Swimming Pool Enemies --- Algae - Bacteria - Viruses

Algae per se are not dangerous, but the bacteria feeding on them certainly are. They are unsightly, ranging from green to blue or black. Another typical complaint is burning eyes. These are either caused by a low level of alkalinity, a high level of calcium hardness, a PH too high or too low or a combination of these factors.

Chlorine smell is caused by a lack of chlorine in the water, not abundance. What happens is what little chlorine is there it reacts with human waste such as urine ammonia (not a pretty thought, but this is what happens) or simply sweat and produces smelly chloramines.

General cloudy water is caused by an array of factor such as inadequate levels (too high or too low) of PH, chlorine, calcium hardness, alkalinity, metals, high density of micro-particles, dirty water filters.

Last, but certainly not least, are multiple water borne illnesses caused by bacteria and viruses. This is the most important aspect to take into account when dealing with swimming pool maintenance. Some of the diseases born out of a contaminated pool are very serious, like Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis or Salmonella. Other common illnesses include Dysentery, Gastroenteritis, Giardiasis and Dermatitis.

In fact, most swimming pool viruses have become more and more resistant to treatment over the last few decades, making a good pool maintenance routine mandatory so as to prevent these problems to arise in the first place.

The only problem is that often swimming pool maintenance can be problematic for the average pool owner without chemistry knowledge, or too expensive, or both. Running costs could range from few $hundred to even few $thousand a year, whereas in fact with ta little knowledge it is possible to cut these expenses and maintenance time to a tiny fraction with a cheap but effective swimming pool maintenance routine.

Best Local Pool Companies: Swimming Pool Solar Covers

Best Local Pool Companies: Swimming Pool Solar Covers: "Solar Covers 1. They heat the pool. If you have a pool, you want to swim in it. That means that you’ll need to keep it at a comfortab..."

How to Clean Up Your Swimming Pool After a Storm

Bad summer storms can appear out of nowhere, but if you know a storm is approaching, cover the pool and anchor the sides of the cover with  winter water bags or sandbags and if you have an automatic pool cleaner, turn it on. If you don't have time to prepare, follow these steps to clean up:

1. Hose down the deck, spray away from the pool
2. Remove all debris from the water surface with the skimmer
3. Turn on the pump
4. Brush the walls and floor. Push the dirt toward the drain
5. Vacuum the pool completely
6. Wait 20 minutes and vacuum the pool again to get all remaining dirt
7. Test pH and adjust if necessary

 
If you are unsure of your procedures or have any concerns, it is important to call your pool service professional.

www.bestlocalpoolcompanies.com for the BEST in Pool Service, Maintenance and Repair!!

Is Your Swimming Pool Ready for Spring?

Spring, it is getting closer beleive it or not. Which means it is time to start getting those pools ready. Now that your pool cleaner has taken a beating with fall and the cold temperatures, its time to repair, rebuild or posibly replace.

We see many home owners take their swimming pool automatic cleaners into a shop to have them worked on, but in all honesty, having worked on them for many years they are rather simplistic to work on. So if you have a handy bone in your body, before you take your pool cleaner to a shop, take a look at it your self. For example, one of the most popular pool cleaners is the Polaris 380. Your wearable parts that should be checked out regularly are your tail scrubber, wear rings the tail, and tires. After that, check for leaks in the swivel connectors on the hose (small amounts of dripping is normal). One the head unit, when you spin one wheel, all three wheels should turn at the same time. If this is not the case, typically one or both of the belts are broken. Finally just a quick inspection of the belts to verify there is no fraying. Checking the bearings is as simple as checking for space within the bearing keeper and wobble. Typically if 4 or more bearings need to be replaced it is recommended to replace all of them.

It may sound complicated but it is not. One concept to remember is that just because you replace the broken parts, watch for items that may be worn that might be causing other items to break. A good example for this is gear driven pool cleaners. Unlike the belt driven Polaris 380, the gear driven Polaris 180 and 280 are notoriously for this. The teeth on the wheel of the Polaris 180/280 may be torn off or flattened, but what could have caused that is the teeth on the drive shaft may be worn down causing this. One step further, is the drive shaft bearings are loose, then they could be causing both problems. This may sound confusing but in the end they are simple machines.

Swimming Pool Safety - Part 2

A swimming pool in the yard can be very dangerous for children. If possible, do not put a swimming pool in your yard until your children are older than 5 years. If you already have a pool, protect your children from drowning by doing the following: 

 

Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, even for a moment. 

