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So, we all know that swimming pools are the great conundrum; great for kids, perfect for sundowners, and a total pain to keep clean! Indeed, pool maintenance is not the best way to spend your sunny Saturday. As your local swimming pool specialists, we’d like to whisper in your ear and offer a few time-saving and frankly, surprisingly, tips to keeping you in the water, not cleaning it. While these won’t completely eliminate the need for a good scrub and the right pool chemicals, it will definitely make the load lighter.

Maintain Your Chemical Balance – Pay Less

A sparkling swimming pool is all about finding the right balance. You may have gone out and bought some specialised products – among which would be an Alkalinity Increaser? Sound familiar? Next time you’re at the shop pick up a box or two of baking soda. This is a far cheaper option and does the same thing – although you may want to check on dosage amounts for your sized pool.

Easy Pool Maintenance ≠ Dogs

As much as we love our furry friends, allowing your dogs in the pool creates a whole mess of extra work for you. Ignoring the dirt, dust and debris on their feet and coat for a second, your dogs will shed an enormous amount of hair into your pool. Doggy hair will block up your filters faster than you can say “fuzzball” and if not regularly cleaned, can put a strain on your pool’s kidneys.

Keep the Outside, Outside

While we generally focus on the clarity of the water and the state of the walls and stairs, some pool owners forget about the coping and tiles around the pool. Keeping these well-maintained and free from debris automatically decreases the amount of dirt that ends up in your water. It’s also worth paying attention to the waterline itself, and giving that a weekly wipe-down. This is where you’ll find an interesting collection of suntan cream, oils, and other grime. Wipe it away and it doesn’t end up in your water when the family come home. Pool maintenance doesn’t have to be a headache. If you’re loving your pool but hating the extra work, then we’ll happily take it off your hands. Contact one of our friendly Pool Spa staff today.

Just like your kidneys work to remove the impurities from your body, your pool filter works in a similar manner to clean and rid the water of dirt, leaves and other debris. Unlike your body, however, your filter requires human interaction to keep it, and your pool in ship shape.

Filter Basics

Sand filters require the lowest amount of filter maintenance, and it is generally only required that the tank is opened up every 5 to 7 years to replace the sand. Should you notice a gradual loss of efficiency, or if your pool starts to require more frequent backwashing than in the past, this is a sign it’s time for the sand to be replaced. Another tell-tale sign is when you need to run your pump more often, or you find you are using more chemicals to maintain the water quality. DE (Diatomaceous Earth) Filters require removal of the internal grid assembly at least once a year. These should then be cleaned thoroughly. Cartridge filters don’t backwash, instead, you would remove the cartridge and hose it down every so often. The frequency of cleaning this filter would depend on the cartridge size. In order for you to carry out filter maintenance, it’s important to understand the filter valve settings. Let’s have a look at those of the most popular sand filter.

Understanding a Sand Filter’s “Filter Valve” Settings

To safeguard your filter’s mechanics, always remember to shut off the filter pump before turning the filter valve to the different settings.

1. Filter: This is where is should be set most of the time unless you are backwashing, rinsing or wasting.
2. Rinse: Use this setting for 15 seconds after every backwash to rinse the sand filter tank.
3. Recirculate: If your filter is broken or leaking, this is a bypass setting that will keep the water circulating in the meantime until you can facilitate the necessary repairs.
4. Backwash: This setting reverses the flow of water and sends it out of the waste pipe.
5. Waste / Drain: Another bypass setting, only this sends water out of the waste pipe instead of returning it to the pool. You can use this to lower the pool water level, to vacuum up debris such as algae, or to drain your pool completely if some serious maintenance needs to be done.
6. Closed: This will close off the flow from the pool if you need to work on the equipment. Never operate the pump when the filter valve is in this position.

Filter Maintenance for Sand Filters

Once a week the pool can be cleaned by turning off the filter. Empty the filter basket of any debris such as leaves, and then give it a spray off with a hosepipe to remove any stubborn dirt before putting it back. Once a month you should clean out the pipes used by your filtration system. This is done by backwashing the pool. First, remove and clean out the leaf basket. Make sure your waste pipe is rolled out and free from obstruction. Set your filter valve to “Backwash” and turn the pump on. When the water ejected from the waste pipe runs clear, around two to three minutes, the backwash is complete. Now do a quick “Rinse” before turning the filter valve back to “Filter”. To further preserve the filter’s mechanics during filter maintenance, it is recommended you use a timer on your filter, rather than turning it on and off randomly, which can cause the filter’s mechanics to crack over time. Set the timer to run for around six hours a day. Pool Spa has friendly staff who can both provide you with top shelf pool filtration systems and also advise you on filter maintenance to keep your swimming pool sparkling. Chat to one of our experts today. Visit us at www.poolspa.co.za

One of the most important facets of pool maintenance is the chemical levels. Improperly balanced water is murky, irritating to eyes and skin and can turn your investment into a bacteria breeding ground. When all the pool chemicals are properly balanced the water should look crystal clear, have no scent and leave very little residue on your skin. Before you can even begin manipulating pool chemicals, you will need to understand your pool water’s chemistry and needs.

