No more green pools please.

I have been in the swimming pool business since I was a little boy. My father sent me out with his service crews when I was just 11 years old. I want to share some tips and ideas for making a pool an enjoyable retreat for pool owners.

The green pool is nothing to be scared of. My father took me and my sister to a friend's house in Middleburg, VA when I was about 10. The pool was so green you could not see the second step in the shallow end. Did that stop us from getting in? No way! We didn't care, it was cold and wet and the summer day was beating down. We didn't come out with any weird diseases or growths, we were fine.

I am not suggesting that you leave your pool in a swamp-like condition, but it won't kill anyone if your pool should happen to have a little algae on the walls.

If you want to avoid algae it is very easy. Just add chlorine. You can go to any retail pool store, give them a sample of water and they will give you a printout of all the various chemicals you need to correct your pool water chemistry. While they may not be wrong, they may be going overboard. You see, the software they use to analyze your water is produced by the chemical company. They design the software to maximize chemical sales, so beware and ask the salesperson to clarify what each chemical does and whether or not it is absolutely necessary.

I will share a secret with you. Service companies have a very unsophisticated water chemistry test kit they use. On any given week, a technician may test your chlorine, pH, alkalinity and stabilizer. This happens if you have a conscientious technician. Most techs will only test chlorine and pH. Many techs won't even take the test kit off of the truck, if they have one at all. The point is, chemistry is simple once you have balanced the water at the beginning of the season.

All you need to know is: 1. Get the alkalinity between 90-120 (it won't change much if at all) 2. Keep the pH between 7.2-7.8 (get it there in the beginning and it will barely fluctuate), 3. Get the cynuric acid (chlorine stabilizer) to over 60ppm, the higher the better (this saves chlorine), 4. Keep the chlorine between 1.0-3.0. this means you shock the pool with granular chlorine if the level drops below 1.0, and you add sticks to the skimmers EVERY WEEK.

Did you get that last part...EVERY WEEK! This is the #1 reason pools turn green; pool owners forget to add chlorine sticks or tabs to the skimmers. In fact, if you did nothing bad add chlorine sticks to the skimmers, you could maintain a clear pool all season. I knew a service tech that put 6 sticks in every skimmer, no matter what. His pools were crystal clear, and he never tested the water. Of course the bathing suits were all shredded from chlorine levels off the charts.

In brief:

1. Check chemistry 1x per week
2. Get your pH, alkalinity, and stabilizer right in the beginning
3. Maintain sticks or tabs in the skimmers
4. Shock the pool with granular chlorine when the level falls below 1.0 or every 2-3weeks.
5. Backwash or clean your filter every 1-2 weeks or whenever the pressure rises 10psi.
6. Keep all the baskets clean, check at least 1x per week.

That's it. If this doesn't work, you may have a problem with your pump or filter, and that is another blog.

Later,

Joey