With any type of swimming pool, whether it’s above ground or below ground, you’ll need to make sure that safety is enforced. Swimming pool safety is essential with children especially, along with those who can’t swim. With accidental drowning rates on the rise, you should always make sure that you know a lot about safety - to protect those who swim at your pool.
The most important area of safety with a swimming pool is to make sure that children can’t get into the pool if you aren’t around. The easiest way to do this is to put a fence around your swimming pool, and make sure that the gate is locked at all times. Little kids may be drawn to the water, and they can easily fall in and drowned if they aren’t watched. Hundreds of little kids die in the United States alone by drowning, simply because they had access to a swimming pool. Most of these deaths could have easily been avoided if the swimming pool owner used a fence around his pool.
When you open your pool up for the summer, you should also make sure that you have plenty of safety equipment nearby. If you have little kids of your own that you know can’t swim, you should always keep them within an arm’s length of you. If you are going to be taking them into the water, you should use a waist belt or safety jacket with them, to ensure that they stay afloat. Those of you who have an in ground pool probably have a kiddie area where the water isn’t deep. This is perfect for teaching little kids to swim, as they can stay in this area until they get comfortable in the water.
Anytime your swimming pool is open, you should make sure that there is always someone around who can swim. If you let friends use the pool that you know can’t swim, there is always the risk of accidental drowning. Even though it may not be the intention, it can easily happen in just a few seconds. Swimming is a lot of fun and great exercise, although it can be very deadly if someone gets in the water that can’t swim.
If you have an above ground swimming pool, you won’t need to have a fence around the pool, unless you want a privacy fence. Above ground pools require a ladder or deck, which makes it hard for little kids to get into. On the other hand, some kids who can climb up the ladder may not know how to swim. If you have kids in your house or kids who use your pool that you know can’t swim, you should always make sure that they understand not to go near the pool unless you are around.
If you enforce swimming pool safety in your home, it will go a long way. Everyone loves to swim and enjoy the water, especially on hot days. A swimming pool can provide a lot of fun for the entire family, although you should make safety your first concern. You can never get too much safety, especially in the event of saving lives. Before you let someone use your swimming pool, you should make sure that they understand the safety aspects of swimming. Never allow alcohol around your pool either, as it can easily affect someone’s ability to swim. If you enforce safety and make sure that those who use your pool have safety in mind - you’ll go a long way in protecting those you love from serious injury or accidental drowning.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Things To Know About Swimming Pools
In the warmer areas of North America, swimming pools are very popular. They provide great fun and exercise, along with plenty of entertainment for your entire family. When you decide to buy a swimming pool, you’ll have two options to choose from - in ground pools or above ground pools. Both types are different, in appearance and what they have to offer you.
Above ground swimming pools are the most affordable, as the prices range from $500.00 - $7,000.00. Above ground pools are also easier to install, and even portable. Normally, you can have this type of pool installed and ready for use in a few hours. You can self install them if you wish, which will save you money. If you have the money to spare, you can always have a professional install it to ensure that everything is done correctly.
Pools that are in the ground cost a lot more. The prices for an in ground swimming pool can reach as high as $50,000.00, depending on the size of the pool, the design, and the materials that are used. The most expensive type of in ground pool is concrete, which is custom poured to virtually any shape you can imagine.
You can also get a heater to help control the temperature of the water in the pool. You can get a standard type of heater or solar heater. If you have a solar heater in mind, you should make sure that your pool has been placed in a location where it will receive a lot of sun. If you use a solar powered heater but don’t place your pool in the sun, it’ll prove to be a waste of money.
To protect yourself in the long run, you should always refer to the zoning laws for your area regarding a swimming pool or a deck. This way, you’ll know what the laws are regarding your swimming pool. Once you know what the laws and regulations are, you should always do anything you can to ensure that you meet the requirements and that your pool is within the guidelines.
Even though heat and hot summer days are the main reasons why most want a pool, there are other benefits as well. Swimming is one of the best exercises you can do for your body, so a pool will offer you a lot of health benefits. Keep in mind that unless you are using a heater to heat your pool, you’ll only be able to use it during the summer. If you choose to use a heater however, you can extend summer and get a lot more enjoyment from your swimming pool.
Once you have bought your pool and have everything going, it can cost you quite a bit to keep everything going. Pools need to be maintained, which can tend to be expensive. You can do this yourself or hire a professional, although either way will cost money. The equipment you’ll need and the chemicals are expensive, and you should know that up front before you make your purchase.
All in all, swimming pools are great for your property. Whether it’s an above ground swimming pool or in ground pool, your family will love it. You’ll have somewhere to go on hot days together, to relax and enjoy the cool water. Once you have a swimming pool you won’t have to use the local pool anymore - and you won’t have to deal with the crowds or long lines anymore.
Above ground swimming pools are the most affordable, as the prices range from $500.00 - $7,000.00. Above ground pools are also easier to install, and even portable. Normally, you can have this type of pool installed and ready for use in a few hours. You can self install them if you wish, which will save you money. If you have the money to spare, you can always have a professional install it to ensure that everything is done correctly.
Pools that are in the ground cost a lot more. The prices for an in ground swimming pool can reach as high as $50,000.00, depending on the size of the pool, the design, and the materials that are used. The most expensive type of in ground pool is concrete, which is custom poured to virtually any shape you can imagine.
You can also get a heater to help control the temperature of the water in the pool. You can get a standard type of heater or solar heater. If you have a solar heater in mind, you should make sure that your pool has been placed in a location where it will receive a lot of sun. If you use a solar powered heater but don’t place your pool in the sun, it’ll prove to be a waste of money.
To protect yourself in the long run, you should always refer to the zoning laws for your area regarding a swimming pool or a deck. This way, you’ll know what the laws are regarding your swimming pool. Once you know what the laws and regulations are, you should always do anything you can to ensure that you meet the requirements and that your pool is within the guidelines.
Even though heat and hot summer days are the main reasons why most want a pool, there are other benefits as well. Swimming is one of the best exercises you can do for your body, so a pool will offer you a lot of health benefits. Keep in mind that unless you are using a heater to heat your pool, you’ll only be able to use it during the summer. If you choose to use a heater however, you can extend summer and get a lot more enjoyment from your swimming pool.
Once you have bought your pool and have everything going, it can cost you quite a bit to keep everything going. Pools need to be maintained, which can tend to be expensive. You can do this yourself or hire a professional, although either way will cost money. The equipment you’ll need and the chemicals are expensive, and you should know that up front before you make your purchase.
All in all, swimming pools are great for your property. Whether it’s an above ground swimming pool or in ground pool, your family will love it. You’ll have somewhere to go on hot days together, to relax and enjoy the cool water. Once you have a swimming pool you won’t have to use the local pool anymore - and you won’t have to deal with the crowds or long lines anymore.
Swimming Pool Waterfalls
A lot of swimming pools these days are now featuring waterfalls along the edges to create a much more enticing visual appeal. These types of waterfalls are built so the water falls down into the swimming pool, creating a continuous and never ending water flow with the pool. Sometimes, there are small bulbs placed around the pool, helping to give the water a glittery effect once the water from the waterfall makes contact with the water in the pool.
Swimming pools that feature waterfalls are thought of as being more of a status symbol. Normally, waterfalls can be found in the bigger hotels and resorts, and sometimes in big mansions if the owners can afford them. There are other locations, such as popular water attractions and theme parks that have them as well.
Waterfalls also provide a great attraction for little kids, as they like to play in the water as it goes up and over their heads - then comes down on top of them. Depending on the size of the swimming pool, there can be several waterfalls attached. Most often times, swimming pools that have multiple waterfalls can be found with exquisite resorts and the most popular of water parks.
These days however, waterfalls are becoming more and more affordable, and can be found with many private swimming pools. You can also find smaller swimming pools that have smaller waterfalls constructed along the walls of the pool. Even though they don’t produce a wide arc, they do create a splash effect that’s simply amazing to watch.
To use waterfall, you’ll first need a swimming pool. The easiest way to construct a waterfall is when your pool is being built, so it can be built into the pool. You must also make sure that the water going into the waterfall is clean. You’ll also need to treat and clean the water going into the waterfall on a regular basis, as it can easily build up moss and algae if you don’t.
There are some waterfall models that will allow warm water to flow through them. Keep in mind, warm water is used more for health than aesthetic appeal. If you are using your waterfall for swimming, you obviously wouldn’t want to use warm water. On the other hand, if it’s just for show or occasional use, then warm water waterfalls may be something of interest to you.
Although they are great to look at and watch, a pool waterfall can cost you a lot of money. If you have the waterfall constructed at the same time you have your pool built, you can help save yourself a lot of money. If you’ve thought about getting a waterfall - you should always plan things ahead and try to save yourself as much money as possible.
Swimming pools that feature waterfalls are thought of as being more of a status symbol. Normally, waterfalls can be found in the bigger hotels and resorts, and sometimes in big mansions if the owners can afford them. There are other locations, such as popular water attractions and theme parks that have them as well.
Waterfalls also provide a great attraction for little kids, as they like to play in the water as it goes up and over their heads - then comes down on top of them. Depending on the size of the swimming pool, there can be several waterfalls attached. Most often times, swimming pools that have multiple waterfalls can be found with exquisite resorts and the most popular of water parks.
These days however, waterfalls are becoming more and more affordable, and can be found with many private swimming pools. You can also find smaller swimming pools that have smaller waterfalls constructed along the walls of the pool. Even though they don’t produce a wide arc, they do create a splash effect that’s simply amazing to watch.
To use waterfall, you’ll first need a swimming pool. The easiest way to construct a waterfall is when your pool is being built, so it can be built into the pool. You must also make sure that the water going into the waterfall is clean. You’ll also need to treat and clean the water going into the waterfall on a regular basis, as it can easily build up moss and algae if you don’t.
There are some waterfall models that will allow warm water to flow through them. Keep in mind, warm water is used more for health than aesthetic appeal. If you are using your waterfall for swimming, you obviously wouldn’t want to use warm water. On the other hand, if it’s just for show or occasional use, then warm water waterfalls may be something of interest to you.
Although they are great to look at and watch, a pool waterfall can cost you a lot of money. If you have the waterfall constructed at the same time you have your pool built, you can help save yourself a lot of money. If you’ve thought about getting a waterfall - you should always plan things ahead and try to save yourself as much money as possible.
Swimming Pool Supplies For Cleaning
Keeping your swimming pool nice and clean is easier than ever these days due to the ever increasing amount of quality cleaning accessories. There are many tools to choose from, including skimmers, brushes, and vacuum heads. These tools make pool maintenance easier than ever, meaning that you can spend more time swimming and less time cleaning.
The more specialized tools that are used to clean swimming pools include leaf skimmers, leaf rakes, brushes, corner brushes, pool sweeps, grids and cartridges for the filter, motors and pumps, pool filters, and many more. Most of these accessories are a must have, especially for those who have trees around their pool. Leafs in the water can be very annoying and distracting, and should be removed on a frequent basis.
The biggest aspect to keeping your pool nice and clean is to make sure that the care of your water is always up to date. There are many water care products that you can buy, including balancing chemicals, sanitizes, chemicals to treat algae, stain treatment products, water testing kits, and saltwater systems. Normally, chlorine is used as a sanitizer, as it helps to get rid of and prevent any organic material that exists in the water.
By using chlorine in your pool, you will greatly reduce the load that organic material puts on the filter. The regular maintenance of your pH balance and the right levels of alkalinity are also very important to keeping your pool clean. You should also make sure that you check your calcium as well. The pump that you use is also important, as it will prevent the waste of energy. To make things easier on yourself, you can get an automatic pool cleaner that will do just about everything for you.
To get the right amount of chlorine feed, you’ll need to use hand feeding or tablet feeding. This will ensure that you get the right amount of chlorine in the water. Chlorine is also important for protecting skin, although you should try not to swallow water that has chlorine in it. There are saltwater chlorine generators out there as well, which are one of the most popular ways to get the right amount of chlorine in your water.
As long you use the proper cleaning supplies and products with your pool, you’ll be able to enjoy fresh and clean water whenever you decide to go swimming. Keeping your water clean is also healthy for your skin, and anyone else who gets in your pool. You should always make sure that you have cleaning supplies on hand, and check your water on a frequent basis. You can get a pool testing kit for a little of nothing - which will more than pay for itself when you decide to check your water.
The more specialized tools that are used to clean swimming pools include leaf skimmers, leaf rakes, brushes, corner brushes, pool sweeps, grids and cartridges for the filter, motors and pumps, pool filters, and many more. Most of these accessories are a must have, especially for those who have trees around their pool. Leafs in the water can be very annoying and distracting, and should be removed on a frequent basis.
The biggest aspect to keeping your pool nice and clean is to make sure that the care of your water is always up to date. There are many water care products that you can buy, including balancing chemicals, sanitizes, chemicals to treat algae, stain treatment products, water testing kits, and saltwater systems. Normally, chlorine is used as a sanitizer, as it helps to get rid of and prevent any organic material that exists in the water.
By using chlorine in your pool, you will greatly reduce the load that organic material puts on the filter. The regular maintenance of your pH balance and the right levels of alkalinity are also very important to keeping your pool clean. You should also make sure that you check your calcium as well. The pump that you use is also important, as it will prevent the waste of energy. To make things easier on yourself, you can get an automatic pool cleaner that will do just about everything for you.
To get the right amount of chlorine feed, you’ll need to use hand feeding or tablet feeding. This will ensure that you get the right amount of chlorine in the water. Chlorine is also important for protecting skin, although you should try not to swallow water that has chlorine in it. There are saltwater chlorine generators out there as well, which are one of the most popular ways to get the right amount of chlorine in your water.
As long you use the proper cleaning supplies and products with your pool, you’ll be able to enjoy fresh and clean water whenever you decide to go swimming. Keeping your water clean is also healthy for your skin, and anyone else who gets in your pool. You should always make sure that you have cleaning supplies on hand, and check your water on a frequent basis. You can get a pool testing kit for a little of nothing - which will more than pay for itself when you decide to check your water.
Enjoying Your Pool Year Round
The beauty and relaxation provided by a swimming pool is nothing short of spectacular. On a hot day, a pool can be a blessing. On the other hand, a swimming pool can also be a headache if it isn’t cared for properly. Swimming pools require a lot of maintenance, including time and money. No matter what type of pool you have, you’ll need to perform regular maintenance on it.
By owning a swimming pool, you assume the task of keeping your pool clean and safe for yourself and anyone who swims in it. Maintaining your pool doesn’t have to be a hard task or consume a lot of time, if you know what you are doing. If you follow the advice of a professional and perform regular maintenance on your pool, you’ll keep it healthy year round.
To put it bluntly, you should check on your chemical balance from time to time, and make sure that the water is safe for swimming. You’ll need to ensure that you keep debris out of your pool, and that the water remains healthy. If you filter your water on a frequent basis, you can keep the chemicals moving about and keep the water safe for swimming.
The weather outside and how often you use your pool will greatly contribute to the condition of your water. If you don’t have your chemicals balanced properly, the sun can quickly turn your water to a green, musty color. If you live in an area that is known for hot weather, you’ll need to make sure that you keep your chemicals properly balanced at all times.
A swimming pool will naturally attract leaves, insects, dust, hair, and other forms of debris. No matter what you do about it, you can never prevent things from getting in your water. If you don’t clean your pool on a regular basis, the pollutants that get in the water can lead to bacteria and algae, which will quickly destroy your water. If you sanitize and clean your pool on a regular basis, you’ll help to keep it clean and free from bacteria and algae buildup.
If you don’t have the time to clean your pool yourself, you can always leave it to a professional. Professional pool cleaners don’t come cheap, although they will clean your water and your pool, and ensure that your chemicals are properly balanced. You can schedule a time for a cleaner to do his job, normally once a week or so. Once you have started using a professional, you may find his services great and never want to go back to cleaning your pool yourself. With the help of a professional - you can rest assured that your pool will stay clean year round.
By owning a swimming pool, you assume the task of keeping your pool clean and safe for yourself and anyone who swims in it. Maintaining your pool doesn’t have to be a hard task or consume a lot of time, if you know what you are doing. If you follow the advice of a professional and perform regular maintenance on your pool, you’ll keep it healthy year round.
To put it bluntly, you should check on your chemical balance from time to time, and make sure that the water is safe for swimming. You’ll need to ensure that you keep debris out of your pool, and that the water remains healthy. If you filter your water on a frequent basis, you can keep the chemicals moving about and keep the water safe for swimming.
The weather outside and how often you use your pool will greatly contribute to the condition of your water. If you don’t have your chemicals balanced properly, the sun can quickly turn your water to a green, musty color. If you live in an area that is known for hot weather, you’ll need to make sure that you keep your chemicals properly balanced at all times.
A swimming pool will naturally attract leaves, insects, dust, hair, and other forms of debris. No matter what you do about it, you can never prevent things from getting in your water. If you don’t clean your pool on a regular basis, the pollutants that get in the water can lead to bacteria and algae, which will quickly destroy your water. If you sanitize and clean your pool on a regular basis, you’ll help to keep it clean and free from bacteria and algae buildup.
