Pool Tips Archives - Savol Pools

When should you open your swimming pool for the season?

April 12, 2016 by Lynn Spaulding

We get the “when to open your swimming pool” question a lot, especially from new homeowners.

open your swimming pool

There are a few things to consider when deciding on a time frame for your Spring opening:

What type of cover do you have?

Algae are plants, so when you see the grass getting greener, the flowers out, the algae in your pool is growing as well. So the longer you wait, the more green your pool will be, especially if you have a standard mesh safety cover. The sun will go through the cover and help the algae to grow. There are sun-blocking safety covers on the market, such as the Merlin Industries SmartMesh™ cover which will significantly reduce algae growth. These covers also filter down to about 40 microns (a sand filter filters about 30 microns), so you’ll only get the finest debris in the pool as well. [Read more…]

Pool Liner Life Expectancy

August 28, 2015 by Lynn Spaulding

How long does a swimming pool liner last?

Most liners last 10-12 years. If they are taken care of they will last a little longer. If they aren’t taken care of they will obviously not last as long.

Keeping the water level at the normal operational level during the off season will also extend your liner’s life. If your liner is full it stays in the right place where it should be. If the liner is left empty or dry by draining for the winter, it will shrink. [Read more…]

Water Testing Frequency for your home pool

August 24, 2015 by Lynn Spaulding

How often do I need pool water testing for proper balance?

You should check your pool chemicals every day, especially the chlorine. If you miss a few days and the pool loses all the chlorine it may turn green.

The pH and alkalinity should also be checked at least every other day. The alkalinity keeps the pH in the right range which helps the chlorine stay active and be able to kill all the nasty stuff in the water. This is especially true if you use the TriChlor tabs (hockey pucks). They have a pH around 3,so they will constantly bring your pH and alkalinity down.

The Calcium Hardness can be checked every month or so. This level will change if you have a leak and are losing a lot of water or if you use Calcium Hypochlorite.

The stabilizer should be checked once a month or so. More frequently if you have a leak or a lot of splash-out.

You should check for Phosphates fairly frequently as well. Phosphates act as food for algae. so if you’re having recurring algae blooms, you might want to bring some water in for testing. We will be writing a blog post on this subject shortly.

There are a few different ways to test the chemistry. There are dip and read test strips. These are handy, but not terribly precise. But will give you a general range. Taylor and AquaCheck have a few options for these test strips. Don’t use wet hands to take out the test strip and make sure that you cap the bottle tightly, you don’t want any moisture getting in.

There is the small “economy” liquid test kit. This kit just tests for chlorine and pH.

There is a range of other liquid test kits from the ones that we use as swimming pool professionals, to one that’s not quite that elaborate but will work for your pool.

If you leave the liquid reagents in the shed over the winter, throw them out, they’re not good. Also, in most cases the liquid reagents last only a year from the date you open them.

If you have a commercial pool, the local and state health department will advise you about how often you should check the water balance. Also, you are required to use a DPD test kit for water testing.

Come in or call us if you have questions regarding your pool water chemistry or your water testing kit. We also test water at no charge at our location at 91 Prestige Park Circle, East Hartford CT.

Manual swimming pool vacuuming

August 22, 2015 by Lynn Spaulding

Why isn’t my manual pool vacuuming unit working?

We get this call a lot.

The first question we ask is how old is the pool vacuuming vac hose? Lots of times its old and has an air hole in it so it’s not maintaining prime. The hose gets dragged along with ground, so it’s worn out. Get a new hose and you’ll be all set.

Other times the hose is installed backwards. The swivel end goes on the vac head in to the pool and the non-swivel end goes onto the skim vac plate.

If you have a new hose and the right end is in the pool and it’s still not working, you may need to backwash the filter or clean your cartridge(s) or DE Grids. You may need to degrease your DE grids or cartridges, not just hose them off.

What’s a skim vac plate? It’s a device that fits on the stationary end of the hose and goes over the skimmer basket so all the debris is collected by the skimmer. We don’t advise taking the end of the vacuum hose and placing it in to the hole at the bottom of the skimmer and letting the pump basket collect the debris. It’s more of a pain to clean out and the impeller can get clogged with debris and you’ll have poor suction.

Here’s a quick sheet on how to set up to manually vacuum your pool. How to set up a manual pool vac

We have all of the products you need to vacuum your pool at Savol Pools. We have vacuum hoses, vacuum heads for concrete or vinyl, skim vac plates and telescopic poles.

Not liking the thought of having to vacuum manually? Call Savol Pools to discuss a robotic vacuum cleaner for your pool.

Fall Renovations When Closing Your Pool

September 1, 2013 by Lynn Spaulding

Believe it or not, lots of pools get fall renovations or parts of renovations done in the fall. It is a time of year when the temperatures are still warm enough for not only materials to be used but most pool people don’t mind working in the nice weather. Lots of things can be done, such as coping and tile. Also concrete can still be used and poured with only minimal thought to weather conditions being too cold. Fall is also a good time to re-plumb your pool if you are thinking of that repair for old / broken pipes and fittings.

Some things I wouldn’t recommend as fall renovations, here in Connecticut anyway, are liner replacements and painting. Once the sun starts to get lower in the sky and the day time temperatures aren’t sustained in the upper 50’s-lower 60’s it gets hard to stretch a liner into place. It never fails that whenever you try to replace a liner in the fall that by the time you are ready and prepped to drop the liner, it has gotten a little bit chilly and the sunlight will be gone before you know it. It is always better and easier to take a few days in the middle of the summer to replace a liner than it is to wait until October to do it. If you anticipate needing a new liner in the spring, we can come out and measure your pool before it’s closed and then we’ll be all set to put the liner in spring.

Another thing to never do later in the fall is paint a pool. Just think how difficult it would be to paint your living room and having someone behind you blowing leaves on the fresh paint. That’s what it’s like when you are trying to paint an outdoor pool in the fall. Even if you happen to try and prepare by putting a leaf net over the pool to keep the leaves out, take it from me and a tough lesson learned, don’t paint in October!

What type of cover do you have?

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