The real cost of a swimming pool: How to calculate your cost per swim

Australia has the world’s highest pool ownership per capita, with more than 1.2 million pools gracing our backyards. If you’re a pool owner who’s not an avid swimmer it might pay to do the sums to see whether you are getting value for money from your pool.

The first big problem? Backyard pools are huge energy consumers and water guzzlers. A typical backyard pool can account for up to 30 per cent of a household’s yearly power bill and for some households, a pool can become the largest consumer of energy in a house.

Some pools use more energy than your washing machine, clothes dryer and dishwasher combined.

Then there’s the maintenance. Attempting to maintain the pool yourself should save you money but depending on how you value your down-time, maintenance could also cost you money, if you factor in the time it takes you to get your water tested, purchase the chemicals and clean the pool/filter.

The annual costs for an average eight metre by four metre backyard pool can be $1400 every year. Here’s the breakdown:

Pump

A 1kW pump, cycles 10 hours per day, seven days a week and can cost $112 a month over summer, and $80 a month in winter. The total cost for the pump alone is $1216 each year. A high energy star-rated variable speed pump could save up to $500 per year, the cost of the pump could outweigh the savings.

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Heating

Heating your pool can cost a bomb – especially if you’re using gas. Solar Heating is about  $100 to $200 each year, electric heating $250 to $750 each year, and gas heating $500 to $1500 each year.

Water Consumption

Water evaporation will vary from location, temperature, humidity and wind, but it’s not uncommon for an uncovered backyard pool to lose up to five millimetres of water per day on average. For an eight by four metre pool that’s more than 160 litres a day!

Maintenance

A typical pool cleaner would cost you about $100 per visit, every four to six weeks plus $200 each year for extra chemicals required. That’s a total of $1400 each year.

When you look at these basic running costs of owning a backyard pool it’s clear that the standard running costs easily mount. Then there are also other things to consider like equipment break down, council and inspection fees and meeting all your compliance rules.

So what’s the price per swim? If you swim in your pool five times over the course of summer, and have average running costs of the pump, solar heating and maintenance, you’re paying a hefty $553.20 per swim. Is a pool really worth it?

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Adam Martelletti is the owner of Pool Removal Perth