If you don’t have the time to clean your pool yourself, you can always leave it to a professional. Professional pool cleaners don’t come cheap, although they will clean your water and your pool, and ensure that your chemicals are properly balanced. You can schedule a time for a cleaner to do his job, normally once a week or so. Once you have started using a professional, you may find his services great and never want to go back to cleaning your pool yourself. With the help of a professional - you can rest assured that your pool will stay clean year round.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
All About Swimming Pool Heaters
To extend the swimming season after summer has come and gone, many people are turning to swimming pool heaters. A heater is great to have, especially with colder days. If you’ve thought about buying a heater for your swimming pool, there are probably a lot of things that you’ve found yourself wondering.
When using a pool heater, you can adjust the temperature of your pool water to virtually any level that you are comfortable with. The recommended temperature for a pool is 78 degrees, although most people prefer to have their water just a bit warmer, around 80 degrees. The choice is up to you, as you can’t really go wrong with either of the two.
During the year, the sun can only get your pool water so hot for a somewhat brief period of time. When summer ends and things start to cool off, your heater can help you make swimming last longer. If you live in the north, you can actually double your swimming season. Those living in warmer climates, such as Arizona and California can actually triple the amount of swimming by using a heater with their pool.
Even though you may be using a swimming pool heater, you should still invest in a swimming pool cover as well. A cover can help to protect against loss of heat from the pool, holding the heat of water inside the pool instead of letting it out. The fact is, a good cover that has plenty of insulation can actually reduce the amount of heat loss you experience with your water.
There are a few different types of heaters available, although gas fired heaters running off LP gas seem to be the most common. Heaters such as this are easily the least expensive to buy, and also the cheapest to run over time. Oil is another way to heat your pool, and it is common in areas that you are unable to buy gas fired heaters. Other pools choose to run off electricity. Electricity is a great way to heat your pool, although it can easily be the most expensive to run and take the most amount of time to properly maintain.
Last but not least, there’s the solar pool heater. Solar heaters may sound like the ideal way to heat a pool for some, simply because it uses the sun to heat, helping to save money. Even though it may sound like the ideal way to heat a pool, it actually has quite a few disadvantages when you compare it to other types of heaters. You’ll discover one flaw when you go to purchase one - you’ll see that they cost nearly half the amount of your swimming pool!
Even though solar powered heaters sound the best, they truly aren’t. To get the most out of a solar powered heater you’ll need to have large electric pump, which can cost you quite a bit of money. The pump delivers the water from your pool to the solar panels, which will in turn heat up the water. Once you have finished setting up a solar powered heater, you’ll have invested thousands in it - which makes it something you should really try to avoid.
In the world of swimming pool heaters, gas fired heaters remain the best and most cost efficient ways to heat a swimming pool. These heaters can be found locally, or on the Internet. They won’t cost you a lot of money to purchase, and they are very user friendly. Even if you are new to pool heaters - you won’t have any trouble using your new gas fired pool heater.
When using a pool heater, you can adjust the temperature of your pool water to virtually any level that you are comfortable with. The recommended temperature for a pool is 78 degrees, although most people prefer to have their water just a bit warmer, around 80 degrees. The choice is up to you, as you can’t really go wrong with either of the two.
During the year, the sun can only get your pool water so hot for a somewhat brief period of time. When summer ends and things start to cool off, your heater can help you make swimming last longer. If you live in the north, you can actually double your swimming season. Those living in warmer climates, such as Arizona and California can actually triple the amount of swimming by using a heater with their pool.
Even though you may be using a swimming pool heater, you should still invest in a swimming pool cover as well. A cover can help to protect against loss of heat from the pool, holding the heat of water inside the pool instead of letting it out. The fact is, a good cover that has plenty of insulation can actually reduce the amount of heat loss you experience with your water.
There are a few different types of heaters available, although gas fired heaters running off LP gas seem to be the most common. Heaters such as this are easily the least expensive to buy, and also the cheapest to run over time. Oil is another way to heat your pool, and it is common in areas that you are unable to buy gas fired heaters. Other pools choose to run off electricity. Electricity is a great way to heat your pool, although it can easily be the most expensive to run and take the most amount of time to properly maintain.
Last but not least, there’s the solar pool heater. Solar heaters may sound like the ideal way to heat a pool for some, simply because it uses the sun to heat, helping to save money. Even though it may sound like the ideal way to heat a pool, it actually has quite a few disadvantages when you compare it to other types of heaters. You’ll discover one flaw when you go to purchase one - you’ll see that they cost nearly half the amount of your swimming pool!
Even though solar powered heaters sound the best, they truly aren’t. To get the most out of a solar powered heater you’ll need to have large electric pump, which can cost you quite a bit of money. The pump delivers the water from your pool to the solar panels, which will in turn heat up the water. Once you have finished setting up a solar powered heater, you’ll have invested thousands in it - which makes it something you should really try to avoid.
In the world of swimming pool heaters, gas fired heaters remain the best and most cost efficient ways to heat a swimming pool. These heaters can be found locally, or on the Internet. They won’t cost you a lot of money to purchase, and they are very user friendly. Even if you are new to pool heaters - you won’t have any trouble using your new gas fired pool heater.
Tips For Swimming Pool Covers
Covers for your swimming pool are available in an array of different colors, sizes, shapes, and purposes. To heat your pool and keep it protected at the same time, you can get a solar cover. If safety is your biggest concern, you can get safety covers that cover your pool and keep people and animals out of it as well. For both above ground pools and in ground pools, you can always find a cover to keep your pool protected from people, animals, and even the harsh weather of winter.
When looking for a cover for your swimming pool, there are a few things that you should keep in mind. The first thing to do, is to look for a cover that is strong and sturdy. The cover you select should keep your pool clean from debris, but also provide safety for people who accidentally step out on to it. The cover should be strong enough to prevent people from drowning, and also sturdy enough to keep debris and other things from getting access to the water.
You’ll also need to make sure that the cover you select is acceptable with both local and state regulations. Even though the laws and regulations vary, there are some areas that require a certain type or size cover. If you check with local police force, they should be able to tell you whether or not the cover you are using is acceptable with the regulations provided for your area. You should always check before you buy a cover, in the event that what you are interested in isn’t accepted.
Before you buy your cover, you should always ensure that it comes with a warranty. Most swimming pool covers include a warranty of 2 years or more. The cover that you buy should also include a warranty that covers all types of defects. You don’t want to buy a cover that isn’t warrantied, as you only want to buy a cover for your pool that you can trust - from a company that you know stands behind what they sell.
Before buying, you also want to be sure that your cover offers a good overlap length, by buying a size that is a bit larger than the dimensions of your pool. Doing so will give you more than enough room to anchor your cover down to the swimming pool and not have to worry about not having enough pool cover. You can stretch your swimming pool cover out over your pool, and still have plenty of room left to make sure that it fits tight.
When you buy the cover for your swimming pool, always make sure that it includes everything you need to begin using it immediately. Depending on the type you select, you will get either straps or anchors. You should always make sure that there was no spillage with the cover, and everything you need is inside. The last thing you want is to buy a swimming pool cover that is missing vital components that you need to use the cover.
Swimming pool covers are essential to keeping your pool safe and clean, and should always be used if you own a swimming pool. If you buy a cover that is good quality and good material, it should last you for several years. You can find swimming pool covers at your local supply store, or in any department store that sells pool gear. Always make sure that you read the instructions and other related material before you buy, to make sure that the cover you are interested in will work with your swimming pool.
When looking for a cover for your swimming pool, there are a few things that you should keep in mind. The first thing to do, is to look for a cover that is strong and sturdy. The cover you select should keep your pool clean from debris, but also provide safety for people who accidentally step out on to it. The cover should be strong enough to prevent people from drowning, and also sturdy enough to keep debris and other things from getting access to the water.
You’ll also need to make sure that the cover you select is acceptable with both local and state regulations. Even though the laws and regulations vary, there are some areas that require a certain type or size cover. If you check with local police force, they should be able to tell you whether or not the cover you are using is acceptable with the regulations provided for your area. You should always check before you buy a cover, in the event that what you are interested in isn’t accepted.
Before you buy your cover, you should always ensure that it comes with a warranty. Most swimming pool covers include a warranty of 2 years or more. The cover that you buy should also include a warranty that covers all types of defects. You don’t want to buy a cover that isn’t warrantied, as you only want to buy a cover for your pool that you can trust - from a company that you know stands behind what they sell.
Before buying, you also want to be sure that your cover offers a good overlap length, by buying a size that is a bit larger than the dimensions of your pool. Doing so will give you more than enough room to anchor your cover down to the swimming pool and not have to worry about not having enough pool cover. You can stretch your swimming pool cover out over your pool, and still have plenty of room left to make sure that it fits tight.
When you buy the cover for your swimming pool, always make sure that it includes everything you need to begin using it immediately. Depending on the type you select, you will get either straps or anchors. You should always make sure that there was no spillage with the cover, and everything you need is inside. The last thing you want is to buy a swimming pool cover that is missing vital components that you need to use the cover.
Swimming pool covers are essential to keeping your pool safe and clean, and should always be used if you own a swimming pool. If you buy a cover that is good quality and good material, it should last you for several years. You can find swimming pool covers at your local supply store, or in any department store that sells pool gear. Always make sure that you read the instructions and other related material before you buy, to make sure that the cover you are interested in will work with your swimming pool.
In Ground Pools
Although above ground swimming pools may be cheaper to buy, easier to install, and cheaper to operate, a lot of people prefer to have in ground pools. In groung swimming pools provide you with a lot more room to swim, and a lot more space. Those of you who have families or a lot of friends who love to swim, would greatly benefit from having one of these pools.
In ground swimming pools are long lasting, as they are designed with cement on the sides and along the bottom. They are a bit more expensive than above ground swimming pools, although they are more than worth the money you spend. Depending on your needs, you can have your in ground pool built to your liking, such as a shallow end for kids and a deep end for diving.
Installing an in ground swimming pool will take a bit more time than above ground pools, which only take a few hours. To install an in ground pool, the contractor will need to dig a hole in the ground, then set up the framework outside of the hole. Once this is finished, he will pour some sand in the bottom of the this hole, then set the liner up.
With in ground pools, you’ll have a few different types of material that you can select for the liner. The most common and preferred is vinyl, which is also the most attractive. Vinyl liners are also better for winter as well. If you live in an area that is well known for winter, you may want to go with a vinyl liner for your swimming pool.
Fiberglass and concrete are also excellent liners as well. Fiberglass liners are constructed in a factory from fiberglass reinforced plastic then worked with until it resembles a really large bathtub. Unlike vinyl liners, you won’t need to replace fiberglass. In the end, you can save a lot of money and time by using a fiberglass liner.
Concrete liners are also great, and are one of the most common ways to line your in ground swimming pool. If you are using concrete, you can also have your pool custom poured, giving you the design you want. Concrete lasts for years and years, and like fiberglass liners, it doesn’t need to be replaced. You can also add to the look of this liner as well, by using tile or finishing the concrete liner with plaster.
In ground swimming pools are great for families who love to swim, or those who want to have the biggest swim pool possible. Even though they take a lot of time to build and cost a lot of money, they are more than worth it in the end - when you walk outside and see what you have with your own eyes.
In ground swimming pools are long lasting, as they are designed with cement on the sides and along the bottom. They are a bit more expensive than above ground swimming pools, although they are more than worth the money you spend. Depending on your needs, you can have your in ground pool built to your liking, such as a shallow end for kids and a deep end for diving.
Installing an in ground swimming pool will take a bit more time than above ground pools, which only take a few hours. To install an in ground pool, the contractor will need to dig a hole in the ground, then set up the framework outside of the hole. Once this is finished, he will pour some sand in the bottom of the this hole, then set the liner up.
With in ground pools, you’ll have a few different types of material that you can select for the liner. The most common and preferred is vinyl, which is also the most attractive. Vinyl liners are also better for winter as well. If you live in an area that is well known for winter, you may want to go with a vinyl liner for your swimming pool.
Fiberglass and concrete are also excellent liners as well. Fiberglass liners are constructed in a factory from fiberglass reinforced plastic then worked with until it resembles a really large bathtub. Unlike vinyl liners, you won’t need to replace fiberglass. In the end, you can save a lot of money and time by using a fiberglass liner.
Concrete liners are also great, and are one of the most common ways to line your in ground swimming pool. If you are using concrete, you can also have your pool custom poured, giving you the design you want. Concrete lasts for years and years, and like fiberglass liners, it doesn’t need to be replaced. You can also add to the look of this liner as well, by using tile or finishing the concrete liner with plaster.
In ground swimming pools are great for families who love to swim, or those who want to have the biggest swim pool possible. Even though they take a lot of time to build and cost a lot of money, they are more than worth it in the end - when you walk outside and see what you have with your own eyes.
Swimming Pool Ladders
You can find a swimming pool ladder on almost all types of swimming pools. Ladders are essential to swimming pools, as they are used to get in and out of the pool. For both in ground and above ground pools, you can find a variety of different ladders to choose from. The materials used for the ladders are available in either vinyl, aluminum, plastic, resin, or stainless steel.
The choices of color doesn’t vary too much, although you shouldn’t paint them. To prevent slipping, some come with anti-skid materials. Almost all pool ladders are easy to assemble if you follow the instructions, and come with a warranty as well. You can find pool ladders on the Internet, or at your local department store or pool supply store.
The ladders used with in ground swimming pools normally include 1 - 5 steps. Depending on how deep the water is where you are using the ladder, the installation and number of steps will obviously vary. When you select your ladder, you should make sure that the shape and height is compatible with your pool. If your pool was formed with concrete, you may have had the ladder or steps formed during installation. If you have a fiberglass or liner pool on the other hand, you’ll need to properly secure the ladder at both the upper and lower ends.
Above ground swimming pools on the other hand, are a bit different. Most people who have above ground pools have a deck that surrounds the pool, then a ladder than leads down into the water. You can install your ladder off the deck, or simply position it solely on the pool. It’s easier to install the ladder running off the deck and into the water, although you’ll need to properly secure it to the deck to ensure that it doesn’t slide off or end up hurting someone.
The ideal swimming pool ladder for an above ground pool should have 2 - 4 steps. Most above ground pools are 4 - 6 feet in depth, although they can be a bit tough for kids to enter. The more steps you have on your ladder, the easier it will be for kids to get in and out of the pool. If you are using your ladder with a deck, you won’t need as many steps.
All things aside, a swimming pool ladder is essential for any swimming pool. Without a ladder, it would be near impossible to get out of the pool. If you have an in ground pool, adults and teenagers can get out from the side, although kids will need to use a ladder. Ladders don’t cost a lot of money, yet they help to simplify getting in and out of your pool.
The choices of color doesn’t vary too much, although you shouldn’t paint them. To prevent slipping, some come with anti-skid materials. Almost all pool ladders are easy to assemble if you follow the instructions, and come with a warranty as well. You can find pool ladders on the Internet, or at your local department store or pool supply store.
The ladders used with in ground swimming pools normally include 1 - 5 steps. Depending on how deep the water is where you are using the ladder, the installation and number of steps will obviously vary. When you select your ladder, you should make sure that the shape and height is compatible with your pool. If your pool was formed with concrete, you may have had the ladder or steps formed during installation. If you have a fiberglass or liner pool on the other hand, you’ll need to properly secure the ladder at both the upper and lower ends.
Above ground swimming pools on the other hand, are a bit different. Most people who have above ground pools have a deck that surrounds the pool, then a ladder than leads down into the water. You can install your ladder off the deck, or simply position it solely on the pool. It’s easier to install the ladder running off the deck and into the water, although you’ll need to properly secure it to the deck to ensure that it doesn’t slide off or end up hurting someone.
The ideal swimming pool ladder for an above ground pool should have 2 - 4 steps. Most above ground pools are 4 - 6 feet in depth, although they can be a bit tough for kids to enter. The more steps you have on your ladder, the easier it will be for kids to get in and out of the pool. If you are using your ladder with a deck, you won’t need as many steps.
All things aside, a swimming pool ladder is essential for any swimming pool. Without a ladder, it would be near impossible to get out of the pool. If you have an in ground pool, adults and teenagers can get out from the side, although kids will need to use a ladder. Ladders don’t cost a lot of money, yet they help to simplify getting in and out of your pool.
Swimming Laps At Home
Swimming, as we all know, is one of the best exercises you can do for your body. Swimming laps provides you with a great cardiovascular workout, and helps to keep your muscles toned. Swimming works every muscle in your body, which can also help you to burn calories. For many people throughout the United States, swimming is simply the best way to stay in shape and have fun doing it.
Although swimming is a lot of fun and a great way to exercise, it can be quite a chore going down to the local pool. The hours will vary from pool to pool, meaning that there are only certain times of the day and the week that you can go. To make matters worse, the lanes are normally crowded, making it hard to get a proper workout. Crowded lanes can make swimming a chore, especially if there are a lot of people around who are doing nothing but standing in the water.
