:

• Clean the pre-filter basket and grease the lid O-ring with silicone grease if the pump is drawing air
• Replace the lid gasket and sight glass on the six-way valve (seal kit 15 to 30 EUR)
• Replace the whole six-way valve if it drips in several positions. It sits on the tank with a clamp ring or six screws - about half an hour of work
• Replace the timer in the control box (15 to 50 EUR). Turn off the breaker first and photograph the wiring before you disconnect anything
• Replace the pressure gauge if the needle sticks (10 to 20 EUR)
• Replace the pump's mechanical shaft seal if you see a trickle under the motor (20 to 40 EUR; the pump has to come apart for this)

Call an electrician or a pool company if the motor only hums and does not start (usually the capacitor), if the residual-current breaker trips as soon as the pump starts, or if water is coming from the tank itself. The tank is pressurized, and a crack in it is not a job for epoxy.

For a single call-out, many companies charge 60 to 90 EUR as a flat fee plus material, with a travel charge on top outside Palma and Calvià. What a yearly maintenance contract costs is covered in the post on pool costs and pool maintenance on Mallorca.

Conclusion

An hour in the equipment room with a flashlight and this post pays off for years. Once you know your own pool equipment on Mallorca, you spot problems earlier and only call the pool company for jobs that genuinely need expertise. The pump is the biggest lever on running costs: shift its run time to the cheap electricity hours, and switch to a variable-speed pump the next time it needs replacing. Filter sand is due every five to seven years, and the six-way valve lasts as long as you never move it under pressure. Anything dripping or humming in the equipment room belongs in the running costs for your house on Mallorca before the first bill arrives.