Anyone who has a pool, and looks after the maintenance themselves, knows that it's not all Bathing Beauties, Bikinis, and inflatable Flamingoes. There's a lot of work, and a lot that can go wrong.
Looking after your pool is an essential daily task. First thing in the morning everything has to be cleaned. All leaves on the 'beach' must be swept-away, any creatures, or illegal immigrants must be taken out of the pool itself, and the skimmers emptied of all the overnight amassed detritus. Chemicals have to be added if necessary.
The level of the water is very important. Too little and the skimmers will begin to suck in air, and the whole pumping system will be circulating air rather than water. Even in times when we have a 'Hose-pipe ban', we have to ensure that the level is correct. If they want to take me to court.... let them!
Our pool runs on Chlorine (some run on Salt), and the level of Chlorine needs to be checked regularly. I'm afraid I don't bother with this. I put in the 'Multifunction Tabs' when needed, and cross my fingers. So far this year the water has remained perfectly clear.
Then there is all the mechanical side of things (above); the things that are hidden away in the Pump House. The pump itself has a rudimentary filter that needs to be emptied from time to time, and the whole system has a large round filter that has to be washed-out (backwashed) regularly. Ours contains ground Glass rather than Sand. We had a slight problem with the pump this year, and the dangling white tubular bit is new. All now works well.
As far as cleaning the inside of the pool is concerned, we now have a fabulous 'robot'. He sees to it that all is perfect, and I clean his internal filter when he's finished.
If we get everything right, spending 15-30 minutes a day making sure that all is as it should be, then the pool will function correctly, and people will think that it all happens by itself (by magic). If the water turns GREEN, which ours has in the past, it can take a week or more to get it back; and of course I would be to blame.
It's not 'Rocket Science' but one has to be aware of how everything functions. After that it's simply a matter of aesthetics, weather, and FUN.
2 comments:
One of our neighbours had a pool when I lived in Sussex, and that frequently turned green when they were away. They obviously had no-one to keep on top of the regular tasks. It was quite interesting to watch the advancing clear water pushing the green along the pool as they cleaned it.
They also used to empty their pool over winter rather than try and maintain it through the colder weather. That was in the days before hosepipe bans, it used to take nearly a week to refill.
We cover our pool in winter with a heavy tarpaulin. I would never empty it. It's always crystal clear when we re-open.
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