If you like swimming laps but hate going to your local pool, you should look into getting a lap pool for your home. Lap pools are a great addition to your home, with the only difference in a lap pool and residential pool being the size and shape. Instead of the traditional kidney shape that home pools are known for, lap pools are long and narrow, giving you plenty of room to swim laps.
With the shape being long and narrow, you can easily keep track of just how many laps you have swam. Lap pools are normally just a few feet deep, meaning that divers shouldn’t invest in them. They are intended for those who love to swim laps, lacking toys such as diving boards and slides, as the water isn’t deep enough. Even though they are intended for hardcore lap swimmers, they are still ideal to jump in on a hot day and just cool off.
Lap pools are below ground pools, as you may already know. They require a lot of digging for installation, and can cost quite a few bucks as well. The prices will vary from area to area, although most top out around $30,000. This is very expensive to say the least, although if you swim every day, you can easily make your money back if you count how much you spend going to the local pool.
If you simply don’t have the money but want to swim laps at home, you should look into a swim spa. These spas resemble a hot tub of sorts, although you won’t have to dig up any of your yard to install them. They work almost like a treadmill, using an adjustable current that pushes you back, so you keep swimming in virtually the same place. You can get quite a bit of exercise using a swim spa, and it doesn’t take up a lot of room either.
Swim spas may be cheaper than lap pools, although they aren’t cheaper than traditional below ground pools. They are still relatively new, and can be somewhat hard to find. More and more pool companies are including them though, so it may be just a matter of time before they come to your area. You should contact your local company if you are interested, as they can be nearly impossible to maintain yourself.
With a lap pool or swim spa, you can swim as many laps as you like at home. These types of pools are ideal for swimmers everywhere, and they can keep you as healthy as you like. If you are interested in a lap pool or swim spa, simply contact your local pool company and get the ball rolling - you’ll be glad you did when you are swimming at home and not the local swimming hole.
Although swimming is a lot of fun and a great way to exercise, it can be quite a chore going down to the local pool. The hours will vary from pool to pool, meaning that there are only certain times of the day and the week that you can go. To make matters worse, the lanes are normally crowded, making it hard to get a proper workout. Crowded lanes can make swimming a chore, especially if there are a lot of people around who are doing nothing but standing in the water.
If you like swimming laps but hate going to your local pool, you should look into getting a lap pool for your home. Lap pools are a great addition to your home, with the only difference in a lap pool and residential pool being the size and shape. Instead of the traditional kidney shape that home pools are known for, lap pools are long and narrow, giving you plenty of room to swim laps.
With the shape being long and narrow, you can easily keep track of just how many laps you have swam. Lap pools are normally just a few feet deep, meaning that divers shouldn’t invest in them. They are intended for those who love to swim laps, lacking toys such as diving boards and slides, as the water isn’t deep enough. Even though they are intended for hardcore lap swimmers, they are still ideal to jump in on a hot day and just cool off.
Lap pools are below ground pools, as you may already know. They require a lot of digging for installation, and can cost quite a few bucks as well. The prices will vary from area to area, although most top out around $30,000. This is very expensive to say the least, although if you swim every day, you can easily make your money back if you count how much you spend going to the local pool.
If you simply don’t have the money but want to swim laps at home, you should look into a swim spa. These spas resemble a hot tub of sorts, although you won’t have to dig up any of your yard to install them. They work almost like a treadmill, using an adjustable current that pushes you back, so you keep swimming in virtually the same place. You can get quite a bit of exercise using a swim spa, and it doesn’t take up a lot of room either.
Swim spas may be cheaper than lap pools, although they aren’t cheaper than traditional below ground pools. They are still relatively new, and can be somewhat hard to find. More and more pool companies are including them though, so it may be just a matter of time before they come to your area. You should contact your local company if you are interested, as they can be nearly impossible to maintain yourself.
With a lap pool or swim spa, you can swim as many laps as you like at home. These types of pools are ideal for swimmers everywhere, and they can keep you as healthy as you like. If you are interested in a lap pool or swim spa, simply contact your local pool company and get the ball rolling - you’ll be glad you did when you are swimming at home and not the local swimming hole.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
How Do You Install A Swimming Pool Diving Board?
If you’re building a pool, talk with your pool builder about getting a swimming pool diving board. For safety purposes, pools have to be 8 feet deep for diving boards. The builder I used to work with would build the pools 8 and a half feet deep. Furthermore, a smaller pool, say a 12’ by 24’ pool can’t very well have a 8 foot deep end, as it would basically be a pit in the deep end and hardly have a shallow end. The smallest rectangular pool we built that could have a diving board would be a 16’ by 32’ pool with an 8 foot deep end.
For safety purposes, I would never recommend that you try to install your own diving board. It’s just a bad idea. If you want a diving board added onto your in ground pool, talk to your local pool builder and have them look at your pool. If you need to replace your board but have the diving stand installed, you can check out the boards offered by InTheSwim. Of course, these are only replacement boards. Like their site says, don’t replace a board with a longer board. Furthermore, I’d only recommend replacing your own board if you’re confident in your do-it-yourself abilities. For safety reasons, I’d have to recommend having a professional take care of the installation aspect.
For safety purposes, I would never recommend that you try to install your own diving board. It’s just a bad idea. If you want a diving board added onto your in ground pool, talk to your local pool builder and have them look at your pool. If you need to replace your board but have the diving stand installed, you can check out the boards offered by InTheSwim. Of course, these are only replacement boards. Like their site says, don’t replace a board with a longer board. Furthermore, I’d only recommend replacing your own board if you’re confident in your do-it-yourself abilities. For safety reasons, I’d have to recommend having a professional take care of the installation aspect.
What Different Swimming Pool Slides are Available?
If you have an inground pool, a swimming pool slide is a fun accessory you might consider. If you’re having a pool built, you should definitely consider it as it will be easiest to install during the initial building stage. You can add a swimming pool slide on at a later date, but if you get one that requires plumbing and anchoring into the concrete, it will be a little more of a headache.
When looking to get a swimming pool slide, you should consider whether you just want it for your kids, or whether you want it to be able to handle larger, adult riders as well. If you just want it for your kids, then you could consider this inflatable pool slide or this molded slide. I’d recommend these slides because they’re a little less expensive and they wouldn’t require mounting them into the concrete and running dedicated plumbing lines (both are kind of involved activities).
If you want a slide that will handle larger riders, you’ll want a swimming pool slide that needs to be anchored into the concrete. There are multiple options ranging from a $1300 basic slide to a $2,999 slide with a full 360-degree turn. These are very nice slides, but I would recommend that if you order one, have it professionally installed.
When looking to get a swimming pool slide, you should consider whether you just want it for your kids, or whether you want it to be able to handle larger, adult riders as well. If you just want it for your kids, then you could consider this inflatable pool slide or this molded slide. I’d recommend these slides because they’re a little less expensive and they wouldn’t require mounting them into the concrete and running dedicated plumbing lines (both are kind of involved activities).
If you want a slide that will handle larger riders, you’ll want a swimming pool slide that needs to be anchored into the concrete. There are multiple options ranging from a $1300 basic slide to a $2,999 slide with a full 360-degree turn. These are very nice slides, but I would recommend that if you order one, have it professionally installed.
Fancy Up your Pool with a Swimming Pool Light?
Adding a swimming pool light is probably one of the easiest things you can do to make your pool a little fancier.
If your pool doesn’t already have a pool light, then you have a couple of options for adding lighting.
If you don’t want a light permanently hanging into your pool, then you should look into the Glowbuoy. It’s a light that floats in the pool and illuminates the pool using rechargeable batteries. If you want something more permanent, you can use an in ground pool light that mounts on the side of the pool. It’s not going to be flush with the concrete, though, so while it is more permanent, it will be kind of sticking out of the pool. However, it is a lot cheaper than having a light mounted into the pool wall.
If you have an above ground pool, you can consider the above ground pool light. This goes without saying, but don’t try to make the above ground light work in an in ground pool and vice versa. Generally, above ground accessories and equipment aren’t powerful enough to work well in an in ground pool, and they’re usually less expensive. So if you have an above ground pool, you’ll save money by purchasing the above ground equipment, but if you have an in ground pool, the above ground equipment won’t be adequate.
If your pool doesn’t already have a pool light, then you have a couple of options for adding lighting.
If you don’t want a light permanently hanging into your pool, then you should look into the Glowbuoy. It’s a light that floats in the pool and illuminates the pool using rechargeable batteries. If you want something more permanent, you can use an in ground pool light that mounts on the side of the pool. It’s not going to be flush with the concrete, though, so while it is more permanent, it will be kind of sticking out of the pool. However, it is a lot cheaper than having a light mounted into the pool wall.
If you have an above ground pool, you can consider the above ground pool light. This goes without saying, but don’t try to make the above ground light work in an in ground pool and vice versa. Generally, above ground accessories and equipment aren’t powerful enough to work well in an in ground pool, and they’re usually less expensive. So if you have an above ground pool, you’ll save money by purchasing the above ground equipment, but if you have an in ground pool, the above ground equipment won’t be adequate.
Swimming Pool Sand Filters
For the majority of in ground and above ground pools, sand pool filters are generally the most common. It's not much of a challenge to figure out why these sand filters are the most common: they're the cheapest.
Essentially sand filters are a big tub full of sand and the water is pumped through the sand. As the water is forced through the sand, the sand filters out the bad things from the water. Keep in mind that this is a very, very basic explanation of how it works. You couldn't just hook up your pool to a bucket full of sand and expect it to work. Well, you could try but you'd have a mess on your hands.
There's nothing wrong with the way sand filters work, but they can be a hassle to clean and maintain. You'll have to mess with the filter every so often to keep things running optimally, by turning the pump off, switching to backwash (it's a setting that will kind of clean things up in the filter), turning the pump on, waiting, and then doing the process again for rinse (rinse moves the sand around a bit, kind of like rotating the tires on a car). It's not hard work, just a bit of a hassle.
Changing the sand in the filter is the real nightmare. You'll buy sand in 25 pound bags and then use maybe 50 pounds on up to 200 pounds of sand depending on the size of your pool. You'll have to empty the filter of the sand that's in there and then dump the new sand in (all without breaking anything). It's a lot of hard work and you'll have to change the sand once every year or so (depending on how clean you keep the pool).
The only advantage of a sand filter is that it's the cheapest.
Essentially sand filters are a big tub full of sand and the water is pumped through the sand. As the water is forced through the sand, the sand filters out the bad things from the water. Keep in mind that this is a very, very basic explanation of how it works. You couldn't just hook up your pool to a bucket full of sand and expect it to work. Well, you could try but you'd have a mess on your hands.
There's nothing wrong with the way sand filters work, but they can be a hassle to clean and maintain. You'll have to mess with the filter every so often to keep things running optimally, by turning the pump off, switching to backwash (it's a setting that will kind of clean things up in the filter), turning the pump on, waiting, and then doing the process again for rinse (rinse moves the sand around a bit, kind of like rotating the tires on a car). It's not hard work, just a bit of a hassle.
Changing the sand in the filter is the real nightmare. You'll buy sand in 25 pound bags and then use maybe 50 pounds on up to 200 pounds of sand depending on the size of your pool. You'll have to empty the filter of the sand that's in there and then dump the new sand in (all without breaking anything). It's a lot of hard work and you'll have to change the sand once every year or so (depending on how clean you keep the pool).
The only advantage of a sand filter is that it's the cheapest.
Learn the Basics of Swimming Pool Pumps
What is a swimming pool pump? It’s the thing that makes the water move through the pool pipes and circulates the water. Basically, a pool pump has water flowing in through a little basket (to remove any debris) before it gets to the actual spinning pump part. The water is actually pumped by having this impeller (like the picture on the bottom right ) spin at high speeds. Water is pumped out. Sounds easy right? Maybe you could build one on your own? Hah, I wouldn’t suggest it. This is an oversimplified explanation.
Keep in mind the difference between the pump and the motor. The pump is the large, tough plastic part that makes the water move, the motor is what powers it. Motors can go bad and there might be nothing at all wrong with the pump. I’ve seen a motor where someone had let an anthill grow and grow and it was actually starting to get into part of the motor (a powerful electric device). Eventually it got hot enough and the anthill got close enough and the motor was running (an electric device, remember) and the motor caught on fire. The moral of the story is: keep debris away from your motor. There’s another story about a guy who was spraying WD-40 on his motor as it was running. Don’t do that either. There are limits to what WD-40 can fix.
What kind of pump do you need for your pool? Well, you’ll need a horsepower rating that is appropriate for your pool size. You don’t want to have the pump underpowered because then it won’t circulate enough water to keep your pool clean. Surprisingly, you don’t want it overpowered either because then your pool might feel like a giant whirlpool. Don’t worry, though, as your local pool company should be able to calculate a pool pump that is right for their size. What if your local pool company doesn’t have anyone that can calculate the right size? No worries, they’ll probably just call up their suppler and ask. The larger pool product distributors have people who figure things out like this all the time.
My only recommendation about buying a pool pump is to ask for an energy efficient pump. Your pump is going to be running most of the year, and it’s going to last for several years, so the cost of energy is going to add up over time. The energy efficient pumps cost a little more money initially, but the savings will add up over time, and you’ll have a lower monthly energy bill. Also, some of the energy efficient pumps are quieter than their less efficient counterparts. Do yourself a favor and go for the efficient version.
If you're looking for a replacement for your broken pump, I'd recommend you order a replacement online. Just make sure it's the same one you already have.
Keep in mind the difference between the pump and the motor. The pump is the large, tough plastic part that makes the water move, the motor is what powers it. Motors can go bad and there might be nothing at all wrong with the pump. I’ve seen a motor where someone had let an anthill grow and grow and it was actually starting to get into part of the motor (a powerful electric device). Eventually it got hot enough and the anthill got close enough and the motor was running (an electric device, remember) and the motor caught on fire. The moral of the story is: keep debris away from your motor. There’s another story about a guy who was spraying WD-40 on his motor as it was running. Don’t do that either. There are limits to what WD-40 can fix.
What kind of pump do you need for your pool? Well, you’ll need a horsepower rating that is appropriate for your pool size. You don’t want to have the pump underpowered because then it won’t circulate enough water to keep your pool clean. Surprisingly, you don’t want it overpowered either because then your pool might feel like a giant whirlpool. Don’t worry, though, as your local pool company should be able to calculate a pool pump that is right for their size. What if your local pool company doesn’t have anyone that can calculate the right size? No worries, they’ll probably just call up their suppler and ask. The larger pool product distributors have people who figure things out like this all the time.
My only recommendation about buying a pool pump is to ask for an energy efficient pump. Your pump is going to be running most of the year, and it’s going to last for several years, so the cost of energy is going to add up over time. The energy efficient pumps cost a little more money initially, but the savings will add up over time, and you’ll have a lower monthly energy bill. Also, some of the energy efficient pumps are quieter than their less efficient counterparts. Do yourself a favor and go for the efficient version.
If you're looking for a replacement for your broken pump, I'd recommend you order a replacement online. Just make sure it's the same one you already have.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Swimming Pool Cover Recommendations Now What ????
If you are just looking for a regular winter cover or solar cover, I would suggest finding one in your size online and ordering it. If you have an interest in a safety cover, you could look for quotes on covers online and compare them to those offered by your local pool company.
Keep in mind, though, that you will definitely want a safety cover to be professionally installed (they are not simple to install). This might be obvious, but unless you are an expert, installing your own safety cover is potentially self-defeating.
If you want to be certain to avoid any issues with size or fit, you might just be better off purchasing the cover and having it installed by your local pool business.
Keep in mind, though, that you will definitely want a safety cover to be professionally installed (they are not simple to install). This might be obvious, but unless you are an expert, installing your own safety cover is potentially self-defeating.
If you want to be certain to avoid any issues with size or fit, you might just be better off purchasing the cover and having it installed by your local pool business.
Have Piece of Mind with These Pool Covers
If I had kids, there would be no doubt I would go for a safety cover. The basic type of safety cover is essentially a giant trampoline that is securely attached over the pool. These covers are installed by drilling anchor points into the concrete deck surrounding the pool. The cover is then installed by securing straps to each of these anchor points. These covers are notoriously strong, and I've even seen pictures of a safety cover withstanding the weight of a vehicle (notably, the vehicle had been driven onto the pool by accident, and it was half sunken into the pool, but the cover was definitely supporting it). Keep in mind that these trampoline type covers are not going to keep out all the debris, and your pool will be a bit of a mess to clean up in the spring. It's a small price to pay for safety though.
Finally, there are sold safety covers that combine the virtues of both the winter cover and the safety cover. They are the most expensive kind, and even require a pump to keep water from gathering in the center of the cover, but they will provide you with safety and with much cleaner water.
Finally, there are sold safety covers that combine the virtues of both the winter cover and the safety cover. They are the most expensive kind, and even require a pump to keep water from gathering in the center of the cover, but they will provide you with safety and with much cleaner water.
These Offer Benfits as Well as Drawbacks
Winter covers are essentially giant tarps that you use to cover your pool when you close it for the winter.