Testing the Water

Ideally, you should test the water once a week. Testing is easy if you have a few testing kits on hand – these can be purchased from your local swimming pool shop. Fill the tester with a sample of your pool’s water. Add the provided solution to the testing kit and close the vials. After a few seconds, your sample water should change colour. Compare this to the colours on the testing kit to determine the current chemical levels. Adjusting the pool chemical levels will help you to achieve the perfect balance. Here are a few chemical guidelines to help you out.

Five Essential Pool Chemicals

There are five essential pool chemical levels that need to be considered when maintaining your pool’s optimum health.

• Cyanuric Acid. This protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the Free Chlorine level. The ideal reading for outdoor pools is 30 – 50
• Free Chlorine. This is a sanitiser which keeps the pool water free of germs and makes it safe.
• Acidity / Alkalinity. Better known as the PH level. Acidity should be kept between 7.5 and 7.8 to prevent skin and eye irritation and also to protect the pool and any pool equipment from eroding.
• Total Alkalinity. This helps to keep the PH in balance. Levels should be within a range of 60 – 120
• Calcium Hardness. An appropriate level of calcium hardness will help prevent plaster damage. Aim for 220 – 350. Pools with vinyl siding should be lower.

Bonus Tip for Summer

Tennis balls are not just for playing catch in the pool, they can do you a double duty. After the suntan cream soaked swimmers exit the pool, let the tennis balls linger – even add a few more. The fibres on the balls will act as mini oil barons and help soak up and absorb many of the oils left behind, thus clearing up that unwanted slick sheen that can form on top of the water. Pool Spa knows their stuff. Chat to one of the friendly experts today for advice on how to keep your swimming pool looking its best. Visit us at www.poolspa.co.za

Everyone loves swimming pools, but no one loves to maintain them! Especially in the winter when we don’t even use them but they still demand our time and attention to keep them looking good. Yet swimming pool maintenance shouldn’t be something to dread – by learning a few simple techniques, you can keep your pool looking amazing every day of the year with only a small amount of effort on your part. There are three basic areas to focus on when it comes to perfect pool maintenance, and if you understand and get the hang of each one, you’ll be doing, well, swimmingly! So let’s dive in:

Circulation

Think of your pool like a huge cup of coffee. If you don’t stir it after you add milk and sugar, all the good stuff sinks to the bottom and stays there, significantly reducing your enjoyment of your caffeine fix! A pool is exactly the same. Properly circulating your pool water means you’re working to spread the chemicals you add to the water. It also means you’re filtering it properly, which keeps it clean and free of debris. Your pool pump is the heart of your circulation system, working hard to ensure the continual flow of water from the body of the pool through the filter and back into the pool again. How long you should run your pump for is one of those tricky questions to answer. Ideally, your pump should run 24/7, but this is usually not feasible because it would skyrocket your electricity bill, and cause undue wear and tear on the pump itself. So the second best option is to base your running time on the size of your pool, how often it’s used and by how many people at a time. As good general rule of thumb, you should try to run your pump for about 12 hours a day in summer, and eight hours a day in winter, with the basic idea being to run all the water in your pool through the filter system at least once – but ideally two to three times - a day. Regularly backwashing your filter will help to keep your pool running optimally, although don’t do it too often, as it is just a waste of water. Generally speaking, most filters require backwashing when the pressure gauge rises 8-10 psi from clean.

Cleaning

Most people think that if they have an automatic pool cleaner, that’s their cleaning commitment taken care of. Not true. Your pool cleaner usually doesn’t get to certain places, such as steps or behind pool ladders, for example, so you will need to brush these areas at least two to three times a week to keep them free of dirt and algae. Regular brushing gives your filter the chance to filter out any unwanted organisms.