You must put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around all 4 sides of the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children's reach. 

 

A power safety cover that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) adds to the protection of your children but should not be used in place of the fence between your house and the pool. Even fencing around your pool and using a power safety cover will not prevent all drowning's. 

Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd's hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.

Do not let your child use air-filled "swimming aids" because they are not a substitute for approved life vests and can be dangerous. 

Anyone watching young children around a pool should learn CPR and be able to rescue a child if needed. Stay within an arm's length of your child. 

Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren't tempted to reach for them. 

 

After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can't get back into it. 

Remember, teaching your child how to swim DOES NOT mean your child is safe in water.

SWIMMING POOL SAFETY

Swimming pools...

Owning one is terrific. But let's not forget, they are dangerous!

 

Swimming pools are so dangerous in fact, that 300 children under age 5 die and 2,000 more children under age five visit hospital emergency rooms for submersion injuries every year!!!

 

As a public service Live And Learn is reprinting the following alert issued by the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

 

In some of the nation's sunbelt, drowning has been the leading cause of accidental death in the home of children under 5 years old. The information below can help parents and caregivers provide young children with the protection they deserve. 

Each year, nationwide, more than 300 children under 5 years old drown in residential swimming pools, usually a pool owned by their family. In addition, more than 2,000 children in that age group are treated in hospital emergency rooms for submersion injures. 

 

Medical costs for submersion victims during the initial hospitalization alone can be quite high. Costs can range from an estimated $2,000 for a victim who recovers fully to $80,000 for a victim with severe brain damage. Some severely brain damaged victims have initial hospital stays in excess of 120 days and expenses in excess of $150,000. 

 

Many communities have enacted safety regulations governing residential swimming pools -- inground and aboveground. It's up to parents to comply with these regulations. Apart from these laws, parents who own pools, can take their own precautions to reduce the chances of their youngsters accessing the family pool or spa without adult supervision.

 

*** FACTS AND FIGURES ***

Following are just a few facts uncovered by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in a comprehensive study of drowning and submersion incidents involving children under 5 years old in Arizona, California, and Florida. 

• Seventy-five percent of the submersion victims studied by CPSC were between 1 and 3 years old; 65 percent of this group were boys. Toddlers, in particular, often do something unexpected because their capabilities change daily. 
• At the time of the incidents, most victims were being supervised by one or both parents. Forty-six percent of the victims were last seen in the house; 23 percent were last seen in the yard or on the porch or patio; and 31 percent were in or around the pool before the accident. In all, 69 percent of the children were not expected to be at or in the pool, yet they were found in the water. 
• Submersion incidents involving children usually happen in familiar surroundings. Sixty-five percent of the incidents happened in a pool owned by the child's family and 33 percent of the incidents happened in a pool owned by friends or relatives. 
• Pool submersions involving children happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone. Seventy-seven percent of the victims had been missing from sight for 5 minutes or less. 
• Survival depends on rescuing the child quickly and restarting the breathing process, even while the child is still in the water. Seconds count in preventing death or brain damage. 
• Child drowning is a silent death. There's no splashing to alert anyone that the child is in trouble. 

*** BARRIERS ***

• The following barrier recommendations are the result of identifying key parameters that typically contribute to child drowning in backyard pools. These recommendations are the minimum steps you can take to make your home a safe place for your child.
• Barriers are not childproof, but they provide layers of protection for a child who strays from supervision. Barriers give parents additional time to locate a child before the unexpected becomes a reality. 
• Barriers include a fence or wall, door alarms for the house, and a power safety cover over the pool. Barriers also may be used to protect children from accessing hot tubs and spas. Use the following recommendations as a guide: 

*** FENCES & GATES ***

• Install a fence or other barrier, such as a wall, completely around the pool. If the house is part of the barrier, the doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with an alarm or the pool should have a power safety cover. Alarm and cover details are below. 
• The fence or other barrier should be at least 4 feet high. It should have no foot or handholds that could help a young child to climb it. 
• Vertical fence slats should be less than 4 inches apart to prevent a child from squeezing through. 

Use this as a guide when the release mechanism is located less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate.

• If horizontal members are equal to or more than 45 inches apart, vertical spacing shall not exceed 4 inches. 
• If the fence is chain link, then no part of the diamond-shaped opening should be larger than 1-3/4 inches. 
• Fence gates should be self-closing and self-latching. The gate should be well maintained to close and latch easily. The latch should be out of a child's reach. 