You can purchase them in the size meant for your pool. Keep in mind that the actual size of the tarp is larger than the size of the pool, so that you have a sufficient amount of cover on the perimeter to hold it down, either with water bags or some other sort of weight. The water bag type of weight can be a bit of a hassle and messy, but on the upside you don't have to worry about what would happen if it fell in the pool. If you were using cinder blocks to hold the cover in place, you're running the risk of destroying a large section of liner if it got dragged into the pool somehow.
Winter covers generally do a better job of keeping the pool water cleaner than do the basic safety cover. However, if you have kids, keep in mind that winter covers are not the least bit safe, and can even potentially cause trouble for even able adults who might accidentally fall on such a cover. Such covers could potentially envelope anyone who fell onto it, and make it far more difficult to get out of the pool than it normally would be. If you want to use one of these covers, be sure you've locked up the pool area securely to minimize the risk of accidents.
You can purchase them in the size meant for your pool. Keep in mind that the actual size of the tarp is larger than the size of the pool, so that you have a sufficient amount of cover on the perimeter to hold it down, either with water bags or some other sort of weight. The water bag type of weight can be a bit of a hassle and messy, but on the upside you don't have to worry about what would happen if it fell in the pool. If you were using cinder blocks to hold the cover in place, you're running the risk of destroying a large section of liner if it got dragged into the pool somehow.
Winter covers generally do a better job of keeping the pool water cleaner than do the basic safety cover. However, if you have kids, keep in mind that winter covers are not the least bit safe, and can even potentially cause trouble for even able adults who might accidentally fall on such a cover. Such covers could potentially envelope anyone who fell onto it, and make it far more difficult to get out of the pool than it normally would be. If you want to use one of these covers, be sure you've locked up the pool area securely to minimize the risk of accidents.
Are these Pool Covers Really Necessary??
Leaf nets are basically large nets that are meant to capture only leaves. They are not going to do a good job of keeping much else out. In my experience, very few people are ever interested in a leaf net, and the only people who want one are those who have large amounts of trees and need to keep the leaves out even during the summer. If you want to cover your pool for the winter, go ahead and look into a regular winter cover or maybe a safety cover.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Leaf Net Swimming Pool Covers-Are these Pool Covers Really Necessary??
Leaf nets are basically large nets that are meant to capture only leaves. They are not going to do a good job of keeping much else out. In my experience, very few people are ever interested in a leaf net, and the only people who want one are those who have large amounts of trees and need to keep the leaves out even during the summer. If you want to cover your pool for the winter, go ahead and look into a regular winter cover or maybe a safety cover.
WarmYour Pool Water with Solar Power
Solar swimming pool covers are essentially giant sheets of bubble wrap that you put on the pool to help heat up the water and keep it warm. The best way I can think to describe it is that a solar pool cover basically traps heat from the sun in the pool (keeps it from evaporating/dissipating). It helps the pool warm up more than normal during the day, and it keeps the pool warmer than it would stay during the night time hours. A solar pool cover can help heat your pool up quicker during the early months of the season, and it can help extend your swimming season into the fall.
To do this, in early Spring, you simply put the solar cover on for the night, and then pull it off in the morning so the sun can warm the water during the day. At night we repeat the process.
The only problem, if you want to call it a problem, is that you usually don't have a roller or anything to easily roll the cover up in the morning. You can buy these rollers, or maybe even make one yourself, but they are expensive. So, since you probably won't have a roller, you simply pull the solar pool cover back and fold it up on the one end of the pool. It doesn't usually look the best and takes up room (just sitting on the cement by the pool), but this really isn't a problem since you probably won't be entertaining a lot during this time, and the benefit of having warmer pool water far outweighs the hassles of the solar swimming pool cover.
If you really want to extend your swimming season, the investment in a solar swimming pool cover is certainly well worth it. I believe that most of these solar pool covers will be less than $100.
To do this, in early Spring, you simply put the solar cover on for the night, and then pull it off in the morning so the sun can warm the water during the day. At night we repeat the process.
The only problem, if you want to call it a problem, is that you usually don't have a roller or anything to easily roll the cover up in the morning. You can buy these rollers, or maybe even make one yourself, but they are expensive. So, since you probably won't have a roller, you simply pull the solar pool cover back and fold it up on the one end of the pool. It doesn't usually look the best and takes up room (just sitting on the cement by the pool), but this really isn't a problem since you probably won't be entertaining a lot during this time, and the benefit of having warmer pool water far outweighs the hassles of the solar swimming pool cover.
If you really want to extend your swimming season, the investment in a solar swimming pool cover is certainly well worth it. I believe that most of these solar pool covers will be less than $100.
Have You Ever Considered a Swimming Pool Enclosure
The main decision concerning a swimming pool enclosure is whether you want a permanent enclosure as opposed to a temporary one. More specifically, do you want a building of metal and glass (or screens) or do you want a temporary inflatable dome? I get the feeling that the deciding factor for most purchases will be the relative cost.
There are a variety of rather temporary structures that are either inflatable domes or do-it-yourself structures that kind of resemble a large tent. Is there anything wrong with these structures? Not that I know of. I would suggest that they would work almost as well as a professionally built enclosure. For instance, you'd get 75% the performance of a professionally built enclosure for 25% the cost (just a guess). This sounds good until you realize that you can make a similar comparison concerning the difference between a BMW and a Kia. If you need an enclosure and can't afford to have one professionally installed, this is pretty much your only option.
If you can afford to have a professional enclosure built for your pool, I can't think of a reason not to recommend it. You should start by contacting a local installer and start asking questions and getting an estimate. I would think that a quality enclosure would potentially add to the value of your home. It would extend the swimming season (depending on where you live) and might make the swimming more pleasant.
I think the main question, though, that you should ask yourself is this: is your pool worth enclosing? I'm taking it for granted that your pool is in-ground, but if it's a 10 year old pool that needs some work, would it be a good idea to spend 2-3 times what the pool is worth to have it enclosed?
There are a variety of rather temporary structures that are either inflatable domes or do-it-yourself structures that kind of resemble a large tent. Is there anything wrong with these structures? Not that I know of. I would suggest that they would work almost as well as a professionally built enclosure. For instance, you'd get 75% the performance of a professionally built enclosure for 25% the cost (just a guess). This sounds good until you realize that you can make a similar comparison concerning the difference between a BMW and a Kia. If you need an enclosure and can't afford to have one professionally installed, this is pretty much your only option.
If you can afford to have a professional enclosure built for your pool, I can't think of a reason not to recommend it. You should start by contacting a local installer and start asking questions and getting an estimate. I would think that a quality enclosure would potentially add to the value of your home. It would extend the swimming season (depending on where you live) and might make the swimming more pleasant.
I think the main question, though, that you should ask yourself is this: is your pool worth enclosing? I'm taking it for granted that your pool is in-ground, but if it's a 10 year old pool that needs some work, would it be a good idea to spend 2-3 times what the pool is worth to have it enclosed?
Swimming Pool Fences
There are a variety of options for pool fences. I'll list the five major types of fence for your swimming pool and go through the pros and cons of each one.
Aluminum fencing is probably the most attractive option. You can order aluminum fencing from a variety of suppliers including online stores. The problem comes in having it installed, as it is going to be more complicated to install on your own then wood or vinyl fencing. One of the other downsides is that it is going to be one of the more expensive options. Finally, it is not going to offer very much in the way of privacy. However, it is definitely the most attractive type of fence, and you can even order aluminum in a variety of colors. It should do a pretty good job of keeping things out of the pool area, and it should be fairly strong (depending on the fence). Finally, it's probably going to age the best of any of the options. Oh yeah, it's probably going to be the most expensive option, especially if you add in the cost of having it installed.
Wooden fencing is definitely a strong option. You'll probably have the easiest time installing wood fencing or vinyl fencing on your own. It is going to be some of the cheapest, and offer some of the most privacy, depending on the kind of fencing you purchase. You'll be able to get fencing from a local Home Depot or Lowe's, and even if you can't install it on your own, virtually every fencing company should be able to do it for you. I think you already know the downsides of wood. It's not necessarily the most attractive option, and it isn't going to age very well. Depending on how it is sealed and weather proofed, you will have to replace it every so often (not too much, though).
Chain link fencing deserves to be mentioned, but I would hope you'd hardly consider it a serious option. It would be cheaper than aluminum, but other than that I can't think of a reason why you should choose it. If you need to save money, go with wood or vinyl, and if you want something sturdy that will last, spend a little extra and get aluminum. Chain link fencing is just incredibly unattractive, and it doesn't offer privacy. The plastic pieces that you can put in it for a privacy fence just strike me as ridiculously ugly. Please do yourself a favor and skip over chain link. It'd be doing me a favor, too, in case I ever drove by your house I'd see a halfway attractive fence instead of an eyesore.
Vinyl fencing is cheaper, potentially easier to install, and can be considered more attractive than wood. I don't think it can be considered an option that is as permanent as any of the others, though. I don't have a whole lot of experience with vinyl fencing, but I suspect it is going to age a lot quicker than the metal options, and potentially be comparable to wood on the lifetime factor.
The pool specific option is the mesh fencing. This is a kind of safety fence that gets installed in a fairly close perimeter around the pool itself. It can even be inside another fence. Basically, there are holes drilled into the concrete deck, and then you can put up and take down sections of mesh fence accordingly. This is a particularly excellent option for those of you with small children. You can have two layers of security by having a fence with a strong gate (and latch), and then the mesh fence inside it. These are not cheap and need to be professionally installed (your local pool company should offer the service and fence). I would have to highly recommend this to anyone with small kids. After all, what kind of price can you put on their safety?
Finally, let me suggest that you contact your pool company and see what they recommend. There might be particular reasons to choose one style or another depending on your situation. And for a last word of advice, if you want a fence installed, contact your local pool company during the fall or winter and see if they will give you a good deal. A lot of pool companies are desperate for work in the off-season, and are a lot more willing to negotiate.
Aluminum fencing is probably the most attractive option. You can order aluminum fencing from a variety of suppliers including online stores. The problem comes in having it installed, as it is going to be more complicated to install on your own then wood or vinyl fencing. One of the other downsides is that it is going to be one of the more expensive options. Finally, it is not going to offer very much in the way of privacy. However, it is definitely the most attractive type of fence, and you can even order aluminum in a variety of colors. It should do a pretty good job of keeping things out of the pool area, and it should be fairly strong (depending on the fence). Finally, it's probably going to age the best of any of the options. Oh yeah, it's probably going to be the most expensive option, especially if you add in the cost of having it installed.
Wooden fencing is definitely a strong option. You'll probably have the easiest time installing wood fencing or vinyl fencing on your own. It is going to be some of the cheapest, and offer some of the most privacy, depending on the kind of fencing you purchase. You'll be able to get fencing from a local Home Depot or Lowe's, and even if you can't install it on your own, virtually every fencing company should be able to do it for you. I think you already know the downsides of wood. It's not necessarily the most attractive option, and it isn't going to age very well. Depending on how it is sealed and weather proofed, you will have to replace it every so often (not too much, though).
Chain link fencing deserves to be mentioned, but I would hope you'd hardly consider it a serious option. It would be cheaper than aluminum, but other than that I can't think of a reason why you should choose it. If you need to save money, go with wood or vinyl, and if you want something sturdy that will last, spend a little extra and get aluminum. Chain link fencing is just incredibly unattractive, and it doesn't offer privacy. The plastic pieces that you can put in it for a privacy fence just strike me as ridiculously ugly. Please do yourself a favor and skip over chain link. It'd be doing me a favor, too, in case I ever drove by your house I'd see a halfway attractive fence instead of an eyesore.
Vinyl fencing is cheaper, potentially easier to install, and can be considered more attractive than wood. I don't think it can be considered an option that is as permanent as any of the others, though. I don't have a whole lot of experience with vinyl fencing, but I suspect it is going to age a lot quicker than the metal options, and potentially be comparable to wood on the lifetime factor.
The pool specific option is the mesh fencing. This is a kind of safety fence that gets installed in a fairly close perimeter around the pool itself. It can even be inside another fence. Basically, there are holes drilled into the concrete deck, and then you can put up and take down sections of mesh fence accordingly. This is a particularly excellent option for those of you with small children. You can have two layers of security by having a fence with a strong gate (and latch), and then the mesh fence inside it. These are not cheap and need to be professionally installed (your local pool company should offer the service and fence). I would have to highly recommend this to anyone with small kids. After all, what kind of price can you put on their safety?
Finally, let me suggest that you contact your pool company and see what they recommend. There might be particular reasons to choose one style or another depending on your situation. And for a last word of advice, if you want a fence installed, contact your local pool company during the fall or winter and see if they will give you a good deal. A lot of pool companies are desperate for work in the off-season, and are a lot more willing to negotiate.
Advanced Pool Water Chemistry
Bioguard's Optimizer Plus
One of our favorite chemicals is Bioguard’s Optimizer Plus. This isn’t necessary to balance the water, but it helps to do 3 things --
“Optimize” the water and help make the other chemicals work better
Buffer the water to prevent pH from wide flucuations
Help the owner to work less
This Bioguard Optimzer Plus can be expensive to add to a pool, originally, but it is fantastic for helping to prevent algae. Furthermore, it helps to make the water clearer and some even say it makes the water “softer.”
Since it is high pH, it also helps to ‘buffer’ the pH.
In the long run, the benefits of Bioguard Optimzer Plus will far outweigh the cost.
Pool Water Stabilizer (Cyanuric-acid)
You need a certain amount of stabilizer (sometimes called conditioner) to help make the chlorine more efficient and last longer. Stabilizer protects your chlorine from being destroyed by the sunlight. If your water is not properly conditioned, you’ll end up buying more chlorine, and may even start to have an algae problem.
A pool water test will determine if you need some.
One of our favorite chemicals is Bioguard’s Optimizer Plus. This isn’t necessary to balance the water, but it helps to do 3 things --
“Optimize” the water and help make the other chemicals work better
Buffer the water to prevent pH from wide flucuations
Help the owner to work less
This Bioguard Optimzer Plus can be expensive to add to a pool, originally, but it is fantastic for helping to prevent algae. Furthermore, it helps to make the water clearer and some even say it makes the water “softer.”
Since it is high pH, it also helps to ‘buffer’ the pH.
In the long run, the benefits of Bioguard Optimzer Plus will far outweigh the cost.
Pool Water Stabilizer (Cyanuric-acid)
You need a certain amount of stabilizer (sometimes called conditioner) to help make the chlorine more efficient and last longer. Stabilizer protects your chlorine from being destroyed by the sunlight. If your water is not properly conditioned, you’ll end up buying more chlorine, and may even start to have an algae problem.
A pool water test will determine if you need some.
Advanced Pool Water Chemistry
Bioguard's Optimizer Plus
One of our favorite chemicals is Bioguard’s Optimizer Plus. This isn’t necessary to balance the water, but it helps to do 3 things --
“Optimize” the water and help make the other chemicals work better
Buffer the water to prevent pH from wide flucuations
Help the owner to work less
This Bioguard Optimzer Plus can be expensive to add to a pool, originally, but it is fantastic for helping to prevent algae. Furthermore, it helps to make the water clearer and some even say it makes the water “softer.”
Since it is high pH, it also helps to ‘buffer’ the pH.
In the long run, the benefits of Bioguard Optimzer Plus will far outweigh the cost.
One of our favorite chemicals is Bioguard’s Optimizer Plus. This isn’t necessary to balance the water, but it helps to do 3 things --
“Optimize” the water and help make the other chemicals work better
Buffer the water to prevent pH from wide flucuations
Help the owner to work less
This Bioguard Optimzer Plus can be expensive to add to a pool, originally, but it is fantastic for helping to prevent algae. Furthermore, it helps to make the water clearer and some even say it makes the water “softer.”
Since it is high pH, it also helps to ‘buffer’ the pH.
In the long run, the benefits of Bioguard Optimzer Plus will far outweigh the cost.
Pool Water Stabilizer (Cyanuric-acid)
You need a certain amount of stabilizer (sometimes called conditioner) to help make the chlorine more efficient and last longer. Stabilizer protects your chlorine from being destroyed by the sunlight. If your water is not properly conditioned, you’ll end up buying more chlorine, and may even start to have an algae problem.
A pool water test will determine if you need some.
You need a certain amount of stabilizer (sometimes called conditioner) to help make the chlorine more efficient and last longer. Stabilizer protects your chlorine from being destroyed by the sunlight. If your water is not properly conditioned, you’ll end up buying more chlorine, and may even start to have an algae problem.
A pool water test will determine if you need some.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Additional Ideas for Sparkling, Clean Pools
Keep Metal Out!
Copper and iron can get in the pool through a variety of ways. One source of copper (and other metals) is well water. Consequently, use it wisely and if you use it, test your water for metals fairly regularly.
Copper can also come from corroded copper fittings on your plumbing lines. Again, corrosion is a result of improper pH.
Lastly copper can come from a copper heat exchanger in your pool, if you have one.
If you get any metal in the pool, you will want to treat for metals quickly. Metals can stain pool surfaces, which can be even more costly to fix. A pool liner stained an ugly color of brown is going to be quite an eyesore, and might potentially require the liner to be replaced in order to fix it entirely. You can treat your pool with Metal-Free, if you ever show a positive test for metals. Or if you use well water, I recommend adding some Metal-Freeon a regular basis.