Chemicals

Keeping your pool water chemically balanced is important to make sure the chlorine does what it’s supposed to, as well as ensuring the water is pleasant for people to swim in (unbalanced water can cause burning eyes and other irritations). Testing your pool water is easy. You can get test strips and pool kits, which you can use at home to work out your pH and alkalinity levels, although it’s advisable to take a sample of your pool water to your local pool shop every two to three weeks for a full, professional analysis. To prevent scaling or corrosion, and to maximise swimmer comfort, your pool water should show a pH of 7.5, which is the same pH as human skin. At this level, chlorine is about 60% active. At 8.5, chlorine is only 10% active.

Help Is At Hand

If you’d like any advice on how best to maintain your pool, please chat to one of the experts at Pool Spa and Filtration supplies. We’ve been in the business for years and can answer all your questions. Let us help you get the most out of your pool. Call us today.

In South Africa, we’re lucky to have hot summers and, in most parts of the country, mild winters. This means you can enjoy a swimming season lasting between four and five months, from November to March, depending on where in the country you live. The great news for swimming enthusiasts is that an economical heat pump will give you even more enjoyment out of your pool. Swimming pools are quite costly to install, and they require year-round maintenance, regardless of whether they’re warm enough to swim in or not. So it makes sense to use them as much as you can, for as long as you can, to get the maximum benefit and value from your pool. With a heat pump, you can.

How Does A Pool Heat Pump Work?

Heat pumps are probably the most economical and efficient way to heat your swimming pool. They work in pretty much the same way as an air conditioner, except in reverse! They use a combination of electricity and air drawn in from the outside to warm your pool water. For the more technically minded among us, the process works like this:

• The pump circulates the water in your pool, and as it does so, it passes it through a filter and then through the heat pump water heater.
• This heater uses a fan to draw in air from outside, which it then circulates through an outer evaporator air coil.
• This coil contains liquid refrigerant, which absorbs the warmth from the air and turns it into gas.
• The gas is pumped through the heat exchanger along with your pool water, which transfers the heat from the gas to the water.
• The warmed water then flows back into the pool.

Heat pumps can help raise the temperature of your pool water by an average of between three and five degrees, depending on the outside air temperature. Although they do need electricity to heat the water, pool pumps are incredibly efficient, using one unit of electricity to generate five units of heat. You can increase the electricity savings even more by combining your heat pump with solar thermal technology. At Pool Spa and Filtration Supplies, we supply and install electrical swimming pool heat pumps for any size swimming pool. You can get an idea of the approximate monthly running costs here, or please chat to one of our friendly and experienced staff who will happily answer any questions, and advise you on suitable options for your specific pool.

Although salt chlorinated pools are becoming more popular in South Africa, there is still a lot of confusion about how they work, and what the pros and cons are. Hopefully this article will help to clarify things a bit more for those of you who might still be wondering whether to take the plunge (so to speak) and covert to a salt chlorinator, or stick with a regularly chlorinated pool.

“Salt Water Pools Are Corrosive”

Many people think that salt water pools are like having a small sea in their gardens, and we all know how corrosive marine environments can be. But the fact is, the salt concentration of sea water is upwards of 25 000 parts per million (ppm), whereas the concentration from salt chlorinators in pools is around 4000ppm. At these levels, you won’t even taste the salt, and it is no more corrosive than regular chlorine. With both systems, however, the water chemistry needs to be kept in check as incorrect pH causes acidic conditions which can damage pool cleaning equipment and fittings.

“Salt Chlorinated Pools Are Maintenance-Free”

It’s true that once you have the correct levels of salt in your pool, it will generate its own chlorine and you won’t have to add this manually, but it is essential to regularly monitor the pool’s salt concentration and the pH levels of the pool water, adjusting and correcting as and when necessary.

“Salt Chlorinated Pool Water Can Damage Concrete”

Water that is splashed out of newly built, salt chlorinated pools has been blamed for damage to the pool’s concrete surrounds. Most builder believe that this only happens if you let your concrete dry properly for between one and three months before using your salt chlorinator (just use regular chlorine in the meantime). Some pool experts say that it’s not necessary to wait as long as three months, but there seems to be a consensus that you should wait at least one month from the date of starting your pool’s circulation system. There are many factors to consider, and questions to ask, before you make the final decision on which pool chlorination system is going to be best for you. Salt chlorinated pools are great if you have sensitive skin and don’t like the smell of regular chlorine, but they are more expensive to set up than regular chlorination systems. Do your research thoroughly, and please don’t hesitate to come and chat to the knowledgeable and friendly people at Pool Spa & Filtration Supplies. We have everything you need to keep your pool at its sparkling best – whichever chlorination system you have.