How to keep a pool clean?

[calmloki]

We are in the midst of buying a place with a pool. Currently drained to prevent skeeters, and holding nothing but debris. Want to get up to speed on the whole pool thing. It has a Pentair Clean and Clear Plus filter and I was wondering about this unit:
floatron: Product List
Will be away quite a bit and like the idea of minimizing the whole chlorine/bromine thing.

Instruct me oh watered ones!

 

[NW-Bound]

I have never heard of that "water purifier" thing. Whatever it does, I do not see how it can replace chlorine. And speaking of chlorine, the demand for it goes up dramatically in the summer, vs the winter. The water temperature has something to do with it.

Yes, a pool needs constant feeding of chlorine, else you will have a mosquito swamp choked full of algae in no time. My brother has a pool chlorinator which uses electrolysis of salt in the water. Whether the addition of salt is a less frequent activity than adding chlorine, I do not know.

In my case, I checked chlorine level twice a week in the summer, and once a week in the winter. We always have our children or a nearby relative to look after the pool when we are away. It's a chore.

 

[Nords]

Instruct me oh watered ones!

Arif isn't always on this board, but he owns a pool-service business and he knows what he's talking about. I recommend sending him a PM.

 

[SarahW]

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[Nords]

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The "Hall of Shame"? Hmmmm...

 

[clifp]

I or my parents owned pools for most of my life. The easiest way to keep a pool clean is to fill it with concrete. In hindsight I wish that is what I had done.

 

[freebird5825]

Um...keep the neighborhood kids out of it?

I have no idea because I do not own a pool. I have a 8 person outdoor hot tub and if it gets messed up, I just drain it, clean it out, and start over again.

 

[Moemg]

I would suggest hiring a pool company . They'll maintain it for you . Pools really need attention in the summer .

 

[ronocnikral]

my dad's method was to rotate between his korean pool cleaner and his irish pool cleaner. since i'm half of each, i qualified to clean the pool fulltime. i hated the pool, i cleaned it more times than i swam in it.

OTOH, i was talking with a co-w*rker who owns a pool and he tells me he loves it. he has all the automatic crap and he just has to clean a few filters and adjust some chemicals. he also complains about a $700 power bill starting in may and stops around nov when it falls to a much more reasonable $300.

 

[rescueme]

It's always good to have an "expert" clean your pool ...

 

[Rambler]

Get a salt water chlorine generator and attach it online with the filter. Then all you do is add salt to the pool from time to time (I add some once a year). The generator splits the sodium from the chlorine atom, voilà, chlorination, safely. Just adjust the controls summer and winter for more or less chlorine generation depending on usage and chlorine loss from evaporation. You may have to add acid once in a while depending on the pH level of your local water.

One more thing...get a cover!!! Helps with keeping the chlorine generator from having to work more than necessary, and helps with the skeeters.

Our pool is in California at our home, but only gets used in the summer. I check it every time I pass thru, but rarely have to do much. We also have a pool vac that attached to the suction side of the filter system.

I am extremely happy with it, as it pretty much takes care of itself even when I am gone for months at a time.

Check the Goldline brand...its what we use.

Hope that helps.

R

 

[MichaelB]

A pool needs clean water and clean surfaces.

Clean water means algae and bacteria free and is achieved by adding large amounts of chemicals on a regular basis. The primary additive is chlorine and can be added manually or as Rambler shows. The salt system has the added benefit of maintaining more even levels of chlorine. Otherwise, dump stuff in weekly.

Either way, you also need a pool motor to circulate water and avoid algae.

Clean surfaces means keeping leaves and such out of the pool and removing them promptly when they do fall in. Otherwise they attach to the sides and bottom, slowly disintegrate and become like rust. Not sure if they represent a risk to surface integrity but they are certainly quite unsightly.

Pool maintenance is not a low budget lifestyle item.

sarah - thanks for the link to the pool forum. Looks like an informative forum.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

We put in a fiberglass pool with a saline chlorine system. Takes me about 20 minutes of fussing a week, including brushing down the walls. Here in Fl most pools are in a screen enclosure so minimal debris. Pool service is called when we are away. I've had only minimal algae outbreaks due to user error.

Pools are a moderate pain, worth it to us since we use it regularly and the visiting grandkis use it all the time.

 

[clifp]

my dad's method was to rotate between his korean pool cleaner and his irish pool cleaner. since i'm half of each, i qualified to clean the pool fulltime. i hated the pool, i cleaned it more times than i swam in it.

OTOH, i was talking with a co-w*rker who owns a pool and he tells me he loves it. he has all the automatic crap and he just has to clean a few filters and adjust some chemicals. he also complains about a $700 power bill starting in may and stops around nov when it falls to a much more reasonable $300.

It sounds likes your dad talked to my dad. What is really sick is my first house had a pool and I wanted one. After 5 years I was really seriously was tempted to have the damn thing filled and talking to contractors I was far from alone.

Actually from what I hear/observe the new automatic cleaners/sweepers do a could job, but you want to have as boring box-like shape as possible for them to do the best job. Sort of like a roomba