Purchase Your Pool Chemicals Wisely
Buy your balancing chemicals and sanitizer in bulk. You can buy almost any chemical in fairly large amounts over at InTheSwim.
You’ll save the most money on pool chemicals if you buy them in bulk. If you buy chlorine, get the sticks (or hockey puck shapes) and shock in as large containers as you can handle, often 50# and 100# respectively.
Even balancing chemicals you can get in bulk - total alkalinity (sodium bicarbonate) can be purchased in 50# bags and the same for calcium. The professional pool cleaners almost certainly get their chemicals like this, and you can save some money by doing so, too. However, store your chemicals in a dry place, and don't keep them too close to each other. You NEVER want to mix chemicals except in the pool.
Test the Pool Water Yourself???
If you have your balancing chemicals, you can test your own water. Or, you can test your water and then buy whatever is needed.
Basic testing equipment can either be test strips or the liquid testing system.
Testing equipment can run the gamut from simple test strips to more advanced equipment and software.
If you purchase the software, you simply put your test results in, tell it what size pool you have and it will tell you how much of what to add. While these software packages cost something to begin, you will end up saving plenty of money in the long run, since most pool places will either insist you buy some chemicals from them, or charge you for the test.
You can get essentially the same results at home for less money.
Copper and iron can get in the pool through a variety of ways. One source of copper (and other metals) is well water. Consequently, use it wisely and if you use it, test your water for metals fairly regularly.
Copper can also come from corroded copper fittings on your plumbing lines. Again, corrosion is a result of improper pH.
Lastly copper can come from a copper heat exchanger in your pool, if you have one.
If you get any metal in the pool, you will want to treat for metals quickly. Metals can stain pool surfaces, which can be even more costly to fix. A pool liner stained an ugly color of brown is going to be quite an eyesore, and might potentially require the liner to be replaced in order to fix it entirely. You can treat your pool with Metal-Free, if you ever show a positive test for metals. Or if you use well water, I recommend adding some Metal-Freeon a regular basis.
Purchase Your Pool Chemicals Wisely
Buy your balancing chemicals and sanitizer in bulk. You can buy almost any chemical in fairly large amounts over at InTheSwim.
You’ll save the most money on pool chemicals if you buy them in bulk. If you buy chlorine, get the sticks (or hockey puck shapes) and shock in as large containers as you can handle, often 50# and 100# respectively.
Even balancing chemicals you can get in bulk - total alkalinity (sodium bicarbonate) can be purchased in 50# bags and the same for calcium. The professional pool cleaners almost certainly get their chemicals like this, and you can save some money by doing so, too. However, store your chemicals in a dry place, and don't keep them too close to each other. You NEVER want to mix chemicals except in the pool.
Test the Pool Water Yourself???
If you have your balancing chemicals, you can test your own water. Or, you can test your water and then buy whatever is needed.
Basic testing equipment can either be test strips or the liquid testing system.
Testing equipment can run the gamut from simple test strips to more advanced equipment and software.
If you purchase the software, you simply put your test results in, tell it what size pool you have and it will tell you how much of what to add. While these software packages cost something to begin, you will end up saving plenty of money in the long run, since most pool places will either insist you buy some chemicals from them, or charge you for the test.
You can get essentially the same results at home for less money.
4 Simple Steps to Economically Keep Your Pool Maintained and Your Water Clear and Clean(4)
Keep Calcium Constant
Calcium is important both for liner and gunite pools. Calcium keeps the liner flexible, if it gets too low, the liner can begin to get brittle so keeping your water balanced will help your liner last longer. Furthermore, calcium helps to prolong the finish on gunite pools.
High levels of calcium also cause scum and/or cloudiness.
To keep calcium constant, test for calcium at least once a month, and add calcium increaser as needed.
Calcium is important both for liner and gunite pools. Calcium keeps the liner flexible, if it gets too low, the liner can begin to get brittle so keeping your water balanced will help your liner last longer. Furthermore, calcium helps to prolong the finish on gunite pools.
High levels of calcium also cause scum and/or cloudiness.
To keep calcium constant, test for calcium at least once a month, and add calcium increaser as needed.
4 Simple Steps to Economically Keep Your Pool Maintained and Your Water Clear and Clean(3)
Keep Your pH and Total Alkalinity (TA) Properly Adjusted
pH is probably the most important thing to keep properly maintained. It not only effects the physical aspects of the pool, like the pool liner, ladders, lights, but it also has a great influence on achieving the proper chemical balance in the pool.
The pH of the water is is very important. It can become unsafe to have pH too low. Low pH is acidic. You know what acid does. So water with a low pH can begin to eat away at parts in the pool, like screws and other metallic pieces. If you have a light in the pool, the light ring might begin to rust. These are all expensive things to fix or replace.
On the other end, a high pH can lead to murky water, filter problems and perhaps stain your liner. Again, things you don’t really want to deal with.
If your pH is too low, you should add pH increaser as necessary. Similarly, if your pH is too high, then you should add pH reducer.
Total alkalinity is difficult to explain. In overly simplistic terms, Total alkalinity (TA) keeps you from having wide variations in pH every time a different chemical is added. In pool talk, total alkalinity buffers the pH.
If your total alkalinity begins to be too low, add total alkalinity increaser as necessary.
These are some of the things they will check for when the pool water is tested. Also, you can and should be testing these on your own.
By testing regularly (weekly), and adjusting your pH and TA as needed, pH and TA will usually be okay.
pH is probably the most important thing to keep properly maintained. It not only effects the physical aspects of the pool, like the pool liner, ladders, lights, but it also has a great influence on achieving the proper chemical balance in the pool.
The pH of the water is is very important. It can become unsafe to have pH too low. Low pH is acidic. You know what acid does. So water with a low pH can begin to eat away at parts in the pool, like screws and other metallic pieces. If you have a light in the pool, the light ring might begin to rust. These are all expensive things to fix or replace.
On the other end, a high pH can lead to murky water, filter problems and perhaps stain your liner. Again, things you don’t really want to deal with.
If your pH is too low, you should add pH increaser as necessary. Similarly, if your pH is too high, then you should add pH reducer.
Total alkalinity is difficult to explain. In overly simplistic terms, Total alkalinity (TA) keeps you from having wide variations in pH every time a different chemical is added. In pool talk, total alkalinity buffers the pH.
If your total alkalinity begins to be too low, add total alkalinity increaser as necessary.
These are some of the things they will check for when the pool water is tested. Also, you can and should be testing these on your own.
By testing regularly (weekly), and adjusting your pH and TA as needed, pH and TA will usually be okay.
4 Simple Steps to Economically Keep Your Pool Maintained and Your Water Clear and Clean(2)
Prevent algae at all costs! Keep your pool sanitized.
What do we mean by sanitized? We mean chlorine, bromine or Baquacil-type sanitizer. Sanitizers both prevent algae and kill bacteria.
Why should you prevent algae at all costs? Algae is a group of microscopic organisms which start out in your pool virtually invisible to the naked eye. If left alone, it will multiply and grow and pretty soon you will have a murky, cloudy water.
Algae can be very difficult to get rid of. It can clog your filters, stain your pool liner and wreak all kinds of havoc for you. So, in other words, you don’t want it to start growing.
Algae grows best in out of the way areas or where water circulation is poor and then spreads from there. It also grows quickest in warmer water. Once you have it and don’t completely get rid of it, it can come back again.
All in all, algae is a relatively common problem, but it is definitely one you don’t want, because, in addition to the other problems, it can also be a very expensive problem. Do everything necessary to keep your pool water sanitized. By doing so, not only will you not get sick from bacteria and the like, but it will keep you from getting algae infestations.
How can you prevent algae growth:
-Keep your pool properly sanitized with chlorine (or a non-chlorine sanitizer) and keep your water chemistry correct.
-Add an algae inhibitor (algaecide) to your water (not necessarily needed if everything else is in balance)
-Make sure your pool toys or rafts don’t have any algae on them when you bring them into the water. This could be this start of your worst nightmare.
As noted previously, if you go swimming in a lake or pond, make sure you wash off your toys, floats and swimsuits before you bring them into your pool. You can introduce algae directly into the pool if you don’t clean them off, first.
What do we mean by sanitized? We mean chlorine, bromine or Baquacil-type sanitizer. Sanitizers both prevent algae and kill bacteria.
Why should you prevent algae at all costs? Algae is a group of microscopic organisms which start out in your pool virtually invisible to the naked eye. If left alone, it will multiply and grow and pretty soon you will have a murky, cloudy water.
Algae can be very difficult to get rid of. It can clog your filters, stain your pool liner and wreak all kinds of havoc for you. So, in other words, you don’t want it to start growing.
Algae grows best in out of the way areas or where water circulation is poor and then spreads from there. It also grows quickest in warmer water. Once you have it and don’t completely get rid of it, it can come back again.
All in all, algae is a relatively common problem, but it is definitely one you don’t want, because, in addition to the other problems, it can also be a very expensive problem. Do everything necessary to keep your pool water sanitized. By doing so, not only will you not get sick from bacteria and the like, but it will keep you from getting algae infestations.
How can you prevent algae growth:
-Keep your pool properly sanitized with chlorine (or a non-chlorine sanitizer) and keep your water chemistry correct.
-Add an algae inhibitor (algaecide) to your water (not necessarily needed if everything else is in balance)
-Make sure your pool toys or rafts don’t have any algae on them when you bring them into the water. This could be this start of your worst nightmare.
As noted previously, if you go swimming in a lake or pond, make sure you wash off your toys, floats and swimsuits before you bring them into your pool. You can introduce algae directly into the pool if you don’t clean them off, first.
4 Simple Steps to Economically Keep Your Pool Maintained and Your Water Clear and Clean(1)
Keep the Pool Chemistry Balanced!
Well balanced pool water is essential for swimming enjoyment, prolonging the life of your pool equipment (pool liner, ladders, pumps, etc.), the life of your accessories (pool toys, rafts, inflatables), and decreasing the amount of work and maintenance that you must do to keep the pool looking nice and clean.
Balancing the water is simply maintaining the proper amount of chemicals in your swimming pool.
This can be as simple as doing the following:
1.) If you use chlorine tablets or sticks, always keep an ample supply of them in your chlorine reservoir.
2.) Shock the pool regularly. Depending on pool use and the time of year, you may need to shock your pool weekly, monthly, or even not much at all (in the winter). Most importantly, though, if your chlorine tablets or sticks run out make sure you shock.
3.) Add any balancing chemicals as needed.
If ever in doubt, simply have your water tested. The results will dictate what needs to be added to bring it up to optimal conditions.
The amount of chemicals to add is based on pool test results and the your pool size.
Well balanced pool water is essential for swimming enjoyment, prolonging the life of your pool equipment (pool liner, ladders, pumps, etc.), the life of your accessories (pool toys, rafts, inflatables), and decreasing the amount of work and maintenance that you must do to keep the pool looking nice and clean.
Balancing the water is simply maintaining the proper amount of chemicals in your swimming pool.
This can be as simple as doing the following:
1.) If you use chlorine tablets or sticks, always keep an ample supply of them in your chlorine reservoir.
2.) Shock the pool regularly. Depending on pool use and the time of year, you may need to shock your pool weekly, monthly, or even not much at all (in the winter). Most importantly, though, if your chlorine tablets or sticks run out make sure you shock.
3.) Add any balancing chemicals as needed.
If ever in doubt, simply have your water tested. The results will dictate what needs to be added to bring it up to optimal conditions.
The amount of chemicals to add is based on pool test results and the your pool size.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Pool Pump Timer Not Working -Things Aren't Always As Bad as They Seem
Within the span of a few weeks my Polaris pump stopped working and my pool pump timer stopped working. Luckily this pump worked yet, but I had to turn it on and off manually - what a pain.
Before calling the pool service people I thought I would look into fixing it myself.
I opened the door that encloses the timers and first checked to see if the motor was running. To do this is quite simple. The timer (big yellow dial) is mounted to a steel plate. In this steel plate is a hole - about 3/8 inch diameter. If you shine a flashlight into this hole you can see the gears of the timer motor. Obviously if the gears are moving the motor is good. My gears were not moving.
So I started looking for a model number of what to order.
What I didn't realize at first is that everything is 'modular'. You have 2 timers which are controlled by 2 tiny motors.
If you remove the plate (with switches) at the bottom of the timer assembly (just 2 screws), this whole plate and switch assembly can be pulled out.
Then if you go all the way to the top of the box you will see a small tab that is protruding down and is holding the timer plate in place. By pushing on this tab, you can move the whole timer plate so you can have access to the back.
Once there, you will see a small motor/gear box which runs the timer.
All you have to do is get the model number off of it and find a place to order one.
I found one at the same place as I purchased my Polaris pool pump www.PoolSupplyWorld.com.
After receiving it, changing it was quite simple. All you had to do was remove 2 tiny screws which held the motor/gear box on. (This was the hardest thing since I didn't have a small enough screwdriver or a hex head screw driver to remove these 2 screws. If I have to do this again, I will go buy one of these screwdrivers first.)
After you get the gear box removed, you just have to loosen the screws at the ends of the wires and remove them.
All in all, you only have to remove 2 screws to remove the gear box and then the 2 screws to attach the wires.
One major reminder: Turn the power off to the pool at the circuit breaker before attempting any of this work. I didn't mention it above so thought I should say something here.
Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward. Real cheap
Before calling the pool service people I thought I would look into fixing it myself.
I opened the door that encloses the timers and first checked to see if the motor was running. To do this is quite simple. The timer (big yellow dial) is mounted to a steel plate. In this steel plate is a hole - about 3/8 inch diameter. If you shine a flashlight into this hole you can see the gears of the timer motor. Obviously if the gears are moving the motor is good. My gears were not moving.
So I started looking for a model number of what to order.
What I didn't realize at first is that everything is 'modular'. You have 2 timers which are controlled by 2 tiny motors.
If you remove the plate (with switches) at the bottom of the timer assembly (just 2 screws), this whole plate and switch assembly can be pulled out.
Then if you go all the way to the top of the box you will see a small tab that is protruding down and is holding the timer plate in place. By pushing on this tab, you can move the whole timer plate so you can have access to the back.
Once there, you will see a small motor/gear box which runs the timer.
All you have to do is get the model number off of it and find a place to order one.
I found one at the same place as I purchased my Polaris pool pump www.PoolSupplyWorld.com.
After receiving it, changing it was quite simple. All you had to do was remove 2 tiny screws which held the motor/gear box on. (This was the hardest thing since I didn't have a small enough screwdriver or a hex head screw driver to remove these 2 screws. If I have to do this again, I will go buy one of these screwdrivers first.)
After you get the gear box removed, you just have to loosen the screws at the ends of the wires and remove them.
All in all, you only have to remove 2 screws to remove the gear box and then the 2 screws to attach the wires.
One major reminder: Turn the power off to the pool at the circuit breaker before attempting any of this work. I didn't mention it above so thought I should say something here.
Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward. Real cheap
Polaris Pump Not Working When It Comes to Pool Repairs, Don't Assume ..
My Polaris pool pump stopped working so I did all the usual stuff.
Flipped the power on/off
Flipped the circuit breaker on /off
Tried getting the pump working by manually spinning the blade.
All to no avail.
So I called the pool repair people. About a week or 2 after my call, they finally showed up. They turned the switch on and the Polaris pump started right up - no problem. They couldn't explain why it wasn't working. All they could tell me was that an $80 service call bill would be coming.
The Polaris pump worked for a month or so and then stopped working again. I went through all the same things as mentioned above but it still wouldn't work.
I decided that since the pump was maybe 3 years old that it was probably bad. (The pool repair people also had said that these pool pumps generally have a life of 3 years or so.)
My next decision was: should I order one and replace it myself, or, pay to have it done. I looked at the Polaris pump and all it had was power coming in and 2 high pressure hoses attached to it. This meant that all I should have to do would be to connect 3 wires (and the ground) and the 2 hoses.
I figured I could handle this myself. I would disconnect the old wiring - noting where everything was, and then re-connect them on the new pump. Worst case, I would have to get a friend who could do electrical work if I had a problem.
I searched on the Internet for a pump. There were a lot of places that sold them. Luckily one of the links that came up was one of those price comparison sites. They had www.PoolSupplyWorld.com listed as the cheapest and also had free shipping. Wow!
Next question - what about those high pressure hoses? Do I have to change them? How do those connections work?
Well, I decided I would worry about that later. I figured that worst case I would have to go to the local hardware store and buy new ones.
I placed my order and within a day or two the order was shipped. So, in less than a week I had my parts and was ready to go.
Upon receiving the pump, I opened it up to make sure that it was identical to the one I had. It was. To my surprise it also came with a new high pressure hose and new fittings. Wow again!!
Time to install the new pump - This really wasn't that bad.
First, before beginning, the safest thing is to turn off the power to the pool at the circuit breaker.
Then, as I noted above, I just made sure I understood where the wires were on the old pump and put them on the new pump. Since the pumps were identical, this was pretty straight forward.
