Swimming pools
 

Well, after 5 long years of renting, my family and I have at last become proud new owners of a home - complete with a swimming pool. The previous owners used pool services to maintain the pool so I currently have next to no gear to keep it clean. First thoughts are to get a pool vacuum such as a Kreepy Krauly or a Barracuda. Any recommendations for the best pool vac ...and any other recommended equipment? Thanks.

Re: Swimming pools
 

Congratulations!! Hope the pool is heated, especially in Canberra!!:eek: Love our pool, but it's not heated.

Pool blanket. Helps to keep the heat in, warm up the pool and keeps all the crap out. We need to get one :lol:

We use a 3in1 stuff you can get from Bunnings but top up with chlorine too. We have a used barracuda. Not used it much cos been waiting for ROMFT to sort the fittings out, but hopefully it will get more use now he's done that.

Re: Swimming pools
 

No, it isn't heated but maybe we'll get solar heating for it later. It does have a pool blanket. One of our biggest problems is a nearby Mimosa tree. A beautiful tree that provides shade but it's extremely messy and for a long period. We'll probably have to give it the chop.

Looking at which brand of pool vac it looks like it's a close tie between Kreepy Krauly and Barracuda - with Kreepy Krauly coming out more expensive.

Re: Swimming pools
 

If you can afford it go for a trident. They are amazing and need no plumbing in. They will go up walls and you can even steer them by remote control to get to spots that might have been missed. (fun for the boys) They have different programme settings depending on how long you want the pool to be cleaned for.

I hear you with the tree problem. My pool is surrounded by a variety of trees that are huge and cannot be cut down. I remove over a bucketful of leaves each day.:thumbdown:

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Ouch! Two thousand dollars! :ohmy: There's no ways we could afford one of those but it does look like fun. :thumbup: We've decided to go for the baracuda. Looks like lots of work to learn the ins and outs of pool care. Thought I'd start with the vacuum cleaner and take it from there. Looks like I also need to get a vacuum plate. The setup as currently it is sucks straight into the "naked" basket. Apparently there's about 30 different sizes so it looks like that'll be challenge in itself to find the right one.

The mimosa tree in our garden looks diseased so it might not live for much longer.... :sneaky::thumbsup:

Re: Swimming pools
 

Looking after pools is like looking after kids. Keep your eye on them for 10 minutes each day and spend a bit more time with them on the weekends and all will be well. Ignore them for more than a week and things start getting messy.

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Robotic cleaners are great but cost far too much - especially when you see them online n the US for half the price

I've currently got an Onga Hammerhead which I got off EBay for about $200. It has 8 parts which are easy and cheap to replace. It works well

Avoid Kreepy Krauly - unreliable, expensive to buy and replacement parts cost too much

It seems that with pool cleaners there are many identical products with different badges but with massive price differences. Local pool shops can be expensive. Bunnings, BigW and Mitre 10 are good alternatives for chemicals and gear

Re: Swimming pools
 

Good advice

An hour a week is about right to keep a pool in tip top condition

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What's the point in having a swimming pool if your not going to get a pool boy? :blink:

Re: Swimming pools
 

Do you need me to pop round and test it? :lol:

BB

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Having spent a fortune replacing all the worn out bits over the 7 years we have been here, we can't afford one!

In the trident's defence, it would have cost more to have the polaris replaced and the burst pipe fixed, so we did actually go for the cheaper option! (Bloody gum tree also has done for our water main twice in the last 5 years too. It is full of carpenter ants and has lots of dead branches, but council won't let us remove it.)

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Good tips, thanks. I ended up getting a Baracuda Manta at Masters for $339. Works pretty well. It's dragged lots of basket-loads of rubbish from the murky depths so far. Going to get the water tested today so that it can receive its optimum chlorine dose. With a bit of luck we'll be able to swim in it on the weekend.

It's not looking very inviting right now - though it's probably safer than swimming in the Murrumbidgee. :unsure::lol:

Re: Swimming pools
 

But if the tree dies, are you able to remove it then?

Re: Swimming pools
 

It won't die, that's the problem.

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Have you tried anything to "help it along"?

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Tebuthiuron worked well on the Toomer's Oaks

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Been treating the pool for more than a week and it's hardly at all changed from the milky green blue colour that it was when we moved in.


...Bloody pools! :thumbdown:

Re: Swimming pools
 

What products are you using? How long do you have the pool filter on for? If you PM ROMFT, he can give you some advice.

Re: Swimming pools
 

Head over to TroubleFreePool

They have some awesome experts there who can get you fixed up.

Not sure what chemicals you are using but all you need is regular household bleach (chlorine) and lots of it anything else is a temporary fix and/or just masks the underlying problems.

Get yourself a reliable test kit and DON'T under any circumstances rely on your local pool store for advise (or testing). They exist only to sell you a bunch of crap you don't need.

Chlorine and TLC should be all you need.

Re: Swimming pools
 

Thanks, I'm pretty much using only chlorine. The Google people reckon it's the pool filter sand that needs replacing so I've currently got my Youtube buddies working on that :)

Thanks that's a great site :thumbsup:

I realised that the local pool shop is generally not the place to go at the same time as I discovered they charge pretty much twice the prices for things that can be found elsewhere. :blink: But I might need them to come and show me what all the pipes and vales are for in the pump cupboard. What with the spa pipework, it's like a box of spaghetti in there :confused:

...Next homeowners challenge: Possums. There's a bloody colony of the things in my roof :sneaky:

Re: Swimming pools
 

After 12 years of experience I've finally settled on a regimen that works.

Long and slow filtration, is key, with a cheap low power pump to keep costs down. Mine uses 100w rather than 700w full bore, set to 8 hrs over night. I reduce it to 6 hrs either side of summer then to 4..

Before I got one of these I was not filtering enough. Turn the water over once a day nice and slow. I stopped using a pool cleaner 3 years ago, just allowing the filter to do its work. Once a month I vacuum to waste after leaving it to settle. Don't obsess too much with tests, get the buffer right at season open, it might need a bit of adjustment over the season then regular chlorine and a bit of algaecide when you remember..I've occasionally let the pH go out of whack but with filtration it seems to keep pool clear..

Buy chemicals from Woolies...

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Blimey must be nice not to have trees and leaves :blink: Our filters would be ****ed within a year if we didn't have a pool cleaner. As it is we've finally bitten the bullet and replaced our 10 year old filters.

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Well, thanks to troublefreepools and a bit of perseverance I now have a shimmering pool. Well, almost - I can see the bottom now and it has a decidedly light blue colour. A few weeks more and I reckon it'll be perfect! Just in time for winter! :o:banghead: