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We’ve all been there. We love that little puppy that our friend just bought, but we’re thrilled that it’s not chewing on our furniture or peeing on our kitchen floor. It’s the same with a water feature – they are beautiful, soothing and good for the soul. But we wouldn’t want to have to care for and maintain the water feature ourselves! Yes, no matter which water feature you are thinking of, they will all need regular maintenance to ensure that they don’t end up a sludgy breeding ground for mosquitoes. Thankfully, you can always call in the Pool Spa team to assist you with the upkeep of your fabulous focal point. But if you are determined to DIY, then we’d like to offer a few points to assist you.

Maintaining Your Water Feature The Easy Way

The key to keeping your feature spotless all year round is to maintain a regular schedule of small checks which stop the job from ever getting out of hand. The size, position and type of water feature you are caring for will determine the frequency of these duties, but here are the basics.

Pump and Filter

Your water feature will likely have a pump in which case you will need to check the filters and skimmer nets feeding into the system to make sure there are no blockages or a build-up of debris. Your pump should be secure and run smoothly, and the water flow should be good. It’s a good idea to clean the pump regularly; be sure to turn it off (disconnect the power), and remove it from the water for a good once-over.

Water Condition

If you have fish in your pond then you will no doubt be paying close attention to the water condition so as to keep your finned friends happy. They will, in turn, help to manage the algae levels in your water feature. However, if there are no fish to worry about then you will have to chat with your pool specialists to choose the right chemical product to keep the water clean.

Water Level

We touched on this earlier, but it’s worth noting that you need to keep a close check on your water levels. Our hot South African summers can significantly reduce your water levels which can compromise fish, overexert your pump, and reduce the water flow. Depending on the size of your water feature, it is advisable to replace 10 – 20 percent of the pond water with fresh water each week.

Check your pond liner regularly for leaks.

Plants

While these aren’t, strictly speaking, part of your water feature, they are an integral part of the landscape. Be sure to prune and fertilise the surrounding plants regularly – removing dead leaves and flowers weekly to prevent them from clogging up the filters.

If you are considering a water feature, then make sure that you are committed to maintaining a good schedule of cleaning and checks to make your investment worthwhile. Or, call Pool Spa – this is what we do.

You may well be asking yourself, why are we discussing fish choices on a swimming pool website? Well, that’s an easy one. You see, because we both supply and help you to maintain garden ponds as well as the other fabulous products and services that we offer, and we’d like to make your life a little easier. If you are one of the many South African families who are planning on creating (or refurbishing) a pond in your garden, then it’s very likely you will want to populate it with a gorgeous selection of fish life. Adding a few finned friends to your pond adds interest, aids the environment, assists in keeping your pond healthy, and helps to keep mozzies at bay. However, an outside fish pond requires a little more management know-how than a goldfish bowl. And if we want to ensure that we aren’t consigning our new pets to a watery grave, we’d do well to start with the right fish.

What Fish For A Starter Fish Pond?

If you’re just getting started on your fish pond adventure, then we recommend you consider the following:

Local Climate

Choosing indigenous fish species over exotic ones will give your new friends the best chance of survival. Our local climate can experience temperature extremes, environmental challenges and native predators which can easily wipe out your little scaly friends in a day.

Fish Variety

Some fish are pretty placid on their own but will turn aggressive when in a closed environment with other species. It’s always best to start with one fish type until you learn more about how to care for them than to create an unstable political arena in your garden and find your investments floating belly up for no good reason.

For example, if you are mixing Koi and Goldfish, especially in a smaller pond, the larger fish may (inadvertently) eat the smaller fish, or their eggs and babies

Pond Maintenance

Some fish species will take some of the cleaning duties off your hands as they feed off the algae in the pond. Both Koi and goldfish eat string algae for example. Bottom feeders can also pick up the slack by cleaning up after their roommates which saves on Saturday pond vacuuming duty.

Cost

Start with a cheaper fish. No, really. Some of those massive, gorgeous Koi will set you back a few thousand Rand – and will be incredible to watch until a passing Heron decides to stop for a snack.