When the release mechanism of the self-latching device is less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate, the release mechanism for the gate should be at least 3 inches below the top of the gate on the side facing the pool. Placing the release mechanism at this height prevents a young child from reaching over the top of a gate and releasing the latch. Also, the gate and barrier should have no opening greater than 1/2 inch within 18 inches of the latch release mechanism. This prevents a young child from reaching through the gate and releasing the latch.

 

There are a wide variety of fencing construction materials available to compliment your house and pool surroundings. Your local fence company or pool enclosure company can provide you with information and assist you in making a selection.

 

The weak link in the strongest and highest fence is a gate that fails to close and latch completely. For a gate to close completely every time, it must be in proper working order.

 

*** DOOR ALARMS ***

• If the house forms one side of the barrier, then doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with alarms that produce an audible sound when a door is unexpectedly opened. 
• Install an alarm that can be temporarily turned off by an adult for a single opening of the door by using a keypad or switch that is out of a child's reach.

Battery and electrically powered alarms are available. The key pad switch can be used by adults who wish to pass through the door without setting off the alarm. It should be placed high on all doors leading from the house to the pool. Affordable and easily installed alarms are available. An alarm signal immediately tells a parent that a door has been opened. 

 

*** POWER SAFETY COVERS ***

Power safety covers over the pool may be used as an alternative to door alarms. A power safety cover should meet the requirements of the ASTM pool cover standard which addresses labeling requirements and performance. ASTM requires that a cover withstand the weight of two adults and a child to allow a rescue should an individual fall onto the cover. The standard also requires quick removal of water from the cover. A young child can drown in just inches of water. 

 

A power safety cover is a motor powered barrier that can be placed over the water area. Motor-driven covers easily open and close over the pool. When the power safety cover is properly in place over the pool, it provides a high level of safety for children under 5 years old by inhibiting their access to the water. 

 

*** ABOVE-GROUND POOLS ***

• Steps and ladders leading from the ground to the pool should be secured and locked, or removed when the pool is not in use.

*** RULES FOR POOLS ***

• Instruct babysitters about potential pool hazards to young children and about the use of protective devices, such as door alarms and latches. Emphasize the need for constant supervision. 
• Never leave a child unsupervised near a pool. During social gatherings at or near a pool, appoint a "designated watcher" to protect young children from pool accidents. Adults may take turns being the "watcher." When adults become preoccupied, children are at risk. 
• If a child is missing, check the pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability. Go to the edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom and surface, as well as the pool area. 
• Do not allow a young child in the pool without an adult. 
• Do not consider young children to be drownproof because they have had swimming lessons. Children must be watched closely while swimming. 
• Do not use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision. 
• Learn CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Babysitters and other caretakers, such as grandparents and older siblings, should also know CPR. 
• Keep rescue equipment by the pool. Be sure a telephone is poolside with emergency numbers posted nearby. 
• Remove toys from in and around the pool when it is not in use. Toys can attract young children to the pool. 
• Never prop open the gate to a pool barrier. 

NOTE: To obtain detailed barrier recommendations, write CPSC, Pool Barriers, Office of Information & Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20207.

How To Clean Up A Green Pool In Three Easy Steps

Is your pool GREEN? Are you breeding mosquitoes? Do your neighbors hate you?

Even with an automatic pool robot, you may still find that your pool gets out of balance after storms or during the hottest part of season. Try these 3 steps to get your pool back to that inviting clearness, enticing you to dive on in. Look at the clean pool pictures and drool no more after following these steps!

Instructions:

1.  Using the large net skim all debris from top of the pool and remove any debris you see at bottom of the pool. Backwash pool. Brush sides and bottom of pool to remove algae growth.

Run pool pump for 1 hour and then remove remaining debris and vacuum. If you have robot cleaner such as the aquabot pool cleaner, you will save a lot of manual labor on this step. It may take longer to brush than by hand.

AT this point you can backwash if the pool is not visibly cleaner. Check your pump and if it shows in the range of where it needs back washing then do so. Usually the gauge will 10 when backwashing is needed. Continue running the pool pump. It spring and time to get that pool back into shape!

2.  Next shock pool. If algae has visible growth, use 2x the amount of pool chemical you normally use. You should shock at least once a week during swim season and ideally once every 3-5 days.

Make sure to distribute mostly in the deep end but you can also distribute around edges. If it settles into one place makes sure to brush it off and mix into pool water so it doesn't damage surface.
 

Wait 1/2 - 2 hours for things to settle and brush any areas that look bad. Keep the Filter (pool pump) running.

