Many pool owners have discovered that salt is a low-cost, low-maintenance and easy way to sanitize pool water.   Owners with an Electrolytic Chlorine Generator (ECG) don’t have to handle chlorine but get the same sanitization benefits.  They are able to avoid the worry of transporting and storing expensive chlorine cleaners, stinging eyes, irritated skin and bleached out bathing suits.  An ECG, or salt chlorinator, uses less than a teaspoon of salt per gallon of water to sanitize a pool.  That salt is converted to pure chlorine as it passes through the generator cell and is distributed through out the pool.  The chlorine is then recycled back into salt by the system to be used again and again.  No more constant replenishment of costly traditional chlorine chemicals.

Owners of a salt system do need a good effective maintenance regimen, just like folks with a traditional chlorine system.  The most important and fundamental maintenance point for a saltwater pool is the salt.  Make sure to use a good, high quality salt.  Mechanically evaporated salt is a good choice for a salt system because it has fewer impurities and contaminants than sola evaporated salt or mined salt to come out of solution and create scale deposits or stains in your pool. 

And speaking of scale deposits, as a saltwater pool owner you should be on the look-out for them.  If scale builds up on the cell plates it can reduce the chlorine out-put.  If this occurs you can clean the plates by soaking them in a solution of muriatic acid and water for 10 to 15 minutes.  Scale preventatives should be used regularly to help prevent scale deposits from forming (or reforming, if you’ve already cleaned them).  Products that contain phosphonates should be avoided, as well as dry acid, because those products can breakdown in the saltwater and actual contribute to problems with scale deposits.  Also, treatment products designed for traditional chlorine pools often contain chemical compounds that are less effective in a saltwater pool, or compounds that breakdown entirely and cause more scale issues.

As with any pool, owners of a salt system should test their water chemistry regularly.  Many service pros recommend weekly testing for PH and chlorine.  During the swimming season, monthly testing for total alkalinity, stabilizer and calcium hardness as well as salinity levels.

Have a question about your salt system or want to upgrade to one?  Give Premier Fiberglass a call.

Now that spring is on its way (sooner for some than others), we’d all like our pools to be sparkling clear.  Pool & Spa News Magazine reminds us that filters are a big part of that sparkling, clean pool.  They trap the fine dust and particulate matter that isn’t picked up in the skimmer baskets and the hair-and-lint pot.  A filter’s efficiency is measured by a micron rating, which tells you how many microns can pass through the filter; so the lower the micron rating, the smaller the particles are that are trapped by the filter.

The filter with the best micron rating is the Diatomaceous Earth (DE) Filter.  A DE filter can strain out particles as small as one to three microns.  Diatomaceous earth is a white powder made of the tiny skeletal remains of prehistoric sea creatures called diatoms.   This filter works when the DE coats the grid forms that are inside the filter, creating a “filter cake.”  This cake acts as a screen that traps the fine particles.  While the DE doesn’t compact, allowing the water to pass easily, the filter cake will pack and restrict the flow.  This can be partially cleaned by backwashing and then adding more DE to recoat the grids.  Periodically, it is necessary to open the filter and clean the grids individually.  The separation tank used in conjunction with a DE filter should be cleaned each time the filter is cleaned to keep everything functioning properly.

Although Sand Filters have the highest micron rating (40 to 20, over time), they are very simple to use.  Even the Ancient Romans used sand filters in their famous baths.  Sand filters work by trapping dirt and other particles as water passes through tiny openings and in a sand bed.  It has been said about sand filters that “they start to  clean better the dirtier they get.”  Sand filters are very low-maintenance, and a good one can go for years on backwashing alone, provided it’s done right, without having to add material or clean grids.

The most recent development in swimming pool filters is the Cartridge Filter, which was developed in the 1950s.  Cartridge filters are the simplest ones to maintain which is part of the reason why they’re so popular.  A cartridge filter functions similarly to a car’s air filter (in fact, they even look similar): water passes through a pleated polyester cloth and traps dirt and debris.  Like a sand filter, the micron rating (20 to five, over time) on a cartridge filter usually gets smaller as it gets dirtier.  Cartridge filters cannot be backwashed.  To clean it,  you simply remove the cartridge and hose it off.  Inspect the cartridge pleats and molding for signs of damage or wear and replace it when needed.