As for the high pressure hoses, I didn't know if I should change them (and the fittings) or re-use the ones I had on. I decided I would re-use the ones that were on. If they wouldn't seal up properly, then I would put the new ones on. I attached the hoses (using clear silicone caulk on the threads as they recommend). No leaks.
Time to turn the pump on and admire my work.
Turned the pump on and nothing happened. It acted just like the old pump. I was sure I had everything wired properly so it had to be something else.
Now I am not an electrician, but I got out my voltmeter and started checking the voltage to see where I had voltage and where I didn't. I found that I had power coming to the timer boxer, where the Polaris on/off timer was, but I didn't have any power on the lines going to the pump.
I found the timer switch that turns the pump on and off. It is a big brass switch. Turns out that I had power on one side of the switch, and no matter what I did, there was no power on the other side of the switch.
I then started to notice that there were a whole bunch of dead ants in the vicinity of the switch, so I cleaned them out real good and made sure the switch made good contact with itself. I flipped the Polaris pump switch one more time and the pump came on.
Turns out that sometimes I get ants up in the timer controls. I don't know if they go up them for warmth or what, but I have noticed them up there in the past.
What must have happened is that a bunch of ants went up there and got 'fried'. There must have been just enough of them to block the switch and prevent it from making good electrical contact for when they were cleaned out, everything was fine again.
So the moral of the story is - if a pump or something doesn't work, don't assume the pump (or whatever) is bad.
In this case I should have started with the voltmeter and followed the power flow right from the beginning. I would have found that there was no power on the other side of the switch and would have realized then and there that the pump was probably okay and the problem lay with the switch.
If I would have done this I would have saved myself a few hundred dollars and would have had a working pool much sooner.
I can take pride in the fact that I did change things myself, saving me hundreds of dollars, and that I now have a backup pump if I ever need one.
What I am curious about though is if I would have called the pool repair people and let them do the work for me, would they have been honest with me and told me that the switch was dirty, or, would they have put on a new pump, charged me exorbitantly and never mention the fact that the real problem was in the switch.
I guess I will never know.
Flipped the power on/off
Flipped the circuit breaker on /off
Tried getting the pump working by manually spinning the blade.
All to no avail.
So I called the pool repair people. About a week or 2 after my call, they finally showed up. They turned the switch on and the Polaris pump started right up - no problem. They couldn't explain why it wasn't working. All they could tell me was that an $80 service call bill would be coming.
The Polaris pump worked for a month or so and then stopped working again. I went through all the same things as mentioned above but it still wouldn't work.
I decided that since the pump was maybe 3 years old that it was probably bad. (The pool repair people also had said that these pool pumps generally have a life of 3 years or so.)
My next decision was: should I order one and replace it myself, or, pay to have it done. I looked at the Polaris pump and all it had was power coming in and 2 high pressure hoses attached to it. This meant that all I should have to do would be to connect 3 wires (and the ground) and the 2 hoses.
I figured I could handle this myself. I would disconnect the old wiring - noting where everything was, and then re-connect them on the new pump. Worst case, I would have to get a friend who could do electrical work if I had a problem.
I searched on the Internet for a pump. There were a lot of places that sold them. Luckily one of the links that came up was one of those price comparison sites. They had www.PoolSupplyWorld.com listed as the cheapest and also had free shipping. Wow!
Next question - what about those high pressure hoses? Do I have to change them? How do those connections work?
Well, I decided I would worry about that later. I figured that worst case I would have to go to the local hardware store and buy new ones.
I placed my order and within a day or two the order was shipped. So, in less than a week I had my parts and was ready to go.
Upon receiving the pump, I opened it up to make sure that it was identical to the one I had. It was. To my surprise it also came with a new high pressure hose and new fittings. Wow again!!
Time to install the new pump - This really wasn't that bad.
First, before beginning, the safest thing is to turn off the power to the pool at the circuit breaker.
Then, as I noted above, I just made sure I understood where the wires were on the old pump and put them on the new pump. Since the pumps were identical, this was pretty straight forward.
As for the high pressure hoses, I didn't know if I should change them (and the fittings) or re-use the ones I had on. I decided I would re-use the ones that were on. If they wouldn't seal up properly, then I would put the new ones on. I attached the hoses (using clear silicone caulk on the threads as they recommend). No leaks.
Time to turn the pump on and admire my work.
Turned the pump on and nothing happened. It acted just like the old pump. I was sure I had everything wired properly so it had to be something else.
Now I am not an electrician, but I got out my voltmeter and started checking the voltage to see where I had voltage and where I didn't. I found that I had power coming to the timer boxer, where the Polaris on/off timer was, but I didn't have any power on the lines going to the pump.
I found the timer switch that turns the pump on and off. It is a big brass switch. Turns out that I had power on one side of the switch, and no matter what I did, there was no power on the other side of the switch.
I then started to notice that there were a whole bunch of dead ants in the vicinity of the switch, so I cleaned them out real good and made sure the switch made good contact with itself. I flipped the Polaris pump switch one more time and the pump came on.
Turns out that sometimes I get ants up in the timer controls. I don't know if they go up them for warmth or what, but I have noticed them up there in the past.
What must have happened is that a bunch of ants went up there and got 'fried'. There must have been just enough of them to block the switch and prevent it from making good electrical contact for when they were cleaned out, everything was fine again.
So the moral of the story is - if a pump or something doesn't work, don't assume the pump (or whatever) is bad.
In this case I should have started with the voltmeter and followed the power flow right from the beginning. I would have found that there was no power on the other side of the switch and would have realized then and there that the pump was probably okay and the problem lay with the switch.
If I would have done this I would have saved myself a few hundred dollars and would have had a working pool much sooner.
I can take pride in the fact that I did change things myself, saving me hundreds of dollars, and that I now have a backup pump if I ever need one.
What I am curious about though is if I would have called the pool repair people and let them do the work for me, would they have been honest with me and told me that the switch was dirty, or, would they have put on a new pump, charged me exorbitantly and never mention the fact that the real problem was in the switch.
I guess I will never know.
Importance of Proper Swimming Pool Maintenance . . .
If you are a pool owner, you have made a major investment! So, proper swimming pool maintenance is an absolute must!!
Keeping your pool clean and maintained should therefore be a top priority - for a clean pool is essential in many ways.
First, no one wants to swim in, or look at, a dirty, yuky green pool.
Second, while the pool may look clean, it may in fact, be still contaminated with enough little things to cause sickness. Pools need to be sanitized not only to prevent algae, but to destroy bacteria as well.
And thirdly, if a pool is not maintained properly it can get very expensive to clean and / or fix. Furthermore, if some problems are not cleared up or fixed correctly they will keep recurring, which means more time and money lost.
In short, proper swimming pool maintenance gives you a pool with sparkling clean water, which feels like silk.
But don't despair, pool maintenance does not have to be a chore. If done properly, all that is needed is for you to perform some simple routine chores and checks. By performing the tasks reported in this web site you can have the pool of your dreams.
Maintaining a clear, clean pool requires two types of effort:
1. Manual, where the owner is responsible to do something like check the water, add chemicals and maintain the proper balance
2. Automatic, where a machine of some sort can perform this repetitive duty.
Obviously, this site only lists the basics. If you do all these, you should have no problems with maintaining a crystal clear pool. If you do have problems, contact your local pool supplier or search the net. There is a wealth of information out there for maintaining a well balanced, clean pool.
We confidently speak from experience, a crystal clear pool can be enjoyed with a minimum of effort and cost. It just takes a basic understanding and checks in a consistent manner.
For more information on the pool basics, please see one of the following pages.
On these pages you will learn the basics of proper swimming pool maintenance. We will briefly explain about the basic pool chemicals that are needed, how to check them and what additional chemicals help create a 'silky' smooth water. We will also briefly mention some more expensive, but ultimately economical, ways to keep a clean pool with a minimum amount of effort.
Keeping your pool clean and maintained should therefore be a top priority - for a clean pool is essential in many ways.
First, no one wants to swim in, or look at, a dirty, yuky green pool.
Second, while the pool may look clean, it may in fact, be still contaminated with enough little things to cause sickness. Pools need to be sanitized not only to prevent algae, but to destroy bacteria as well.
And thirdly, if a pool is not maintained properly it can get very expensive to clean and / or fix. Furthermore, if some problems are not cleared up or fixed correctly they will keep recurring, which means more time and money lost.
In short, proper swimming pool maintenance gives you a pool with sparkling clean water, which feels like silk.
But don't despair, pool maintenance does not have to be a chore. If done properly, all that is needed is for you to perform some simple routine chores and checks. By performing the tasks reported in this web site you can have the pool of your dreams.
Maintaining a clear, clean pool requires two types of effort:
1. Manual, where the owner is responsible to do something like check the water, add chemicals and maintain the proper balance
2. Automatic, where a machine of some sort can perform this repetitive duty.
Obviously, this site only lists the basics. If you do all these, you should have no problems with maintaining a crystal clear pool. If you do have problems, contact your local pool supplier or search the net. There is a wealth of information out there for maintaining a well balanced, clean pool.
We confidently speak from experience, a crystal clear pool can be enjoyed with a minimum of effort and cost. It just takes a basic understanding and checks in a consistent manner.
For more information on the pool basics, please see one of the following pages.
On these pages you will learn the basics of proper swimming pool maintenance. We will briefly explain about the basic pool chemicals that are needed, how to check them and what additional chemicals help create a 'silky' smooth water. We will also briefly mention some more expensive, but ultimately economical, ways to keep a clean pool with a minimum amount of effort.
Modern Baby Swimwear
Are you ready for some summer fun with your baby? Doctors and health professionals agree that there is no reason that even newborns as young as one month old can’t go in the pool (the old school thought that parents should wait until babies have at least had their two-month immunizations no longer holds water) and say that introducing children to water early on can be conducive to teaching them to swim. Taking a baby into the pool means providing the baby with the appropriate swimwear.
Swimwear for newborns younger than three months is rather hard to come by. Most manufacturers start their swimwear sizes anywhere between three and twelve months, which is okay because babies younger than that are better off swimming au natural. For the older babies and toddlers there are a good number of swimwear choices available.
Swim Diapers
One potential issue that used to keep parents from bringing babies into the swimming pool was the worry about what would happen if the child had an “accident” in the water. While it was really never that much of an issue (pool chlorination is intended to combat exactly this sort of problem), parents would refrain from bringing their babies to public pools for fear of the embarrassment this would cause and were reluctant to bring them into their own pools if they did not know what steps would need to be taken in the event of a solid waste accident. With the advent of swim diapers, those fears no longer need to prevent a child from going in the water.
Swim diapers are polyurethane lined with cotton cloth. Machine washable and dryable, they are the perfect answer for parents who are concerned that their babies may relieve themselves while in the pool. Available from many stores and online retailers, swim diapers typically cost anywhere from ten to fifteen dollars.
Flotation Devices
The most popular and effective children’s floatation devices are the “water wings” that slide over the arms and keep the child afloat and free to splash and play in the water. These are, unfortunately, not suitable for children under twelve months. There are floatation devices designed for younger babies, but the general recommendation is that babies that age stay with the parents unless being taught to swim (swim classes for babies can start as early as twelve weeks).
Swimsuits and Trunks
Baby swimwear comes in various styles, mostly in full body tanks and trunks similar to those worn by older children and men. For girls there are one and two piece styles, as one would expect. Because baby’s skin is very sensitive it is important to use the appropriate sunscreen to prevent your little Ethel or Mark from getting a nasty sunburn while at the pool.
Swimwear for newborns younger than three months is rather hard to come by. Most manufacturers start their swimwear sizes anywhere between three and twelve months, which is okay because babies younger than that are better off swimming au natural. For the older babies and toddlers there are a good number of swimwear choices available.
Swim Diapers
One potential issue that used to keep parents from bringing babies into the swimming pool was the worry about what would happen if the child had an “accident” in the water. While it was really never that much of an issue (pool chlorination is intended to combat exactly this sort of problem), parents would refrain from bringing their babies to public pools for fear of the embarrassment this would cause and were reluctant to bring them into their own pools if they did not know what steps would need to be taken in the event of a solid waste accident. With the advent of swim diapers, those fears no longer need to prevent a child from going in the water.
Swim diapers are polyurethane lined with cotton cloth. Machine washable and dryable, they are the perfect answer for parents who are concerned that their babies may relieve themselves while in the pool. Available from many stores and online retailers, swim diapers typically cost anywhere from ten to fifteen dollars.
Flotation Devices
The most popular and effective children’s floatation devices are the “water wings” that slide over the arms and keep the child afloat and free to splash and play in the water. These are, unfortunately, not suitable for children under twelve months. There are floatation devices designed for younger babies, but the general recommendation is that babies that age stay with the parents unless being taught to swim (swim classes for babies can start as early as twelve weeks).
Swimsuits and Trunks
Baby swimwear comes in various styles, mostly in full body tanks and trunks similar to those worn by older children and men. For girls there are one and two piece styles, as one would expect. Because baby’s skin is very sensitive it is important to use the appropriate sunscreen to prevent your little Ethel or Mark from getting a nasty sunburn while at the pool.
Save Money with a Solar Pool Heater & Cover
Heat your pool with a Solar Pool Heater and save the heat with a Solar Pool Cover. Solar pool heating systems are very simple in terms of engineering and application. The basic principle being: run enough water through enough black stuff on the roof and the pool gets warm.
Most pool heating systems include a:
Solar collector: The device through which pool water is circulated to be heated by the sun
Filter: Removes debris before water is pumped through the collector
Pump: Circulates water through the filter and collector and back to the pool
Flow control valve: Automatic or manual device that diverts pool water through the solar collector.
How pool heating systems work.
Pool water is pumped through the filter and then through the solar collector(s), where it is heated before it is returned to the pool. In hot climates, the collector can also be used to cool the pool during peak summer months by circulating the water through the collector at night.
Some systems include sensors and an automatic or manual valve to divert water through the collector when the collector temperature is sufficiently greater than the pool temperature. When the collector temperature is similar to the pool temperature, filtered water simply bypasses the collectors and is returned to the pool.
Solar pool collectors
Solar pool collectors are made out of different materials; the type that you buy depends on your climate and how you intend to use the collector. Collectors designed to operate only when temperatures are above freezing are inexpensive, made from specially formulated plastic materials, and generally do not include glazing (a glass covering). Collectors appropriate for colder climates, or that are designed to operate year-round, generally have metal components and a low iron-tempered glass glazing (glazing greatly increases the cost of the collector).
Solar Pool Covers
The largest heat loss from a swimming pool is from evaporation, by adding a simple barrier such as a pool cover can cut almost all of these losses. Covering the pool with a pool cover when it is not in use is the single most effective means of reducing pool heating costs. Savings of 50-70% are possible. It is also worthwhile investing in a pool cover reel, to make covering the pool easier.
Most pool heating systems include a:
Solar collector: The device through which pool water is circulated to be heated by the sun
Filter: Removes debris before water is pumped through the collector
Pump: Circulates water through the filter and collector and back to the pool
Flow control valve: Automatic or manual device that diverts pool water through the solar collector.
How pool heating systems work.
Pool water is pumped through the filter and then through the solar collector(s), where it is heated before it is returned to the pool. In hot climates, the collector can also be used to cool the pool during peak summer months by circulating the water through the collector at night.
Some systems include sensors and an automatic or manual valve to divert water through the collector when the collector temperature is sufficiently greater than the pool temperature. When the collector temperature is similar to the pool temperature, filtered water simply bypasses the collectors and is returned to the pool.
Solar pool collectors
Solar pool collectors are made out of different materials; the type that you buy depends on your climate and how you intend to use the collector. Collectors designed to operate only when temperatures are above freezing are inexpensive, made from specially formulated plastic materials, and generally do not include glazing (a glass covering). Collectors appropriate for colder climates, or that are designed to operate year-round, generally have metal components and a low iron-tempered glass glazing (glazing greatly increases the cost of the collector).
Solar Pool Covers
The largest heat loss from a swimming pool is from evaporation, by adding a simple barrier such as a pool cover can cut almost all of these losses. Covering the pool with a pool cover when it is not in use is the single most effective means of reducing pool heating costs. Savings of 50-70% are possible. It is also worthwhile investing in a pool cover reel, to make covering the pool easier.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Swimming Pool Alarms Compared
Pool Eye In-Ground Alarm System
Do you want two levels of protection at an affordable price? Combining a motion detector and underwater wave sensor, this innovative pool alarm system provides double safety and peace of mind. The initial line of defense comes from an infrared motion detector that features a 180-degree/100-foot range. When an object comes near the pool an alarm sounds both at the pool and at the in-house receiver. A patented underwater wave detector that signals when an object weighing 15 lb.or more falls into the pool enforces the second line against accidents. This system has two alarms-- one at the pool and one at a remote receiver. The alarm at the pool can either be set to "chirp" or to wail at 120-decibels while the remote receiver, which may be placed up to 100-feet away from the pool, alerts you with a voice announcement or a 100-decibel siren. Loaded with numerous safety features, including power battery, RF checks, and timed resets, this high-tech, water-resistant system comes with ladder and deck mounting hardware, installation and instruction manual, and a remote receiver A/C adapter. It's easy to install and comes with a 6-month warranty. (ETL/CETL/CE/FCC listed) Price is approximately $170.