 

3.  If shock did not clean up the visible algae; then brush well, and add a good algaecide. Running the swimming pool pump for 12 hours. Run the robot guy around the pool again or vacuum by hand.

Check gauges to see if you need to backwash. If water is still looking filmy or cloudy add clarifier to remove the minute particles from the water. After the clarifier has had about 4 hours to work you can then backwash pool again to flush out the filter. The clarifier is going to help make your pool really shimmer and look inviting.

 

4.  Now here is some extra. Check your water level and add water if you need to. Then take sample of water to you nearest pool supply store and have it tested (usually free). They will recommend adjustments to restore PH and chlorine levels.

Keep the pool balanced weekly and free of debris and shock at minimum once a week during swim season and you will have little trouble with a sparkling clean pool!

Tips and Warnings:

 

·  If you cannot get pool back into shape after doing this once; then decide whether it is worth it to drain the pool and start over. Pools are recommended to be drained every 3 years. Sometimes it is necessary.

·  Do this for spring cleaning your pool and also before fall so that the pool will be easier to maintain year round.

·  You cannot vacuum and backwash too much. Just make sure to keep water levels up as you back wash.

·  Instructions are for in ground pool. If you have above ground pool you will need to check manufacturer instructions.

·  Sand filters need sand replaced every 3 years for maximum efficiency.

·  At end of year run filter cleaner through system.

 

Swimming Pool Solar Covers

Solar Covers

1. They heat the pool.

If you have a pool, you want to swim in it. That means that you’ll need to keep it at a comfortable temperature for swimming. The most cost effective way to do this, is to utilize the sun's heat to heat your pool. This is where swimming pool solar covers come in. These pool blankets can heat your pool up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit! The difference between a 65 degree pool and a 75 degree pool is staggering, I can assure you!

Swimming pool solar covers are one of the most effective ways to heat your pool, and they are just as efficient at heating your pool as a solar heating system!

2. They keep that heat in the pool.

Once you're successful at heating your pool, you want to make sure that you keep it warm. Swimming pool solar covers not only harness the sun’s warmth, but they retain it too. Even if I’ve had the cover off all day long so that I could swim, I make sure the solar cover is back on at night to keep the heat from the day inside the pool. This method of heat retention will be important even if you have a heater attached to your pool. Your heater can only provide so much warmth to your pool, and overnight there is a large amount of heat that can escape. Swimming pool solar covers ensure that all that heat put into the pool during the day stays where it belongs!

3. They reduce evaporation.

Is water evaporation that much of a concern? Well, maybe it is! When pool water evaporates, more water needs to be added to the pool to retain appropriate levels. When fresh water is added to the pool, more pool chemicals need to be added. So you’re not only losing money from the water that you’re adding to the pool, but through the additional chemicals that need to be added once the water evaporates. Do yourself a favor, and keep the pool covered as often as you’re able to! On a side note, be sure to add your chemicals to the pool when the solar cover is OFF! Adding chemicals to the pool with the cover on will cause the cover itself to break down and deteriorate that much more quickly. Trust me on this, I just had it happen to me.

4. They keep leaves and other debris out of the pool.

It’s surprising to me how much debris is kept out of the pool through the use of swimming pool solar covers, but it actually does work. When my pool isn’t in use for several days in a row, and the cover is placed on the pool, it stays as clean as it was the last time I used it. If I leave the cover off, all of the leaves and other debris that fall go straight to the bottom of my pool. Trust me on this one. I’ve got a lot of debris, and I’ve tried lots of different methods to keep it away, and/or get rid of it. Swimming pool solar covers go a long way in prevention!

---

Swimming Pool Solar Covers - Ease of Use

I have to laugh at the pictures that are on the side of the box when you purchase a solar cover. I’ll post a picture of it when I’m able to get one, but let me describe it here. There’s a beautiful young woman, in a bikini, gracefully pulling a solar cover over her pool with one hand.

Excuse me while I pick myself off of the floor from laughing!! Let’s just say that it is SO NOT that easy!

Swimming pool solar covers are essentially huge sheets of bubble wrap. I have a 30 foot round pool, and when the solar cover is folded into a nice package, I can actually lift it by myself. HOWEVER, maneuvering it on and off your pool, and rolling it up and unrolling it is a challenge to say the least! If you’re going to get a solar cover, which I highly recommend you do, I also recommend that you invest in a Reel System from someone like PoolCenter.com to make covering and uncovering your pool easier to do. I can assure you that it’s worth every penny. I’m pretty stubborn, so I have tried to live without the reel system for several years, and it’s just not working for me. Trust me, you need the reel system.