For a full list of indigenous South Africa fish which would make good addition to your garden pond, take a read of this article which offers a more detailed breakdown of what you can expect from each species. For all your garden pond and pool supplies, we’re here for you! Chat with one of our friendly team today.

Have your pool maintenance efforts suddenly taken a dark and unpleasant turn? Have you noticed some unsightly – and very stubborn – black spots taking up residence in your pool? We don’t want to spread any panic … but you may have black algae.

What is Black Algae?

Algae is algae – right? Actually no. While the term ‘algae’ usually refers to a type of non-flowering aquatic plant, black algae is not a plant at all, but a bacterium. The problem with black algae is that once it’s taken root in the pores of your swimming pool, it’s a devil to get out. It shows remarkable resistance to traditional cleaning methods and chemicals due to a thick scab-like covering which it uses as some pretty hardy protection. This, coupled with very insistent roots which embed themselves into the hard-to-reach parts of your pool, makes it one tough customer to get out, and keep out.

What Causes Black Algae?

While some undesirable swimming pool conditions may allow black algae to grow and flourish, it needs to get into your pool first. It’s generally accepted that black algae is often introduced by wildlife or dogs that have been exposed to the bacteria from other water sources, or from wetsuits or swimming costumes. If these water recreation items which have been used in a lake, pond or ocean where the algae is present are not washed out properly, then the black algae has a new home in your swimming pool.

If your pool filter is faulty, your pump does not run regularly for at least 8 hours a day, or if your pH levels are out of whack, then you are a prime target for these dark micro-warriors.

How To Treat Black Algae

The saying “Hit it hard and hit it fast” applies here. If you find these unsightly black spots in your pool, then be prepared for a lot of manual labour – there is no quick fix.

Chemicals alone won’t help your cause due to the layers of protective gear worn by these little critters, so you will need to grab a hardy bristle brush and scrub the dark spots. This removes their protective coats and allows the chemical warfare to begin. Once you are satisfied that you have scrubbed all the spots, rub each spot with a chlorine tablet – ensuring that you always wear protective clothing!

Directly after this, you will need to shock your pool (3x your usual dose of chemical) and follow this with a good algaecide.

These steps need to be taken one after the next for the process to be fully effective.

Yes, dealing with black algae can be a royal pain, and an awful way to spend your Saturday. So if you don’t fancy doing this yourself then give us a call – we can help.

These days, it seems townhouse complexes and security estates are popping up everywhere you look. This is hardly surprising when you consider that over 80 percent of all properties sold in 2015 were in gated communities or security complexes. Clearly, demand is high. There are, of course, many advantages to living in an estate, but property size is generally not one of them. Even properties with large houses tend to have small gardens, and small gardens aren’t the place for big pools. This is why the demand for smaller splash pools is growing, fuelled by the increasing numbers of people moving into estates. But taking up less space isn’t the only reason to consider installing a splash pool. Splash pools offer all the social benefits of their bigger counterparts, simply on a smaller scale. They create a beautiful focal point around which to centre your entertainment area and offer a tranquil spot for lazing around on long summer afternoons. There are many other advantages too:

Benefits Of A Splash Pool

Increased Property Value

Property sales show that houses with pools – even if they are only small splash pools – sell for significantly higher prices than similarly sized houses in the same area without a pool. This is especially true if care has been taken to ensure the pools is well located and attractively designed.

Easy To Install

Because a splash pool is small, it can easily be installed on a wooden deck or patio. If you decide to install it in your garden, excavation is made easy by its small dimensions and shallower depth.

Cost Effective

Splash pools are not only much cheaper than larger pools to install, they are also significantly cheaper to maintain. You need fewer chemicals and less water. They can also be heated economically using solar panels or a heat pump.

Environmentally Friendly

Small pools create a smaller carbon footprint than their bigger cousins. They need less water to fill, less water to top up, and fewer chemicals to keep them in sparkling condition.

Whether you have a splash pool or an Olympic one, Pool Spa and Filtration Supplies have everything you need to keep it sparkling and swimmer-friendly. Come to us for swimming pool pumps, sand filters, automatic pool cleaners, pool lights, pool fittings, stainless steel ladders, overflow grating, starting blocks,  lane dividers, diving boards and slides, UV sterilisers, salt chlorinators, pool salt (food grade) and filter media (filter sand).

