hi

Looking at houses at the moment, don't know anything about pools, although a few have these in.
What should I be looking out for, how much to they cost to clean/run?
Want to ask the right questions if we look at a property.

Thanks
Gothchick

You can get a pool man in to check chemicals and add if need be and clean out the pump filter etc for about 50 bucks.Mine comes round about once every 6 weeks.You can do it yourself and its meant to be easy and cheaper but I hav'nt bothered yet

its dead easy...half an hour a week in the summer months, I test mine every two weeks get this done free at the local pool shop....I just use the manual cleaner and 5 mins hoses the filter clean

Saltwater pools are easier (the chlorinator turns salt to chlorine). I think you can get get solar heating for about $4K. A pool blanket inc roller can be $800 or so after rebate which raises the temp a little bit and slows evaporation. Then there is the difference between concrete and fibreglass. Concrete can be made any shape you want but I would imagine more likely to need maintenance occassionally. The sand filter, chlorinator, pump etc can be $several hundred if they ever go.

we have a salt water pool and the maintenance guy comes every 4 weeks to check it and clean etc. Its about $60, but by the time he adds on extra chemicals and any extras it might need the bill can creep up to around $100

I take it the pool must get used heaps if it needs $40 extra of chemicals I spent less than $60 in salt and chemicals last year

More like making extra $$$$$$$$$$ for nothing.

Our pool man has not come to our rental yet. Salt IG pool. Is there a way to test its ok ? Do I take a sample to a pool shop ?

Crawler and chlorinator running for about 5 hrs a day.

Actually got to 16c today, and I think the kids would jump in for 5 mins if the pool was ok.

sounds very expensive

You can buy test strips from Coles supermarket they r very good....also ur local pool shop will test it for you. % hours a day in winter is a bit much also...mine is on for 2 hours a day just now and its perfect

Thanks... Think the timer has been in the sun too long, and its little adjusters have got brittle.

lol


when there is no one in the pool it doesnt need much filtering save yer leckie

I just add chlorine to my pool which you may not do, but some of the advice here might help you or others. It's off the top of my head so errors and omissions: the chlorine in your pool may go up or down..

1. Your pool needs to be filtered, and clean of organic crap.

Filtering the crap out needs to be done little and often with a creepy crawly, with the occasional manual vacuum (ie you plug in a brush thing on to the end of the creepy hose) completing what the creepy has missed. (You can co-opt the kids in the street to do this lol). Leave it too late, and you will get a bigger problem. (See 6) You need to keep on top of this, but I find it a good summer get-home from-work-job or Sat morning activity.

2. It needs the right level of free chlorine - just a bit. 1-2 ppm say. Sun kills chlorine - in a matter of hours so add in the evening. If your pool stinks of chlorine then this is a bad sign, all the ''free'' chlorine has been used up.

If your pool is the sort of pool where you have to add it yourself, a bucket of powder chlorine - 50-70 bucks a bucket - lasts me a year. Avoid the cheap chlorine as it contains a lot of Calcium. (Calcium Hypocloride?) Try to go for the stabilised chlorine, it has cynuric acid in it. It has Trysomething or other cyanuric on the label). There is another type too, Dich something or other. Do not used liquid chlorine from the likes of KMart -very expensive.

3. pH. For the chlorine to work, the pH level has to be more or less neutral. Middle of the scale; say 7.4 -7.6. To easily maintain the pH without it ''bouncing'' around the

4. Total Alkalinity needs to be right so you always start with that. Once you get that right it normally stays OK for a few years. Inground pools with liners need a different concentration 120-150mg/L to plaster pools(80-120mg/L). Check!

5 .Test kits give you Total Alkalinity and pH. Get the bigger one from Clarks Rubber, the one with 4in1 Test Kit on it - it also measures pH to a finer level of granularity. Strips work well too for quickies. Top tip: the blokes in the shops and out on call are known to stuff the test up - you know who you are!

Rainfall and adding water to replace water loss via evaporation and splashing will change the pH.

I get the chemicals (Ph+/-) and or Total Alkalinity Increaser (Buffer) in 20 dollar bags. Normally the PH drops and needs to be increased and the total alkanity needs to be increased too eventually. You can also buy Ph+ and Total Alkalinity in the same bag.

My tricks:

During the season I use stabilised tablets from a dispenser - 15 bucks per small tub. It ensures a small and constant supply of chlorine and prevents up and down chlorine supply. I don't like to use too much stabilised chlorine in the swimming season if it coincides with drought as I can't drain the pool or top it up and eventually cyanuric acid (stabiliser) gets too high which is also bad.

So in the off season I stop using tablets and switch to shocking the pool with the bucket chlorine once a week and winter rain allows me to empty the pool of cyanuric buildup.

6. Clarity-top tips.
Some people find the water goes cloudy and no amount of chemicals will fix it, especially if you've left it too late. You might make the mistake of paying for tens of dollars of chemicals or call outs but it might probably be all the organic crap which the filter can't manage.

Get some flocculant, $20 bucks a bottle from Clarks Rubber, and chuck it inthe pool via the skimmer but keep the pool on recirc- you DON'T want it going via the filter. About half a 1l bottle will do a big pool so that $10 bucks a go.

Recirc for a few hours.

Leave to settlefor 24 hours, and you''ll be amazed. I was the first time. All the crap settles to the bottom leaving the rest crystal clear. Slowly and gently vacuum this to waste -slowly - it may take several days and/or more floc to get rid of it all, because you won't help but stir it up before you are done. Once my pool got so bad, it took me a 6 weeks to clarify it, doing a vacuum once a week on the weekend(!) Do not attempt to vacuum through the filter as it will stuff the filter and depending on how old the flter is, it may not cope and it might come back through. I have an old sand filter but I am replacing this with a cartridge filter next swim season.

You can also get some aluminuium rock which does something similar only you can run this through the filter. It's a lot cheaper and I use it occasionally along with little clarifiers which do the same thing, which also go in the skimmer basket and help me keep on top of it.

7. The problem is, if you can't top up a pool, due to restrictions, you will be stuffed as the water level will drop below the level of the skimmer box when you vacuum to waste so you may be forced to otherwise attempt to filter [edit]through the hose [edit]- but as I said, the filter can only cope with so much - so keeping the pool clean little and often is key. This is why water tanks are necessary - my 2500l tank gives me the ability to top up twice during the swim season which is what it needs if I use a solar blanket to stop evaporation.

If you're getting rainfall, then there is no excuse for a dirty pool as you can vacuum to waste as soon as the pool starts to get full. If you dón't swim in the off season, then the dirt will collect at the bottom - and a manual vacuum to waste will stop the filter from having to do the job....my cover is now off, unused, and the water is as clear as glass....

B

yeah what he said!!!

Piece of piss in reality. I need to adjust the pH a couple of times a quarter if that.

No point in allowing a tradie with a floppy hat anywhere near!

cheers