Reel System

If you have a square inground pool, you can find a very easy, user friendly reel system that will lay at one end of the pool, and easily role the solar cover up up and away. If you have an above ground pool, or an odd-shaped pool, you will still be able to install a reel system, but you may have to deal with some difficulties.

For example, I should be able to swing my reel system out of the pool to get it out of the way, however the child safety pool fence makes this impossible for me, so in order to remove it from the pool I do need someone’s help.

Swimming pool solar covers come with a lot of nuances to deal with and think about, but they are definitely worth the effort. This is one of those amenities that I think is an absolute must for every pool owner!

Swimming Pool Safety You Need to Know If You Have a Swimming Pool

In anticipation of the warm summer weather and summer holidays many people dream of spending their days by the pool. Whether you have a large in-ground or aboveground pool, or simply a small inflatable swimming pool, floating in the cooling water is a relief on those hot summer days. But there are some precautions you should take to ensure that the time you and your family spend in and around the swimming pool are safe as well as fun.

Do you have a swimming pool in your backyard? Then you need to know about swimming pool safety, especially if you have kids. There are many ways that something bad can happen in and around a pool if you don’t know pool safety. So, you will want to make sure that you learn all you can about being safe around a pool to make sure nothing happens to anyone at your home.

Here are some swimming pool safety tips that will help you to start learning about pool safety.

One: You always need to make sure that if there are kids around the pool, that there is an adult around who knows how to swim to watch them. Don’t ever leave kids around pools unsupervised. If you do run into trouble knowing CPR could help save someone's life. Contact your city or local Saint John’s ambulance for CPR course.

Two: When you have an underground pool you want to have a fence around it with a gate that will lock. This will help keep kids out if an adult can’t be there to supervise.

Three: It is always a good idea even when you have a fence around your pool to add an alarm. This will tell you when someone has gone through the gate when they are not supposed to. So, if you have kids and the alarm sounds you can be there in a hurry to stop anything from happening.

Four: Don’t allow alcohol around your swimming pool. This is one of the swimming pool safety rules that a lot of adults don’t think about, especially if there are no kids around. Alcohol can alter a person’s perception, which can be dangerous for the person who has consumed the alcohol but especially if there are kids around. You just need to remember that alcohol and swimming just doesn’t mix, so don’t do it.

Five: When you have an above ground swimming pool you want to remove the steps or ladder when the pool is not in use. This swimming pool safety tip is very important because kids are very curious and will always climb stairs or a ladder when they see one. So, you have to remember to remove the way into the pool each time after you use your pool.

2 Simple Ways To Slow Down Calcium Buildup

There are 2 SIMPLE and EASY things you can do to slow down calcium buildup. . . and neither one costs you a dime! 

The first way to slow down calcium buildup is to brush the tile line (water line) weekly. This two minute job has a big impact on slowing the calcium buildup, but yet it is something that many pool owners neglect to do. 

Before I give you the second way, I want to talk a little bit about the cause of calcium buildup (as it will help the second way make more sense when I talk about it). Calcium buildup on pool tiles is a direct result of the amount of calcium in the water. 

That calcium in the water can come in the form of hard water. Every geographical area wil have different levels of hardness in the water. 

Calcium in the water can also come from the chemicals you regularly add to your pool. You are adding chemicals to your pool every single week (even if you have a salt system). 

Think of your pool as a cup of tea. If you keep adding sugar to that cup of tea, at some point saturation takes place and our tea can’t handle all the sugar you’re putting in it. When that happens, absorbtion becomes more and more difficult. The same is true with the chemicals you add to your pool. 

Calcium buildup can therefore occur in any part of the pool that is under water. The most common place it occurs, though, is at the water line. 

Another way to slow down the natural buildup of TDS in your pool (especially if you already have a known calcium or TDS issue with your water), is to backwash your pool frequently. That way, you are replacing saturated water with fresh water (assuming, of course, that the hardness of the “fresh” water is lower than the hardness level of the water you’re replacing in the pool).

How Do I Calculate My Swimming Pool Volume?

How much do I need for my pool?

Whenever you get pool supplies, the instructions say x ounces per 1,000 gallons or something similar. So how many gallons of water does my swimming pool hold?

There are a lot of sites on the internet that tell you how to work out your pool volume. These easy to use pool volume calculators (site below) from the Pool Wizard make life so much easier.

