Category Archives: Swim Spa

If you are lucky enough to live in the Valley of the Sun and own a swimming pool, here are some pool maintenance tips for keeping your pool sparkling clean, inviting, refreshing and ready for use every day. The key is just staying on top of it. This will save you from making mistakes that could cost you a great deal of money. Routine pool maintenance may also prevent frustration and will minimize the need to make emergency runs to the pool store for chemicals or other additives.

Tips For Keeping Your Home Swimming Pool Sparkling Clean and Healthy To Use

1. Check pool chemistry 2-3 times per week during the summer and once per week in the winter.
2. Clean out skimmer basket(s) weekly, or as needed if conditions exist.
3. Clean hair and lint pot in the pump every couple of weeks or as needed. Turn off pump to do this.
4. Check and monitor water level at least once per month, adjust as needed. Water level should be at the center of the tile or skimmer.
5. Check Deck-Chlor/Inline Chlorinator at least once per week for proper adjustment.
6. Clean your filters. This may be necessary after a heavy storm or once every few months depending on conditions in your pool. It would be best to clean them about every 4-6 months. Just remind yourself to do it each time you come back from the dentist, or each time you change the air filters in your home, which should be about the same frequency. If you have an extra set of elements it is a much easier and quicker job. Soak dirty filters in a 10% solution of muriatic acid or a solution of TSP (trisodium phosphate). Use a rubber trash can. Wear gloves and eye protection. Be careful! Always add acid to water, NOT water to acid. Rinse until clean and let them dry. Put your supplies away until your next swap-out.
7. As you are monitoring your pool, take note:

      – Are your returns very weak?

– Is the in-floor cleaning system not working very well?

– Is the water clarity starting to look bad?

If any of these conditions exist, it is likely time to clean the filters. Most pools should only need this done a couple of times a year. There are exceptions though based on bather load (pool usage).

1. Wipe/clean tile line weekly. This will reduce build-up.
2. If you have a salt water chlorine generator than you will need to check and clean the blades in the unit about every 30 days. If the red flow light or flow meter is on or reading less than normal, then the blades are likely calcified and producing little to zero chlorine. Turn the pump off, bleed off any pressure, undo the unions and clean the blades per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

10  Always keep chemicals stored out of direct sunlight. Keep them in a cool dry place. Do NOT store acid and chlorine right next to each other.

1. Your pool should not need to be shocked on any regular basis if you have an ozone system. If you need to do it, do it at night. Use non-chorine based shock if you plan on swimming any time soon. Another way to shock your pool would be to run your pump for 24 hours using your ozone system. This works great! If you are on 24 hour circulation (2-speed or variable speed pump) than you should be just fine.
2. If you start seeing any cracks around the perimeter of your pool between your deck and your tile, caulk it with a small bead of clear silicon. Do not allow the water to migrate from inside the pool in and under the deck through cracks at this joint.
3. Keep vegetation, animals, chemicals (like fertilizers and ironite) away from and out of the pool. Nitrates from bird droppings and waste from animals and people are food for algae. Don’t feed the algae! 

Optimal Swimming Pool Chemical Ranges

Keep your pool’s chemical readings in these ranges:

PH: 7.2 to 7.8

Alkalinity: 80 to 120 ppm

Calcium Hardness: 250-450 ppm

Chorine residual: 1.0 to 1.5 ppm; upt to 2.0 in the summer with ozone, 3.0 without

Adjust down PH with muriatic acid. Never add more than a pint at a time. Re-test than add again as needed. As you add acid to adjust down the PH this should in turn cause the alkalinity reading to come down. Read your test kit guide; it has plenty of useful information and tips. Call your local pool store if you have any questions.

The temperature has a drastic affect on your swimming pool. In the Phoenix desert, the extreme summer temperatures mean that you might have to pay more attention to your water chemistry and the clarity of your swimming pool water. It should be crystal clear all the time and swim ready.

When closing down your outdoor swimming pool for winter you need to create a sterile environment where microorganisms such as algae spores, fungi and bacteria cannot flourish. You also need to help prevent the formation of scale and staining from dissolved minerals so the water and pool surfaces are in good order when the pool is re-opened in spring.

If you can do this, you should hit the ground running at the start of next season as far as water quality is concerned, and avoid those expensive and time consuming clean-downs which are needed before the water begins to look acceptable again.

For Pools Run on Chlorine

First, shock dose the pool with an unstabilised granular chlorine. The high dose of chlorine will kill off any algae spores and bacteria that might be lurking in liner creases or in the surface of tile grouting. This will give you as near sterile water as possible. Now you need to keep it like this through the winter, as the chlorine will soon die away. You need to use a product that is specially formulated for overwintering and contains long life algicides and additives, which prevent the formation of scale and staining from dissolved minerals.