Deluxe Above-Ground Pool Alarm with Remote Receiver
This alarm, designed for aboveground pools, offers reliable protection at an affordable price. Featuring a patented underwater wave detector, this easy to install and operate system instantly projects a loud 120-decibel alarm when an object weighing 15 lb. or more enters the water. The system's sensor is mounted inside the pool next to the wall while the control panel, which contains the siren, is installed on top of the pool. The control panel has an on/off switch, low battery alert, and a power check button. The system includes mounting hardware, a remote receiver that can accept a signal up to 100-feet away, and instructions. Coverage is for a round pool up to 24-feet or a 16 x 32-foot oval. A 1-year warranty is included. Price is approximately $130.
Safety Turtle Alarm System
The Safety Turtle Alarm System, which includes a base and one wristband, monitors your child and not your pool! This reliable, wireless safety system is one of the easiest to use. Consisting of an electric wristband that securely locks on your child's wrist, this device requires no poolside installation and may be easily transferred to another pool, to a boat, or to a lakeside cottage. The instant the wristband hits the water, it transmits a signal activating the remote 110V base unit. The result is a piercing alarm that alerts you to the danger. Unlike other pool systems the Safety Turtle is not prone to false alarms and it does not need to be turned off when the pool is being cleaned or in use. As long as it is on your child the wristband is on. The remote base unit may be located up to 100-feet from the wristband's area of use. Multiple wristbands may be ordered and used simultaneously. A family with 3 children would spend about $300 for this alarm system. The base comes with a 1-year warranty while the wristbands have a 6-month warranty.
Do you want two levels of protection at an affordable price? Combining a motion detector and underwater wave sensor, this innovative pool alarm system provides double safety and peace of mind. The initial line of defense comes from an infrared motion detector that features a 180-degree/100-foot range. When an object comes near the pool an alarm sounds both at the pool and at the in-house receiver. A patented underwater wave detector that signals when an object weighing 15 lb.or more falls into the pool enforces the second line against accidents. This system has two alarms-- one at the pool and one at a remote receiver. The alarm at the pool can either be set to "chirp" or to wail at 120-decibels while the remote receiver, which may be placed up to 100-feet away from the pool, alerts you with a voice announcement or a 100-decibel siren. Loaded with numerous safety features, including power battery, RF checks, and timed resets, this high-tech, water-resistant system comes with ladder and deck mounting hardware, installation and instruction manual, and a remote receiver A/C adapter. It's easy to install and comes with a 6-month warranty. (ETL/CETL/CE/FCC listed) Price is approximately $170.
Deluxe Above-Ground Pool Alarm with Remote Receiver
This alarm, designed for aboveground pools, offers reliable protection at an affordable price. Featuring a patented underwater wave detector, this easy to install and operate system instantly projects a loud 120-decibel alarm when an object weighing 15 lb. or more enters the water. The system's sensor is mounted inside the pool next to the wall while the control panel, which contains the siren, is installed on top of the pool. The control panel has an on/off switch, low battery alert, and a power check button. The system includes mounting hardware, a remote receiver that can accept a signal up to 100-feet away, and instructions. Coverage is for a round pool up to 24-feet or a 16 x 32-foot oval. A 1-year warranty is included. Price is approximately $130.
Safety Turtle Alarm System
The Safety Turtle Alarm System, which includes a base and one wristband, monitors your child and not your pool! This reliable, wireless safety system is one of the easiest to use. Consisting of an electric wristband that securely locks on your child's wrist, this device requires no poolside installation and may be easily transferred to another pool, to a boat, or to a lakeside cottage. The instant the wristband hits the water, it transmits a signal activating the remote 110V base unit. The result is a piercing alarm that alerts you to the danger. Unlike other pool systems the Safety Turtle is not prone to false alarms and it does not need to be turned off when the pool is being cleaned or in use. As long as it is on your child the wristband is on. The remote base unit may be located up to 100-feet from the wristband's area of use. Multiple wristbands may be ordered and used simultaneously. A family with 3 children would spend about $300 for this alarm system. The base comes with a 1-year warranty while the wristbands have a 6-month warranty.
Swimming Pools Don't Need to be Poisoned
There are a significant amount of swimming pool owners that have actively searched and replaced their conventional chlorinated filter systems for a more advanced and safer system. There is a growing concern on the negative health potential of chlorine and chlorinated swimming pool filter systems.
Did you know that your body can absorb 600% to 1,000% more contamination in a solitary 10 minute shower than drinking the same tap water for an entire day? Ever notice how dry your skin is after you swim in your swimming pool and the effect it has on your hair? Your swimming pools chlorinated water is designed to attack living organic matter. Are we not living organic matter?
By replacing your swimming pools existing filter system with an alternative non chlorine system, you can stop the harmful effects of chlorine and other contaminants in your swimming pool water.
There are two types of system that I found to be highly effective. A high-end filtration and reverse osmosis system.
Most filtration systems use activated charcoal which is mostly carbon. What does mean to you? The principle of charcoal filter is absorption. Charcoal is very porous and has the ability to absorb impurities as well as most poisonous gasses.
The high-end filters offer more then just a carbon block to filter for your swimming pool. They also must have materials that will remove particles as small as one micron. Look for the ones that add negative ions for hyper-hydration and help the body in fighting common skin conditions, rejuvenates and moisturizes your skin, softens hair without chemicals.
Also, when looking to purchase this type of filter look for one that have no replaceable cartages. These are an expensive consumable and add to your swimming pools yearly cost. These filters do need to be cleaned, but at a rate once every 7 to 10 years.
The other type, reverse osmosis, is the process of water being pushed through an ultra-fine semi-permeable membrane, where it separates the liquid into to a storage tank. The brine concentrate is then disposed thru a drain. The water is then stored in a pressure tank and is treated to a final activated-charcoal polishing filtration stage to remove all remaining odors and tastes before dispensing the purified water into your swimming pool. The reverse osmosis units are considerably cheaper then the high-end filter systems, the disadvantage, they waste a lot of water. Every gallon of purified water produced, two gallons are wasted.
Which ever way you go, the benefits of a non-chlorinated swimming pool will be a cleaner, safer and more enjoyable experience.
Did you know that your body can absorb 600% to 1,000% more contamination in a solitary 10 minute shower than drinking the same tap water for an entire day? Ever notice how dry your skin is after you swim in your swimming pool and the effect it has on your hair? Your swimming pools chlorinated water is designed to attack living organic matter. Are we not living organic matter?
By replacing your swimming pools existing filter system with an alternative non chlorine system, you can stop the harmful effects of chlorine and other contaminants in your swimming pool water.
There are two types of system that I found to be highly effective. A high-end filtration and reverse osmosis system.
Most filtration systems use activated charcoal which is mostly carbon. What does mean to you? The principle of charcoal filter is absorption. Charcoal is very porous and has the ability to absorb impurities as well as most poisonous gasses.
The high-end filters offer more then just a carbon block to filter for your swimming pool. They also must have materials that will remove particles as small as one micron. Look for the ones that add negative ions for hyper-hydration and help the body in fighting common skin conditions, rejuvenates and moisturizes your skin, softens hair without chemicals.
Also, when looking to purchase this type of filter look for one that have no replaceable cartages. These are an expensive consumable and add to your swimming pools yearly cost. These filters do need to be cleaned, but at a rate once every 7 to 10 years.
The other type, reverse osmosis, is the process of water being pushed through an ultra-fine semi-permeable membrane, where it separates the liquid into to a storage tank. The brine concentrate is then disposed thru a drain. The water is then stored in a pressure tank and is treated to a final activated-charcoal polishing filtration stage to remove all remaining odors and tastes before dispensing the purified water into your swimming pool. The reverse osmosis units are considerably cheaper then the high-end filter systems, the disadvantage, they waste a lot of water. Every gallon of purified water produced, two gallons are wasted.
Which ever way you go, the benefits of a non-chlorinated swimming pool will be a cleaner, safer and more enjoyable experience.
Pool Safety: Saving Lives Through Common Sense
By Ian Partridge
POOL SAFETY: SAVING LIVES THROUGH COMMON SENSE
FACTS:
* The third greatest risk to children in America is drowning
* Throughout the world an average of 30 people per hour drown in pools, at beaches, and in other bodies of water. A large percentage of these victims are children 5 years of age and younger.
* In the United States the second leading cause of unintentional death in persons from 5 to 44 years old is drowning.
* For children under 14 years of age the primary cause of unintentional death is drowning.
* Drownings and near drownings tend to happen when children are in familiar surroundings being supervised by a parent. The drownings usually occurred during a supervisory lapse.
* Almost 70% of all children who were accidentally submerged were not expected to be near the pool at that time. 65% of these accidents happened in a pool owned by the family.
* It takes as little as 2 inches of water and 2 seconds for a child to drown.
* Children less than 1-year old are more likely to drown in buckets and bathtubs than older children are.
* In 90% of backyard drowning cases the parents eventually divorce.
* Drownings and near drownings occur in pools with perimeter fences and gate alarms.
ALWAYS THINK OF SAFETY:
* Never leave a child unattended in a pool, tub, or spa.
* Police both the areas inside and outside your pool. To gain access children may use chairs, boxes, ladders, and other objects left outside the pool.
* Wadding pools, buckets, and drains should be emptied of water when not in use and must be closely supervised when in use.
* If your pool is easily accessed through your home lock doggie doors.
* Never prop open a gate and leave it unattended.
* Install a passive infrared alarm system that will protect the entire pool area. Simply putting an alarm on the gate or door is not enough. Such alarm systems can be neutralized and once this occurs there is nothing between your child and the water.
* Remember young children are usually naturally curious about the water but often lack an understanding of the dangers involved.
* Stress water safety.
* All members of your family should learn how to swim.
Pool safety is not an accident. Sound planning, careful supervision, and an alarm system that cannot be compromised are important elements that will help ensure the well being of your children and their friends. These efforts will not go unrewarded.
POOL SAFETY: SAVING LIVES THROUGH COMMON SENSE
FACTS:
* The third greatest risk to children in America is drowning
* Throughout the world an average of 30 people per hour drown in pools, at beaches, and in other bodies of water. A large percentage of these victims are children 5 years of age and younger.
* In the United States the second leading cause of unintentional death in persons from 5 to 44 years old is drowning.
* For children under 14 years of age the primary cause of unintentional death is drowning.
* Drownings and near drownings tend to happen when children are in familiar surroundings being supervised by a parent. The drownings usually occurred during a supervisory lapse.
* Almost 70% of all children who were accidentally submerged were not expected to be near the pool at that time. 65% of these accidents happened in a pool owned by the family.
* It takes as little as 2 inches of water and 2 seconds for a child to drown.
* Children less than 1-year old are more likely to drown in buckets and bathtubs than older children are.
* In 90% of backyard drowning cases the parents eventually divorce.
* Drownings and near drownings occur in pools with perimeter fences and gate alarms.
ALWAYS THINK OF SAFETY:
* Never leave a child unattended in a pool, tub, or spa.
* Police both the areas inside and outside your pool. To gain access children may use chairs, boxes, ladders, and other objects left outside the pool.
* Wadding pools, buckets, and drains should be emptied of water when not in use and must be closely supervised when in use.
* If your pool is easily accessed through your home lock doggie doors.
* Never prop open a gate and leave it unattended.
* Install a passive infrared alarm system that will protect the entire pool area. Simply putting an alarm on the gate or door is not enough. Such alarm systems can be neutralized and once this occurs there is nothing between your child and the water.
* Remember young children are usually naturally curious about the water but often lack an understanding of the dangers involved.
* Stress water safety.
* All members of your family should learn how to swim.
Pool safety is not an accident. Sound planning, careful supervision, and an alarm system that cannot be compromised are important elements that will help ensure the well being of your children and their friends. These efforts will not go unrewarded.
How to be your Pool Company's Favorite Customer
By taking advantage of a few easy swimming pool maintenance tips, you can easily make yourself the most profitable customer your local pool business has ever seen.
1. Don't clean your pool! A dirty pool is an expensive pool (expensive for you, profitable for your local pool business). The more you let your pool go, the more it will cost to get things back together again. Do you see leaves in there? By all means, let them sit. Are random foreign objects floating around in your pool? Sure, let them stay. Anything that doesn't belong in the pool, it shouldn't cause any problems, right? Likewise, it's a waste of time to be brushing your pool… especially the dead spots where algae is likely to grow. Your pool company will love you, knowing that you'll need to be buying algaecide, shock, and possibly other products to clean up a mess. Your pool business would love for you to let your pool go.
2. Never empty your skimmer or pump baskets. Those baskets are meant to permanently store all the debris that they catch. That's what baskets are for, right? Storage! It would be a far greater hassle to empty that skimmer basket every few days, as opposed to letting it break and having to buy a new one (at $15 a pop) with great regularity. Not only that, but it's good for your pool to be choking on the water circulation. Forcing your pump to work harder only makes it stronger, right? No pain, no gain. When your skimmer basket breaks, letting debris get through, let that same junk sit in your pump basket for a while. You can break two baskets with only one load of debris! After your pump basket breaks, that's when the real excitement begins. You'll have all sorts of chunks flying through the rest of the pump, and being forced into the filter. Hoorah! All the equipment is getting some exercise now! Hopefully something will break, which will further ingratiate you with your favorite pool place. After all, cleaning out those baskets is far more trouble than it's worth, right?
3. If you see algae, brush it and hope it goes away. It's a well-known fact that scrubbing algae kills it, as opposed to the nonsense of using concentrated chlorine on it. After all, even though algae was actually growing in the pool, there still should be enough chlorine in the pool to kill that stuff. The idea of actually shocking the pool wouldn't make any sense then, would it? By all means, wipe away the algae and then continue on your merry way. It's not like it will come back, right? Your pool company would much rather you waited until your algae becomes a significant problem, and growing everywhere before you take an interest in treating it. So do your pool business a favor and wait until there's algae everywhere before you decide to do anything about it.
4. Buy all your chemicals in as small amount as humanly possible. If you need some shock or chlorine sticks, make sure you get them in the smallest container available. You want to avoid those larger containers like the plague. Not only are those larger containers of the dreaded economical type, and not only do they cost you less per pound, but they will keep you from being required to regularly visit your favorite pool business.
Keep in mind, these tips are only useful if you want to be as financially supportive as possible to your local pool company. If you'd rather save money, or spend it on something other than your pool, you would do best to ignore all this advice, or even do the opposite.
2. Never empty your skimmer or pump baskets. Those baskets are meant to permanently store all the debris that they catch. That's what baskets are for, right? Storage! It would be a far greater hassle to empty that skimmer basket every few days, as opposed to letting it break and having to buy a new one (at $15 a pop) with great regularity. Not only that, but it's good for your pool to be choking on the water circulation. Forcing your pump to work harder only makes it stronger, right? No pain, no gain. When your skimmer basket breaks, letting debris get through, let that same junk sit in your pump basket for a while. You can break two baskets with only one load of debris! After your pump basket breaks, that's when the real excitement begins. You'll have all sorts of chunks flying through the rest of the pump, and being forced into the filter. Hoorah! All the equipment is getting some exercise now! Hopefully something will break, which will further ingratiate you with your favorite pool place. After all, cleaning out those baskets is far more trouble than it's worth, right?
3. If you see algae, brush it and hope it goes away. It's a well-known fact that scrubbing algae kills it, as opposed to the nonsense of using concentrated chlorine on it. After all, even though algae was actually growing in the pool, there still should be enough chlorine in the pool to kill that stuff. The idea of actually shocking the pool wouldn't make any sense then, would it? By all means, wipe away the algae and then continue on your merry way. It's not like it will come back, right? Your pool company would much rather you waited until your algae becomes a significant problem, and growing everywhere before you take an interest in treating it. So do your pool business a favor and wait until there's algae everywhere before you decide to do anything about it.
4. Buy all your chemicals in as small amount as humanly possible. If you need some shock or chlorine sticks, make sure you get them in the smallest container available. You want to avoid those larger containers like the plague. Not only are those larger containers of the dreaded economical type, and not only do they cost you less per pound, but they will keep you from being required to regularly visit your favorite pool business.
Keep in mind, these tips are only useful if you want to be as financially supportive as possible to your local pool company. If you'd rather save money, or spend it on something other than your pool, you would do best to ignore all this advice, or even do the opposite.
Swimming Pool Covers????
Swimming Pool Covers - Yes or No?? explained our approach and reasons for not using a swimming pool cover during the winter.
To continue with our story of how we maintain our pool, we begin with a crystal clear pool in early Spring or late Winter.
As you read in the other article, our approach keeps the pool looking beautiful all year round. So, come Spring, all we have to do is get the chemistry balanced correctly and we are all set for another season.
