[Autum]

I have run 400 feet of black hose on a retaining wall. When I turn the pump on ( not the pool pump) the water goes through the 400 ft. too fast. How can I slow it down so its just a trickle. The water coming out of the hose is very hot to begin with. I need some kind of a pump that moves the water very slow, but won't burn out. Any suggestions.. for my poor mans pool heater?. I see other people with miles of black hoses heating their pool.

Thanks,

Autum

[Dr_Spa]

I assume you're using this to heat your pool water? The speed at which the water is moving through the piping makes little difference. If for instance you pump 100 gallons of water through a minute, and it comes out 1 degree hotter, this is gaining the same amount of heat as pumping 50 gallons a minute and gaining 2 degrees. One difference is in the power consumption of the pump. A larger pump will use more power.

You could put a valve on the system and "throttle" it down. BUT, doing so will cause the pump to work harder and use more electricity.

It just occurred to me... you say the water coming out is "very hot to begin with". Are you trying to cool it down? If so, you want to speed up the water flow.

[Leeboy]

I believe she is wanting to slow the water down that's goiing through the black hose so it has more time for the sun to heat the black hose up before the water goes back into the pool. Any other ideas on a cheap way to heat a pool?

[Dr_Spa]

I believe she is wanting to slow the water down thats goiing through the black hose so it has more time for the sun to heat the black hose up before the water goes back into the pool.

This is a common misconception, that slowing the water flow will allow more heat from the sun to be captured. Yes, the water coming back from the "solar collector" will be hotter. BUT, the amount of heat captured per hour and transferred to the pool water will actually be less. At the same time the sun is heating the water in the pipe, heat in that water is also radiating out of the pipe into the atmosphere. The hotter the water in the pipe is, the MORE heat will be radiating out (and lost).