Installment number three in our equipment series. 

How do you clean your pool?  Do you use a manual vacuum or a Kreepy Krawly? Cleaning your pool is that inconvenient necessity that every pool owner faces so let’s talk pool cleaners.  The four most common types of pool cleaners you’ll find are manual, suction-side, pressure-side and robotic. 

A manual vacuum is a vacuum head attached to a telescoping pole and a hose that connects to a special vacuum fitting on the pool wall.  The pool owner then maneuvers the vacuum over the pool surfaces, sweeping up dirt and debris.  That’s the most economical way to clean your pool, but then you spend your Saturday morning vacuuming the pool.  If you’re on a budget it may be the way to go as manual vacuums usually run between $100 and $200.  The trade off is you spend your time cleaning your pool instead of money.

Now lets talk automatic cleaners.  They come in suction-side, pressure-side and robotic.  Suction-side automatic cleaners, like the Kreepy Krawly, connect to the pool’s skimmer or a dedicated suction line via a hose and use the  filtration system to suck up dirt and to provide the power to scoot around the pool.  Suction-side cleaners are great for small particles like dust, dirt and pollen.  Large debris can cause a bit of a problem since things like leaves can get stuck in the hose and the vacuum head won’t go over pebbles or other such items.  If your pool is under an oak tree, this may not be the cleaner for you.  These cleaners will typically run you between $200 and $500.

So what would work better for you if you have an oak tree to drop acorns in your pool?  May I suggest a pressure-side cleaner.  These cleaners roll over the pool surface on wheels and vacuum up debris into a bag mounted to the top of the unit.  It is common for these types of cleaners to have their own booster pump and dedicated pressure line to power them.  These cleaners usually have an opening for 2.5 inches which makes it perfect for cleaning up large debris.  While the tail on these pressure cleaners do stir up the water to facilitate cleaning, it leaves your skimmers and filter to take care of the smaller debris like dust, sand and fine dirt, which may not be ideal if you have a lot of that in your area.  Pressure-side models can cost anywhere from $425 without a booster pump up to $900 with.

Can you get the best of both worlds?  Is there a cleaner that can do both fine particle and large debris?  Yes, Virginia, there is one. Robotic cleaners are the most expensive of the four options starting at $600 and going up from there.  What comes with that price tag?  These small, self-contained bots move themselves around the pool sweeping up fine particles through two intake ports and large debris through an 11-inch opening.  They also have brushes or rollers that scrub the surface as it moves around and some even have power-washing jets.  These cleaners are usually operated by a battery or a water-safe cord plugged into your standard GFCI outlet, and they are the only ones that can be operated while the filter system is turned off.  They work well on porous surfaces and can even handle seams and corners that other cleaners miss.

Those are your standard pool cleaners that you can find in any residential pool.  But there are some more exotic ones.  If you want something “green” or eco friendly you might look into a solar powered cleaner.  These new robotic cleaners eliminate cords, hoses and batteries and can clean your pool all day and a few hours into the night without  added cost to your utility bill.  They work by skimming the top of the pool to remove leaves, dirt and other debris which gives organic matter less of a chance to decay and reduces the need to run the filter or clean the bottom of the pool as often as a standard cleaner.  They are approximately $500 but can practically pay for themselves with energy savings.  Looking for something even more high-end?  Try an in-floor cleaning system.  You can set the system and forget it and let these little pop-up jets do the cleaning for you.  The jets shoot streams of water  in specific zones to direct large particle debris to the main drain while the finer particle debris are stirred up and removed by the pool’s filtration system.  When the cleaning cycle is complete the jets drop back down into the floor.  Of course high-end isn’t without the appropriate price tag.  These types of systems start around $3000 and involve a lot of plumbing within the pool floors so they are best reserved for a new installation project.

