Should you turn off pool pump while swimming?

Pool safety is, of course, very important, and new pool owners will naturally have many questions initially, not least of which is whether it is safe to swim when the pool pump is running (or not).

It is safe to swim while the pool pump is running, and the best option is to have the filter working while swimming. If you don’t, any bugs or debris on the pool’s surface will not be removed by the skimmers, and you will be swimming with them.

I will discuss some of the reasons why you might want to run the pool pump when you swim so you can decide what is best for your situation.

Do you run the pool pump while swimming?

Floating debris

If you do not run the pool pump while swimming and have not run it for a few hours before, the skimmers will not have been working.

Without the skimmers’ work, floating debris will not be removed from the pool surface, which means bugs, leaves, or other debris will still be floating around while you are swimming.

For that reason alone, I suggest running the pool pump, ideally switching it on 10 minutes before you go in to give the skimmers a chance to work.

Dust filtration

The skimmers remove floating debris when you run the pool pump. Also, when people are swimming and splashing about, any other debris on the bottom, such as dust, would probably be disturbed.

With the pump running, this will (eventually) be picked up and filtered.

Swimmer’s debris

Swimmers will also bring things into the pool with them, such as:

• dirt, dust and sand on their feet
• suntan lotion
• deodorant on their bodies
• hair of course

If you do not run the pool pump, the water filtration and circulation system will not function, and contaminants will likely float on the surface and perhaps settle on other swimmers. When you run the pump, the skimmers will probably remove much of this.

Water features

Remember, if your pool has features such as waterfalls, deck jets, a built-in spa or bubblers, the pump needs to be running for them to function.

The same would be true if you have a resistance swimming system fitted in your pool of course.

If you had to switch them off to go in the pool, there would be no point in having any of these.

What a pain

Most people run a pool pump for at least eight hours during the day so that the filter system can do its work.

During the summer, particularly if you have many children who are constantly in and out of the pool, can you imagine how inconvenient it would be to have to switch off the pool pump every time someone wants to go in?

Public pools

If you think of public swimming pools, their filtration systems run all of the time members of the public use them.

Can you imagine what the water might be like after perhaps 12 hours of constant use without the pool filter running—with school classes in and out, swimming clubs, water aerobics and others swimming? At the end of the day, it may resemble some kind of soup.

Beware of main drains

The one potential danger of swimming when the pool pump is still running is the slight possibility of someone being held by the main drain if swimming underwater over it. This is not an issue in modern pools, as they should have anti-vortex drain covers fitted (also known as anti-entrapment covers). In many states, this is now a requirement under health and safety codes and Federal law.

If your pool does not have one, they can be bought cheaply, and most people who are competent swimmers can dive to the bottom, unscrew the old one and screw on the new one – with a few breaths in between.

They can be purchased on Amazon but of course, you must choose the right one for your main drain – pool main drain anti-votex covers.

Is this true for all pumps?

Can I run Intex pump while swimming? Oddly, it seems Intex recommends that for some of it’s older models of above-ground pool pumps for an Intex pool you do not swim while the pool is running. I can’t find any confirmation of this, or why it might be, but it is something to bear in mind if you have one.

Can you swim in a pool without the pump running?

If the pool pump is functioning and has been running recently, you can swim with the pump off. As stated above, you may be swimming with the odd bug or other debris on the surface, but that may not be a problem for you.

My pump is set to go off at 6 p.m., and we often swim around that time. If it is a time of year when we get lots of leaves and other debris in the pool, I will sometimes manually switch the pump on so the skimmers continue to run. If I don’t have the pump on, I tend to spend half the time in the pool hunting for leaves and other debris to get them out.

If your pool pump is broken, I wouldn’t recommend swimming in the pool for more than a day or two after it last ran. The pool filtration system will not have been used, so the pool water will not have been cleaned. We did that when ours broke a few years ago, and I was waiting for delivery of a new one. I just checked the pool chemistry before swimming.

Should I run my pool pump on high or low when swimming?

If you have a variable speed pump then this is a good question.

I would decide whether to based on how much debris you may be getting in your pool.

• If very little, then run it on low
• If it is fall, or there are many bugs around, then put it on high.
• You may want to also read my article on how long should you run a pool pump for each day.