Getting your pool ready for summer

The days are getting longer and the mornings and evenings are systematically getting warmer – which can only mean one thing! Summer is on its way and everyone is eagerly getting their bodies ready for long lazy days around the pool. Take the murkiness out of pool cleaning.  Here are some expert advice on how to get your pool in tip top shape for summer.

Cheryl Lee Heydenreich, regional sales and marketing manager for Townhouse Pools, Poly Phoenix Fibreglass Products and Phoenix Pools, agreed to answer some questions for us:

Q: What are according to you the most common swimming pool related problems homeowners experience after winter?

A: “- Green water (due to algae – green, black or mustard)

• Water is blue, but cloudy.
• Unpleasant odours even though the water is clear.
• The pool has stains or brown marks.”

Q: What can one do to remedy these problems at an affordable price?

A: “Green water: Backwash your filter, clean your weir and pump basket and then add 1.5 cups of chlorine for every 10 000 litres of water. Set the pool’s filter to run for 24 hours continuously and brush the walls of your pool.

Water is blue but cloudy: Check stabilizer levels, drain a third of the pool water and top up wit h fresh water. Adjust pH-level and then add 1.5 cups of chlorine for every 10 000 litres of water. Set the pool’s filter to run for 24 hours continuously and brush the walls of your pool.

Unpleasant odours: Adjust pH to 7.0 – 7.2, add ½ a cup of chlorine for every 10 000 litres of water, run filter for 12 hours and re-adjust pH level. Alternatively shock treat your pool with triple the normal dosage.

Stains or brown marks: Do not add chlorine! Add a metal / iron in. Run filter for 24 hours continuously if marks are not gone after 2 – 5 days add Hydrogen Peroxide.”

TIP: Always check pH first before adding chemicals.

Q: What swimming pool products, that are available on the market, do you recommend to keep a pool in top form this summer?

A: “Sticking to or going back to the basics is always the best and nine out of 10 times it is also the most affordable option. Use Hydrochloric acid to correct pH-levels in your pool and use chlorine (HTH) to oxidize. I would also recommend a floater for convenience, but remember to alternate between stabilised and non-stabilised floaters monthly, add a product like Genie Power Blue Monthly; this is an algae preventer and clarifier. After heavy bather loads or storms I would recommend that the pool gets a shock treatment like Aquacure Turbo Shock, this will burn off all impurities that will enter the pool.”

Q: What is the most economical ways to keep your pool in a good condition?

A: “By ensuring that the pH-levels in your pool are correct there is very little else that can go wrong in your pre-moulded fibreglass pool. The trick is to get to know your own pool and to check its condition regularly. By understanding the different working parts of your pool, equipment, water and chemicals, your pool maintenance routine will become as easy as ABC.”

Q: What maintenance is necessary when you have a swimming pool and how often must this be done?

A: “Once again, if you continually monitor and check the pH-levels in your pool you are almost guaranteed a hassle-free pool. Always keep the weir and pump basket free from debris. Backwash on a weekly basis in summer under normal operating conditions and bi-weekly in winter, not only when the pool cleaner gets slower or stop working.

Recommended filter cycle is as follows:

• Summer: 4 – 10 hours continuously, daily, pending on size of pool and number of swimmer.
• Winter: 2 – 5 hours daily pending on size of pool and number of swimmers.”

TIP: Always top up the pool after backwashing.

Q: What do you think the trend for 2011 will be as far as pools are concerned?

A: “Well if we have a look at what the market has done in the last five to ten years, whereby we are building smaller houses in other words clusters, complex’s and simplex’s, space is becoming more and more limited and we think that spa-pools will become more and more popular purely for this reason. Phoenix pools manufactured a range of large pools and when we saw the market turning more and more towards clusters, townhouses and simplex development, we “created” Townhouse Pools to meet the requirements of the ever changing world around us.  We can all see these developments taking place. Hence why we say that spa-pools or heated spa-pools is going to be the trend setters for 2011.”

Fun facts about swimming pools!

Did you know:

• The first swimming pools were built in Rome.
• Swimming pools only became popular in the mid-19th century.
• Ross Clay was granted the first patent for a pool leaf and debris removal net.
• Approximately 260 children under the age of five die annually in residential pools and spas.
• If you have breathing problems such as asthma it can actually increase with the use of chlorine in your swimming pool.
• The following problems may occur after near drowning incidents:
  • brain damage
  • loss of lung capacity
  • Aqua-phobia
• Europe stopped building swimming pools at one time due to fear of infection.

7 Tips to keep your child pool-safe:

1. Never leave your child unattended near an open pool or allow them to swim without adult supervision.
2. Never use a pool with its pool cover partially in place, since children may become entrapped under it. Remove the cover completely.
3. Ensure that your pool is properly covered when not in use. There are various ways to do so: pool nets, fencing, pool alarms etc. Find one that best suits your requirements, but do it – you can save a child’s life.
4. Keep toys away from the pool area because a young child playing with these toys could accidentally fall into the water.
5. Take your children for swimming lessons from a young age.
6. Keep flotation devices handy for in case of an emergency.
7. Learn CPR, you never know when you might need it.

About Townhouse Pools:

The Townhouse-range of pre-moulded fibreglass pools is manufactured by Poly Phoenix Fibreglass Products, the originators of pre-moulded fibreglass pools in South Africa. The company manufactured the first pool in 1969, making it the oldest and most respected pre-moulded fibreglass pool company in South Africa. With the advent of the smaller properties came the need for a smaller pool which the Phoenix Pool-range did not accommodate. The result is the Townhouse Pools-range. A range of small to medium size compact pools, spa-pools and swim spa’s, specifically designed for the townhouse, cluster and smaller property market making them Perfect for today’s lifestyle.

Images supplied by Townhouse Pools.