You just put in the measurements and it spits out the answer. I tested it out and it consistently gives ‘clean’ results to the nearest 100 gallons. I found this very nifty, after all, who wants a result like 11,489 gallons. It seems unwieldy and unnecessary to have such an accurate result as opposed to 11,500 gallons, which is just as good when it comes to swimming pool volume and chemical dosing.

The Pool Wizard site have also made provision for those who use metric values. You put in the measurements in meters and it gives metric pool volume results (in cubic meters - site below) as well as the conversion into gallons.

Pool volume calculator site: http://www.poolwizard.net/pool-volume/

Metric pool volume site: http://www.poolwizard.net/metric-pool-volume/

2 Simple Ways To Slow Down Calcium Buildup

There are 2 SIMPLE and EASY things you can do to slow down calcium buildup. . . and neither one costs you a dime! 

The first way to slow down calcium buildup is to brush the tile line (water line) weekly. This two minute job has a big impact on slowing the calcium buildup, but yet it is something that many pool owners neglect to do. 

 

Before I give you the second way, I want to talk a little bit about the cause of calcium buildup (as it will help the second way make more sense when I talk about it). Calcium buildup on pool tiles is a direct result of the amount of calcium in the water. 

That calcium in the water can come in the form of hard water. Every geographical area wil have different levels of hardness in the water. 

Calcium in the water can also come from the chemicals you regularly add to your pool. You are adding chemicals to your pool every single week (even if you have a salt system). 

Think of your pool as a cup of tea. If you keep adding sugar to that cup of tea, at some point saturation takes place and our tea can’t handle all the sugar you’re putting in it. When that happens, absorbtion becomes more and more difficult. The same is true with the chemicals you add to your pool.

Calcium buildup can therefore occur in any part of the pool that is under water. The most common place it occurs, though, is at the water line. 

Another way to slow down the natural buildup of TDS in your pool (especially if you already have a known calcium or TDS issue with your water), is to backwash your pool frequently. That way, you are replacing saturated water with fresh water (assuming, of course, that the hardness of the “fresh” water is lower than the hardness level of the water you’re replacing in the pool).

3 Tips To Closing Your Swimming Pool For The Winter

Closing or winterizing your swimming pool is very important, especially for the folks living places where it gets really cold. Last year in the northeast, we had the biggest snowfall in decades. Could you imagine not closing your pool for that? We have put together some important tips to use while closing your swimming pool for the upcoming seasons.

#1 – Use An Air Pillow (For Above Ground Pools)

Air pillows serve multiple purposes, but the most important purpose is the fact that they protect your pool from being damaged by ice expansion. In the winter when the water in your pool freezes, the ice expands and puts pressure on the walls of your pool. This could cause the walls to break (this has happened to my pool). By using an air pillow in the middle of your pool, the pillow absorbs the expansion of the ice, relieving the pressure off your pool walls.

#2 – Lower Your Pool Water

In today’s market there are skimmer plates that block the skimmer holes which allows you to keep your pool filled at normal level. These are very popular and I’m not really sure why. Lowering your pool water is actually a good thing. When you are constantly putting pool chemicals into your pool, you are building up your TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). Over time this can lead to problems. Adding more chemicals to fix problems over and over again can be a bad thing. However, in the summer we have splash-out and evaporation, so we are always topping off the pool with more water. This is slowly diluting the water, which is a good thing. So, a good time to add some fresh water is in the spring, and if your pool is already full because you used a skimmer plate, then you won’t be able to give your pool fresh water.

#3 – Make Sure Your Chemicals Are Balanced Before You Close

I know you are the perfect pool owner. You keep your chemicals in check all season long. You monitor your pH and alkalinity levels like a hawk. You always make sure your sanitizer levels are perfect, keeping your family and friends clean and safe. Because I know you are this way, then I don’t have to tell you to make sure it’s perfect just before you close the pool, right? You just want to make sure you pH isn’t low and your sanitizer level is good, even high. Low pH can be bad over the winter. Your pool water becomes stagnate acid that can eat away at your liner. Also, keeping your sanitation level perfect (or even slightly higher) is a great way to prevent algae from growing in your pool over the winter. No one wants to open up thier pool to a green mess in the spring.

Here a just a few tips to help you along your way to closing your swimming pool. Remember that closing your swimming pool is important and taking care of your pool throughout the season and following a tight closing regiment will allow you to open up a to a clear and clean pool in the spring time.