Quite the plethora of options.  If you need  more information on pool cleaners, automatic or otherwise, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Premier Fiberglass.  We’ll be happy to help you figure out  what will meet your needs and fit your pocket book.

Continuing in the theme of preparing for spring and pool opening season, I offer a quick refresher on water chemistry practices.

As Patricia Fitzgerald pointed out in the August issue of Pool & Spa News, faulty readings aren’t always the fault of the testing equipment, lots of time it’s operator error.  But getting reliable results is easy if you follow a few guidelines.

1. Always read the instructions on your test equipment and follow them.

2. Use a clean sample container.

3.  Try to take your sample from the mid-point of the pool and at the depth indicated in the instructions.

4.  Don’t let the sample sit too long as water chemistry can change.

5.  Measure properly:  the bottom of the meniscus (curved surface of water in a container) should sit on the fill line marked on the sample container.

6.Mix the chemicals thoroughly.  Make sure there are no bits of solid reagents floating around or stuck in corners if you have a square sample container.

7.  Avoid contamination.  Don’t swap the caps on reagent bottles around and don’t touch the reagents.  Keep it clean.

8. Read the test results in natural light without sunglasses on.

Most importantly, once you have all that done, enjoy your pool!

It’s starting to head into the busy season for us here at Premier.  We have several customers who are starting installations of new pools here in the next few weeks, and after the great turn-out at the Austin Home and Garden Show this past weekend we hope to add to that number.  So I figured that now may be a good time to talk about some pool equipment.  Our New Pools generally come with your standard 1 HP pump, but can certainly be upgraded.  If you like the idea of an upgrade, or are thinking of a more energy-smart option, I’d like to introduce you to the idea of Variable Speed Pumps. 

Variable Speed Pumps (VSP) can help you reduce your energy bill (and consumption).  Running the pool on a low speed all day can give you a clean pool at lower operating costs than running it at a higher speed for only part of the day.  You can save up to 60% on energy costs compared to a traditional one-speed pump, they are more efficient and quieter and can be programmed to run at different speeds for different tasks.  One of the more common programs is to run it at a low speed for 22 hours a day and then for two hours run it at “skimming speed” which is the speed a traditional pump usually runs at.  That’s enough to run an automatic cleaner, heat the pool if you have a heater, and to run a spa spillway or other water features.  A VSP can even be installed on a spa and then programmed to run a therapeutic program, which may be a perfect application for someone needing physical therapy.  The best part is that if you live in an area where you are charged more for peak-time energy usage, you can set your VSP to run at the higher speeds at off-peak time and save on your energy costs. 

The City of Austin is currently offering a $300 rebate if you install one of their qualified variable speed pumps.  Check out Austin Energy’s Rebate Program page for details on the rebate and their list of qualifying pumps.  If you are interested in more information on how to get a VSP for you pool, contact us here at Premier Fiberglass and we will be more than happy to talk to you about finding the pump that’s right for your set up.

Here in Central Texas, it’s not exactly a necessity.  Usually keeping the pump running and the water circulating will prevent the pipes pump and filter from freezing and becoming a problem.  But if you are feeling the need to actually winterize your pool you can do it in ten steps.

1. Make sure the water chemistry is where it should be. 
2. Get everything out of the pool like ladders and rails and put them up to store someplace.
3. Clean the pool (brush and vacuum).
4. Add winterizing chemicals to the pool.
5. Clean the pump, filter and skimmers.
6. Lower the water level to below the skimmers and returns, and blow the water out of the lines.
7. Cap off the return lines, adding antifreeze if necessary.
8. Remove the drain plugs from the pump, filter tank and other equipment, following the manufacturers instructions.  Keep them off for the duration of the winter.
9. Cover the pool with a safety cover.  Use the right one for your pool.
10. Place a cover pump in the center of the cover to remove accumulated water and prevent ripping, etc., over the winter.

For more specific information on winterizing a pool, check out this site, their list is more comprehensive and detailed.