For Pools run on Bromine or Baquail

The above procedure and instructions opposite are aimed at pools run on chlorine, as it is by far the most commonly used outdoor pool sanitiser. There are parallel procedures for other disinfectants as follows.

Bromine is very similar to chlorine and can be shocked with shock dose. This should then be followed by the prescribed dose of winteriser product.

THE 14 STEPS YOU SHOULD FOLLOW IN ORDER TO WINTERISE YOUR POOL CORRECTLY

1. Thoroughly backwash the filter. Remove any debris from the pump strainer, skimmers and pool water surface.
2. Check the pH and adjust to 7.2 – 7.4.
3. Shock dose with a stabiliser-free chlorine to kill any algae and harmful organisms that may be present. Allow the water to circulate for 3 – 4 hours to ensure thorough mixing.
4. Close the valve/s from the skimmer/s and lower the water to 10cm – 15cm below the skimmer level. (It is important to heed any recommendations made by the pool installer and not lower the water level too much. This is especially important if there is a naturally high water table as this could present structural hazards to the pool shell).
5. With the water still circulating through the bottom drain, add the winteriser product, pouring it evenly around the pool at the prescribed dose.
6. Leave the circulation running for long enough to ensure thorough mixing.
7. Remove ladders, diving boards and summer covers etc, and store them away from extremes of temperature.
8. Switch off and isolate electricity supply. (If in doubt consult an electrician).
9. Drain the water from the pump, heater and filter taking care to retain any ‘O’ rings from unions.
10. Disconnect the pump and store in a frost-free, dry place away from extremes of temperature.
11. Leave valves above water level open; those below should be closed and protected from frost damage.
12. Some weighted and sealed polythene bottles can be used to absorb ice expansion. These should be floated along the length of the pool and secured with strong cord.
13. Cover the pool with a heavy duty winter pool cover.
14. Check the appearance of the water occasionally, along with the pH and free chlorine while the pool is shut down. If the winter is mild, add another dose of Winteriser in February and ensure thorough mixing and distribution throughout the pool.

Getting your pool up and running for the new season is not too difficult, and the following guidelines should make life even easier for you. However, if you’ve got doubts that this particular line in DIY is not for you, give your local pool centre or service engineer a call.

For pools run on chlorine:

First, shock dose the pool with an unstabilised granular chlorine that gets to work the moment it is dissolved. The high dose of chlorine will kill off any algae spores and bacteria that might be lurking in liner creases or in the surface of tile grouting. This will give you as near sterile water as possible. Your pool water needs to be kept in good condition throughout the spring and summer, as the chlorine will soon dissipate.

You now need to add a chemical which special formulation contains a Long Life Algicide, Water Clarifier, and Anti Stain & Scale additives, which prevent the formation of scale and staining from dissolved minerals.

For pools run on bromine:

The above procedure and instructions opposite are aimed at pools run on chlorine, as it is by far the most commonly used outdoor pool sanitiser. There are parallel procedures for other disinfectants as follows. Bromine is very similar to chlorine and can be shock dosed with the same product. This should then be followed by a non-chlorine sanitiser, which is totally incompatible with chlorine and bromine.

The 13 Steps you should follow to open up your pool correctly:

1. Remove surface water and debris from the winter cover before taking it off, then clean and dry it ready for storage.
2. Using a leaf net, remove as much debris from the pool as possible and clean any tide marks at the water line using a cleaner chemical.
3. Reconnect the pump if you removed it over winter making sure all electrical connections are free from dampness. Call in an electrician if you are in any doubt about what your are doing.
4. Open any valves beneath the water line which may have been closed or plugged.
5. Check there are no obstructions to the drains, the outlets and the pump strainer basket.
6. If necessary, top up the water level so that it can be drawn in through the skimmer/s.
7. Prime the pump, turn it on and check that the filter, skimmers and drains are all working. Do not be too concerned if the water from the circulation is discoloured initially. If the water level was too high because of rain over the winter, pump to waste.
8. Run the filter for several hours, vacuuming out any remaining debris.
9. Backwash the filter and top up with fresh water.
10. Prepare the heat retention cover for use, cleaning off any patches of algae or mould.
11. Check the pH and adjust to 7.2-7.4. Ask your dealer for pH reducer to lower the pH or pH increaser to raise the pH.
12. Dose with shock product to kill any algae and harmful organisms that may be present. Allow the water to circulate for 3 to 4 hours to ensure thorough mixing.
13. Then with the water still circulating, add algicide chemical, pouring it near the swimming pool inlet at the prescribed dose.

We have just returned from The 2012 World Hydropool spas & swimspas convention in Puerto Rico.

We are delighted to tell our customers we won a highly prestigious Hydropool Worldwide Platinum Award for Excellence in Marketing, Sales & Customer Service!