The terms hard and soft when referring to water might seem a little confusing at first. Water is water, after all, isn’t it? Actually, it isn’t. When we talk about hard water, we’re referring to the amount of calcium in the water. The ideal range for swimming pools is between 180 and 220 parts per million (ppm). In hard water areas, the levels of calcium are over 400ppm. This is when managing your water chemistry becomes a little bit trickier. It’s important to balance out the hardness of your pool water, as hard water can actually damage your pool and leave an unsightly white residue on ladders, pool decks or tiles, and other surfaces. This is called scaling and is caused by the calcium drying and hardening on a surface. If, however, you live in a hard water area, there’s no need to panic! Many pools operate very happily in the 400-800ppm range. You just have to take extra care to keep your pH and alkalinity under control, and use a stain and scale chemical to help keep your water clear, and prevent any build-up of scale.

Treating A Hard Water Pool

Maintaining low alkalinity and pH levels in your pool is the most important aspect of looking after a hard water pool. This is especially critical in the summer when the water temperature increases. Keeping the pH at about 7.2, and the alkalinity below 100ppm means your pool is less likely to produce scale, or become cloudy. It’s also important to use chelators or sequestrants, which are stain and scale chemicals. They help to bind minerals and metals in the water, keeping them dissolved and therefore preventing staining or scaling. Remember that these chemicals do deplete rapidly, so maintenance doses should be added to your pool once a week, after the initial first dose at the beginning of Spring. If you’ve previously been shocking your pool with a calcium hypochlorite pool shock, you might want to discontinue doing so if you have a hard water pool. It simply adds more calcium to your water, which is something you ideally want to avoid. If you have any questions about pool maintenance, or would like professional assistance with all things pool- or water feature related, talk to the friendly experts at Pool, Spa and Filtration Supplies. We have over 30 years of experience, and are great are finding solutions to any problems you might have with your domestic or commercial swimming pool, fish ponds, aquarium Jacuzzis or spa.

In South Africa, we enjoy a very pool-friendly climate. Our long, hot summers mean we can usually enjoy our pools for at least 6 months of the year – especially if you have a heat pump. But there will come a time when winter wins, and swimming is something we do without for a few months. That doesn’t, however, mean we can neglect caring for our pools for the whole of winter! Swimming pool care is something we have to do all year round. And keeping your pool looking good all winter means there’ll be very little to do when summer rolls around again – except put on your cozzies, of course!

Winter Swimming Pool Care Tips

We are fortunate that our pools don’t freeze in winter. They don’t even ice up. But they do find themselves covered in a lot more leaves and other blown-in debris. Unless you frequently clear this from the surface of your pool, it will sink to the bottom. This looks unsightly, can discolour the water, and clog up your automatic pool cleaner. This is why covering your pool is a great option to reduce winter pool care. Before you cover your pool, however, it’s important to thoroughly clean and vacuum it. Then backwash it thoroughly – and by thoroughly we mean for five minutes! Make sure the pH is within the ideal range and then shock treat with three cups of dry granular chlorine. The last job before putting the cover on is to remove your automatic cleaner. This should be thoroughly dried and stored in a clean, dry place. Don’t forget to adjust your pool pump timer – your filter only needs to run for between six and eight hours a day in the winter, instead of the 12 hours it usually runs for in summer. Add a cup of dry chlorine once a week. If you don’t plan to cover your pool, you can still reduce the timer from 12 to eight hours. You can also turn off your heat pump if you have one as this saves considerable electricity. Backwash and rinse your pool once a week, the same as you would in summer. This helps to prevent a build-up of dirt in your filter sand. Try to scoop off any leaves or other debris from the pool surface as quickly as possible, and keep your automatic pool cleaner running for the entire time the pump is on. Remember to empty the weir basket at least once a week, and check the pump basket regularly too. If you’d like any help or advice on how you can keep your pool summer-ready all through winter, chat to Pool, Spa and Filtration Supplies.