Portable Pool Vacuum System Components and Cleaning Costs
Getting down to the basics on pool vacuums

A portable pool vacuum system includes a pump, a first tube coupling a suction port of the pump in fluid communication with a main drain or mobile cleaning device which draws water and settled debris from the bottom of the pool, and a skimming device including an entrainment nozzle and a safety tube.

The entrainment nozzle is coupled by a second tube to a coupling device which diverts a small portion of pool return water pumped from an outlet port of the pump. The safety tube extends from above the water line and above the debris trap in the skimmer to the body of the skimmer below the debris trap.

Most of the pool return water is pumped into a rotary distribution valve, various outlets of which are connected to various pool cleaning heads embedded in an inner surface of the pool. A single low-horsepower pump produces simultaneous effective skimming and operation of embedded cleaning heads.

A portable pool vacuum system for a swimming pool, can partially replace hiring a pool cleaning service. While those who live in warmer climes will be able to obtain cleaning services for regular cleaning year-round, while in colder regions, pool cleaners help owners shut down and reopen their pools as the seasons change. Based on four weekly visits, when hiring experienced pool cleaners you can expect a cost of between $75 and $165 per month.

Portable pool vacuums don't adjust the water's chemical balance, but they do help keep pumps and filters running. They scrub and skim when necessary. Their services are often especially needed after weather disturbances that can shower a pool with leaves and debris. The goal for most pool vacuums is to keep all these events under control.

The whole industry of pool vacuums is thriving and the signs are that the consumer robotics market is coming of age, suppliers today unveiled new technology for pool-cleaning robots that independently analyzes the size and shape of any pool allowing them to intelligently map out the fastest, and most efficient cleaning course possible. One water-cleaning robotics leader for nearly a quarter-century, Aqua Products is the first and only company claims that it is the first to make a robotic pool cleaner that learns about and becomes uniquely familiar with any individual pool. Its AquaSmart and Matrix mapping technologies are apparently based on mathematical algorithms that enable the devices to calculate the most effective cleaning patterns and schedules. So, Aqua Products say that as a result they are now able to deliver artificial intelligence below the water line for the most effective, reliable pool maintenance.

Similar to the way the human eye and brain interact to avoid obstacles in your path, infrared sensors transmit signals to the microprocessor brain of the robots to detect objects and level changes, enabling them to focus on cleaning the pool floor, where the majority of debris resides.

Cleaning can be a major problem associated with pools. Manual cleaning is tedious and boring, so there is an interest in automating the task.

For the application of portable pool cleaners many operators use ultrasonic sonars. Based on an analysis of the overall task and performance of the system a strategy for cleaning and navigation is developed.

When the automatic localization of a Kalman filtering technique is proposed: the Kalman filter uses sonar measurements and a dynamic model of the robot to provide estimates of the pose of the pool cleaner. Using this localization method they say that they derive an optimal control strategy for traversal of a pool. The system has been implemented and we are informed also successfully tested for the WEDA B400 pool cleaner.

Robot pool cleaners increase your quality of life by taking away the tedious task of your needing to manually clean your pool instead of using traditional cleaning methods that require pool's filter, hoses, booster pumps, assembly or installation. With portable pool cleaning vacuum robots, you can also benefit from maintenance cost savings of up to 50%. There are no hoses or vacuum poles to mess with, no strangers on your property and it no longer matters if wind blew dirt in the pool or it just rained after the pool was cleaned, because all you have to do is drop a vacuum pool cleaner into the pool and press a button. That's it!

by Steve Evans - March 2009

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