We usually buy our chemicals in bulk. They are much cheaper this way. By having our chemicals on hand (there are four main chemicals that you can buy in bulk: chlorine sticks, chlorine shock, total alkalinity and calcium) we simply take a sample of the pool water to the local pool place and have it analyzed. Most places will analyze it for free – if you buy your pool chemicals from them. But if you have large quantities at home you will just want the results of the analysis. This analysis generally will cost less than $10. You can avoid the fee by purchasing the cheaper chemicals that you need, like pH plus or chlorine stabilizer.
Once you get the analysis results, you just follow the instructions for what needs to be added and your pool is ready for another season of fun.
In early Spring when the water is still a little on the cold side, we will cover the pool with a thermal blanket at night and even during the day while we aren’t swimming. These simple ‘bubble wrap’ kind of blankets do an excellent job of keeping the warmth in the water at night, and trapping in the heat of the sun during the day. The only hassle is having to take it off every morning and put it back on every night. (One of my next projects will be to make or purchase some kind of roller to facilitate the ease of taking this cover off and putting in on every day.)
As the weather warms up, we run the pool pump for longer times each day since algae and other bad stuff grow more easily in warmer weather. Actually, if I remember right, the kind of freshwater algae we struggle with here doesn’t even really grow in water that’s colder than 50 degrees. Sometime before the hectic summer season sets in, we will take the pool filtration system apart and thoroughly clean its filters.
Other things we routinely do to keep the pool running and looking good:
-We keep the chlorine reservoir full of chlorine sticks
-We run the Polaris for at least 2 or 3 hours a day and keep the Polaris debris bag clean (if it gets too full, the bag will break and we’ll have to spend $30 on a new bag).
-We try to keep any pool toy or raft which might have mold or algae on it out of the pool. The reasoning being, if you don’t put the dirty thing in the pool, you don’t have to worry about getting the mold in your pool or on you liner. Basically, if you take your swimsuits or floats to a pond, lake or ocean, thoroughly wash and clean them before you use them in your pool, or you will be introducing algae (albeit dried algae) directly into your pool.
-We shock the pool every couple of weeks and sometimes more often depending on what’s gotten in there and how much it’s used.
-We scrub down the steps, ladder and liner sides when needed with a brush.
-We keep the water balanced, of course.
As was said in the beginning of the first article, we enjoy a pretty care-free pool by habitually doing a few things. In the few years we have owned the pool, we have not had a single major (or even minor) problem with the pool chemistry. And, to be honest, we rarely have to spend much money when we get the water tested (only every so often). We’re not in the least obsessive about our pool and it has yet to cause us any problems.
To continue with our story of how we maintain our pool, we begin with a crystal clear pool in early Spring or late Winter.
As you read in the other article, our approach keeps the pool looking beautiful all year round. So, come Spring, all we have to do is get the chemistry balanced correctly and we are all set for another season.
We usually buy our chemicals in bulk. They are much cheaper this way. By having our chemicals on hand (there are four main chemicals that you can buy in bulk: chlorine sticks, chlorine shock, total alkalinity and calcium) we simply take a sample of the pool water to the local pool place and have it analyzed. Most places will analyze it for free – if you buy your pool chemicals from them. But if you have large quantities at home you will just want the results of the analysis. This analysis generally will cost less than $10. You can avoid the fee by purchasing the cheaper chemicals that you need, like pH plus or chlorine stabilizer.
Once you get the analysis results, you just follow the instructions for what needs to be added and your pool is ready for another season of fun.
In early Spring when the water is still a little on the cold side, we will cover the pool with a thermal blanket at night and even during the day while we aren’t swimming. These simple ‘bubble wrap’ kind of blankets do an excellent job of keeping the warmth in the water at night, and trapping in the heat of the sun during the day. The only hassle is having to take it off every morning and put it back on every night. (One of my next projects will be to make or purchase some kind of roller to facilitate the ease of taking this cover off and putting in on every day.)
As the weather warms up, we run the pool pump for longer times each day since algae and other bad stuff grow more easily in warmer weather. Actually, if I remember right, the kind of freshwater algae we struggle with here doesn’t even really grow in water that’s colder than 50 degrees. Sometime before the hectic summer season sets in, we will take the pool filtration system apart and thoroughly clean its filters.
Other things we routinely do to keep the pool running and looking good:
-We keep the chlorine reservoir full of chlorine sticks
-We run the Polaris for at least 2 or 3 hours a day and keep the Polaris debris bag clean (if it gets too full, the bag will break and we’ll have to spend $30 on a new bag).
-We try to keep any pool toy or raft which might have mold or algae on it out of the pool. The reasoning being, if you don’t put the dirty thing in the pool, you don’t have to worry about getting the mold in your pool or on you liner. Basically, if you take your swimsuits or floats to a pond, lake or ocean, thoroughly wash and clean them before you use them in your pool, or you will be introducing algae (albeit dried algae) directly into your pool.
-We shock the pool every couple of weeks and sometimes more often depending on what’s gotten in there and how much it’s used.
-We scrub down the steps, ladder and liner sides when needed with a brush.
-We keep the water balanced, of course.
As was said in the beginning of the first article, we enjoy a pretty care-free pool by habitually doing a few things. In the few years we have owned the pool, we have not had a single major (or even minor) problem with the pool chemistry. And, to be honest, we rarely have to spend much money when we get the water tested (only every so often). We’re not in the least obsessive about our pool and it has yet to cause us any problems.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Swimming Pool Covers - Yes or No??
Before I owned a pool I always thought that pool maintenance was going to be a real pain and troublesome. I had heard many horror stories from friends and acquaintances about all the problems they had in keeping their pools clean and balanced.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that after our inground pool was installed, that maintenance of it really wasn't a problem. How did I achieve this? I don't know -- but this is what I do.
First we never invested in a pool cover. Since we live in SC we have a few months of 'cold' temperatures but the remainder of the winter isn't too bad. We don't swim much from October to March but we don't cover it either. We simply leave the pump and filter running. During the colder weather we don't have to leave the pump run as much as when it is warmer, but the pool runs about 4-5 hours a day during the dead of winter. If the temperature drops below about 40 deg F, the pump automatically comes on to keep things from freezing. So, the first thing we don't have to do is to cover the pool.
By not covering the pool, you save hundreds of dollars by not having to buy a pool cover every couple of years. But, in the long run, you might potentially pay more for electricity to run the pump all year than a new cover would have cost. However, keep in mind that covers tend to age fairly quickly, and you might have to buy a new one every few years anyways.
By not covering the pool you also save the hassle of 'opening the pool' every spring. First, you don't have to mess with the debris of leaves and the murky water that accumulates on the top of the cover. As you know, after a while these water soaked leaves that accumulate on the cover, start to decay and send all this decaying rot into your pool where it contaminates the water and may even stick or attack your pool liner. So, by not covering your pool during the winter you save the hassle of dealing with all this rotten leaves and stuff. On the flip side, if you do cover the pool, do yourself a favor and skim the debris off the cover every so often. Don't try to remove all the water, though, as there is going to be at least a little water in the center of the cover. As I remember, water from the under side of the cover will actually seep through to the top layer. By trying to drain it too much, you may actually drain water out of the pool.
To combat the problem of debris, we have a Polaris automatic pool cleaner which runs at least 2 to 3 hours a day. This keeps the pool clean of leaves, worms, bugs, and other similar yuck.
By not covering the pool but running the pump all winter long, you don't have to contend with the stagnant green algae infested water that develops when it sits idle for months at a time. Everyone has probably heard of the horror stories of trying to shock a pool and get the chemistry balanced after a long winter. Thankfully this is not a problem when you run the pump throughout the winter.
By not covering the pool, you can take a quick dip anytime you please since the water is always pretty darn clean. While few people would ever take a quick dip in the winter, the point here is that the cleanliness and clarity of the pool stays so good that you could swim in it, but more importantly, getting it balanced is as simple as taking a sample to be tested and learning what chemicals to add. In other words you can be swimming in a day without any serious effort or exhaustion.
The only other things that I do are 1.) Keeping the chlorine reservoir full (or nearly full) with chlorine sticks and 2.) Cleaning the Polaris and filter trap every week.
Occasionally, during windy weather, we may get a lot of leaves blown into the pool. The Polaris does a good job of sucking them up, but sometimes you get so many in that it can't get them all picked up. In that case, I manually scoop as many leaves out as I can with my leaf net or skimmer, and then I run the Polaris a little longer every day until the pool is clear again. Once it is clear, I turn the running time of the Polaris back down to one or two hours a day and all is well.
One note on what I could do to prevent bunches of leaves from blowing in is to put up a wire chicken mesh fence around the base of our wooden privacy fence. If this was up, very few leaves would get into the pool area. Of course, this is a to-do project for the future.
Lastly, the only other thing that I have to do is watch the water level. If we get a lot of rain, the water level will rise enough to hinder the skimmer. In those cases I simply pump some water out and drop the level back down to an appropriate height.
Please keep in mind that we live in South Carolina. This type of pool care may not be appropriate for much colder climates. If you live in the north and have an inground pool, please contact your local pool company and they will be able to recommend something appropriate for your colder climate.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that after our inground pool was installed, that maintenance of it really wasn't a problem. How did I achieve this? I don't know -- but this is what I do.
First we never invested in a pool cover. Since we live in SC we have a few months of 'cold' temperatures but the remainder of the winter isn't too bad. We don't swim much from October to March but we don't cover it either. We simply leave the pump and filter running. During the colder weather we don't have to leave the pump run as much as when it is warmer, but the pool runs about 4-5 hours a day during the dead of winter. If the temperature drops below about 40 deg F, the pump automatically comes on to keep things from freezing. So, the first thing we don't have to do is to cover the pool.
By not covering the pool, you save hundreds of dollars by not having to buy a pool cover every couple of years. But, in the long run, you might potentially pay more for electricity to run the pump all year than a new cover would have cost. However, keep in mind that covers tend to age fairly quickly, and you might have to buy a new one every few years anyways.
By not covering the pool you also save the hassle of 'opening the pool' every spring. First, you don't have to mess with the debris of leaves and the murky water that accumulates on the top of the cover. As you know, after a while these water soaked leaves that accumulate on the cover, start to decay and send all this decaying rot into your pool where it contaminates the water and may even stick or attack your pool liner. So, by not covering your pool during the winter you save the hassle of dealing with all this rotten leaves and stuff. On the flip side, if you do cover the pool, do yourself a favor and skim the debris off the cover every so often. Don't try to remove all the water, though, as there is going to be at least a little water in the center of the cover. As I remember, water from the under side of the cover will actually seep through to the top layer. By trying to drain it too much, you may actually drain water out of the pool.
To combat the problem of debris, we have a Polaris automatic pool cleaner which runs at least 2 to 3 hours a day. This keeps the pool clean of leaves, worms, bugs, and other similar yuck.
By not covering the pool but running the pump all winter long, you don't have to contend with the stagnant green algae infested water that develops when it sits idle for months at a time. Everyone has probably heard of the horror stories of trying to shock a pool and get the chemistry balanced after a long winter. Thankfully this is not a problem when you run the pump throughout the winter.
By not covering the pool, you can take a quick dip anytime you please since the water is always pretty darn clean. While few people would ever take a quick dip in the winter, the point here is that the cleanliness and clarity of the pool stays so good that you could swim in it, but more importantly, getting it balanced is as simple as taking a sample to be tested and learning what chemicals to add. In other words you can be swimming in a day without any serious effort or exhaustion.
The only other things that I do are 1.) Keeping the chlorine reservoir full (or nearly full) with chlorine sticks and 2.) Cleaning the Polaris and filter trap every week.
Occasionally, during windy weather, we may get a lot of leaves blown into the pool. The Polaris does a good job of sucking them up, but sometimes you get so many in that it can't get them all picked up. In that case, I manually scoop as many leaves out as I can with my leaf net or skimmer, and then I run the Polaris a little longer every day until the pool is clear again. Once it is clear, I turn the running time of the Polaris back down to one or two hours a day and all is well.
One note on what I could do to prevent bunches of leaves from blowing in is to put up a wire chicken mesh fence around the base of our wooden privacy fence. If this was up, very few leaves would get into the pool area. Of course, this is a to-do project for the future.
Lastly, the only other thing that I have to do is watch the water level. If we get a lot of rain, the water level will rise enough to hinder the skimmer. In those cases I simply pump some water out and drop the level back down to an appropriate height.
Please keep in mind that we live in South Carolina. This type of pool care may not be appropriate for much colder climates. If you live in the north and have an inground pool, please contact your local pool company and they will be able to recommend something appropriate for your colder climate.
Costs of Maintaining a new pool - Part IV
The True Costs of Building and Maintaining
a New In-ground Swimming Pool - Part IV
Lastly -
Swimming Pool maintenance costs!!!!
Starting up a new pool
Now that we know the pool installation costs, what are the costs for starting up a new pool.
First, as was listed in the table on the other page, if you have a pool heater, the gas company will run the line to the heater (for free) but then you have to pay to have the meter installed and the gas line connected.
Next, you need to fill it with water. A 16 x 32 pool holds approximately 23,000 gals of water. In 2003, the cost of filling this pool was about $75 which was about 0.0033 cents a gallon.
Lastly you need to fence it in. If you use a wood fence (which is probably the cheapest and gives you the most privacy) to surround a 16 x 32 pool (which is surrounded bya cement walkway), your costs will be
On going costs to maintain pool
Gas
Heating the pool is very expensive. Your gas costs are probably about $10 an hour for every hour you run the heater. The pool water temperature will only rise a few degrees an hour. A guesstimate then would be to raise the pool temperature 10 deg would cost you about $75 to $85 dollars.
Most gas companies also require that you 'rent' their gas meter since they will probably put a separate one on your pool. This will be a recurring monthly rental fee of at least $7.50 for the life of your pool - even if you never run the heater.
Electric
If you let the pool circulation system run around 10 to 12 hrs per day, average, you can figure on paying an extra $50 to $60 more for your electric than you are paying now.
Water
Occasionally you will have to add some water to your pool to bring the level up so it filters properly. You can assume $10 to $15 more for every time you have to bring the water level up 2 or 3 inches.
Chemicals
A 5 gal pail of chlorine sticks should last you about a year. These run about $70 to $80.
Depending on what other chemicals you need, you may buy another $50 to $100 worth of chemicals in a year.
Pool Covers
These are discussed elsewhere on this site, but you might invest in a solar cover, which is simply a big sheet of bubble wrap. This will probably cost about $75.
Summary
The above article describes most of the costs of owning a pool. But, what is the bottom line, actual cost per month, assuming you finance the pool with a home equity loan for 10 years at 6% interest.
Loan Amount $20,000 $25,000 $30,000
Loan Cost per month $222 $277 $333
Utility Costs per month $80 $80 $80
Total Monthly Cost $302 $357 $413
We hope you found this article informative. Just remember, all prices (listed above) are as accurate as possible, but should only be used as a guideline. You obviously have to do your homework and find out the details for your particular part of the country.
a New In-ground Swimming Pool - Part IV
Lastly -
Swimming Pool maintenance costs!!!!
Starting up a new pool
Now that we know the pool installation costs, what are the costs for starting up a new pool.
First, as was listed in the table on the other page, if you have a pool heater, the gas company will run the line to the heater (for free) but then you have to pay to have the meter installed and the gas line connected.
Next, you need to fill it with water. A 16 x 32 pool holds approximately 23,000 gals of water. In 2003, the cost of filling this pool was about $75 which was about 0.0033 cents a gallon.
Lastly you need to fence it in. If you use a wood fence (which is probably the cheapest and gives you the most privacy) to surround a 16 x 32 pool (which is surrounded bya cement walkway), your costs will be
On going costs to maintain pool
Gas
Heating the pool is very expensive. Your gas costs are probably about $10 an hour for every hour you run the heater. The pool water temperature will only rise a few degrees an hour. A guesstimate then would be to raise the pool temperature 10 deg would cost you about $75 to $85 dollars.
Most gas companies also require that you 'rent' their gas meter since they will probably put a separate one on your pool. This will be a recurring monthly rental fee of at least $7.50 for the life of your pool - even if you never run the heater.
Electric
If you let the pool circulation system run around 10 to 12 hrs per day, average, you can figure on paying an extra $50 to $60 more for your electric than you are paying now.
Water
Occasionally you will have to add some water to your pool to bring the level up so it filters properly. You can assume $10 to $15 more for every time you have to bring the water level up 2 or 3 inches.
Chemicals
A 5 gal pail of chlorine sticks should last you about a year. These run about $70 to $80.
Depending on what other chemicals you need, you may buy another $50 to $100 worth of chemicals in a year.
Pool Covers
These are discussed elsewhere on this site, but you might invest in a solar cover, which is simply a big sheet of bubble wrap. This will probably cost about $75.
Summary
The above article describes most of the costs of owning a pool. But, what is the bottom line, actual cost per month, assuming you finance the pool with a home equity loan for 10 years at 6% interest.
Loan Amount $20,000 $25,000 $30,000
Loan Cost per month $222 $277 $333
Utility Costs per month $80 $80 $80
Total Monthly Cost $302 $357 $413
We hope you found this article informative. Just remember, all prices (listed above) are as accurate as possible, but should only be used as a guideline. You obviously have to do your homework and find out the details for your particular part of the country.
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