Winterizing Your Swimming Pool
Once fall ends and winter begins to rear it’s ugly head, it will be time to shut your pool down. When shutting your pool down, the first step will be the water. You should begin by checking your pH level, and making sure that it is around .. If it isn’t, simply add some dry acid. You should also check your chlorine as well, and use a winterizing product to make sure that your pool will be protected from algae during the few months that you won’t be swimming.
During the winter months, you should run your pump for around hours a day, to ensure that the algae doesn’t settle in. You should also go ahead and check for any types of leaks as well, then switch your skimmer valve off and let the water drain to around inches below the skimmer’s bottom. This way, you’ll have the preferred amount of water in your pool.
If you are using a summer cover, take it down and give it a good cleaning using fresh water and a pressure washer if you have access to one. Once you have cleaned the cover really good, go ahead and put it in your building or garage and break out your winter cover. When you put your winter cover on the pool, make sure that you have plenty of tension on the cover, to prevent anything from getting under it.
Although you may have put the cover on tight, you should still check it every couple of days to make sure that it is still tight. Remind your family and friends that you have closed your pool down for the winter, and that they shouldn’t be around it. Pool covers are designed to protect your pool and the water – they aren’t made for safety. Never, under any circumstances should you let a pet or a person on the cover.
Once you have finished with the cover, it is time for the equipment. You’ll need to drain the water from your pump, heater, and your filter. Each one should have a drain plug located somewhere near the bottom, which makes it easy to drain the water out. You should never forget to do this, as the water can freeze inside of your equipment during the cold months of winter and result in permanent damage of your equipment.
Once you have finished getting your swimming pool ready for winter, you can relax knowing that your pool is protected. Keeping a check on it every few days will ensure that nothing has happened. Once summer starts to arrive again, you can get your pool ready for summer and prepare to open it up again. If you’ve done things right – your pool will be ready to go in no time at all.
The Benefits of Owning a Pool Cover
Over the past few years, swimming pools have rapidly increased in popularity. While they have always been popular, their recent affordability is what is prompting many homeowners to have a pool installed in their backyard. If you already have a pool installed in your yard, you may already know how difficult it can be to keep that pool cleaned. If you are about to have a pool installed in your yard, you will find this out soon enough.
When it comes to keeping a pool clean, there are many who believe that there is nothing that they can do. Nothing except for the regular cleaning of their pool. While cleaning your pool on a daily basis is a great way to remove unwanted debris, it can be a difficult and time consuming task. For many, this task eliminates the fun that should be associated with a swimming pool. Instead of regularly cleaning up your pool, you are advised to protect it right from the start. You can protect your pool by purchasing a pool cover.
A pool cover is a popular pool accessory. This popular pool accessory comes in a wide variety of different styles. When purchasing a cool cover, you are advised against purchasing the first pool cover that you come across. As previously mentioned, pool accessories come in all different styles. While each style may accomplish the same goal, they tend to have different purposes.
If affordability is what you are looking for, it is likely that you may consider purchasing a plastic pool cover. Plastic pool covers are lightweight. Despite being lightweight, they are able to float on top of your pool and offer it protection. This protection will be used to keep leaves, insects, and other debris out of your pool. While plastic covers are affordable, they are not always ideal for those with small children. This is due to the fact that most plastic pool covers will not support the weight of a person, even a small child.
If you are looking for a pool cover that will not only help to protect your home, but your children as well, you may want to examine vinyl pool covers. Vinyl pool covers, like most other pool accessories, are designed for both aboveground and in-ground pools. With in-ground pools, vinyl pool covers may come with an automatic system. This system will allow you to cover your pool, easily, with the click of a button. Manual vinyl covers are also available for in-ground and aboveground pools. The strength of most vinyl pool covers is enough to hold the weight of multiple adults.
The cost of a swimming pool cover will all depend on the type of pool that you have and the type of cover you are looking to purchase. Where you shop may also have an impact on pool cover costs. If you are looking for the best deal, you are advised to compare prices of online and offline retailers before making your final purchase. This price comparison may help to ensure that you are not paying too much for your pool cover.
As mentioned above, swimming pool accessories are often used to help keep a pool clean and free of debris. However, they can also be used to help make a pool safer. If you are interested in purchasing a pool cover not only to protect your pool, but to protect others, especially children, you will want to carefully examine your purchase. As previously stated, not all pool covers are designed to withstand the weight of a person, even a small child. In fact, some pool covers may even pose additional safety hazards.
If you are concerned with the safety of this popular and much needed pool accessory, you are encouraged to seek assistance. Whether you are shopping online or at a local storefront retail location, you should be able to speak with a sales associate that can offer you assistance. While it may seem time consuming to research something as simple as a pool cover, you may reap the many benefits of doing that research, if not now then in the future.
Swimming Pool Supplies For Cleaning
Keeping your swimming pool nice and clean is easier than ever these days due to the ever increasing amount of quality cleaning accessories. There are many tools to choose from, including skimmers, brushes, and vacuum heads. These tools make pool maintenance easier than ever, meaning that you can spend more time swimming and less time cleaning.
The more specialized tools that are used to clean swimming pools include leaf skimmers, leaf rakes, brushes, corner brushes, pool sweeps, grids and cartridges for the filter, motors and pumps, pool filters, and many more. Most of these accessories are a must have, especially for those who have trees around their pool. Leafs in the water can be very annoying and distracting, and should be removed on a frequent basis.
The biggest aspect to keeping your pool nice and clean is to make sure that the care of your water is always up to date. There are many water care products that you can buy, including balancing chemicals, sanitizes, chemicals to treat algae, stain treatment products, water testing kits, and saltwater systems. Normally, chlorine is used as a sanitizer, as it helps to get rid of and prevent any organic material that exists in the water.
By using chlorine in your pool, you will greatly reduce the load that organic material puts on the filter. The regular maintenance of your pH balance and the right levels of alkalinity are also very important to keeping your pool clean. You should also make sure that you check your calcium as well. The pump that you use is also important, as it will prevent the waste of energy. To make things easier on yourself, you can get an automatic pool cleaner that will do just about everything for you.
To get the right amount of chlorine feed, you’ll need to use hand feeding or tablet feeding. This will ensure that you get the right amount of chlorine in the water. Chlorine is also important for protecting skin, although you should try not to swallow water that has chlorine in it. There are saltwater chlorine generators out there as well, which are one of the most popular ways to get the right amount of chlorine in your water.
As long you use the proper cleaning supplies and products with your pool, you’ll be able to enjoy fresh and clean water whenever you decide to go swimming. Keeping your water clean is also healthy for your skin, and anyone else who gets in your pool. You should always make sure that you have cleaning supplies on hand, and check your water on a frequent basis. You can get a pool testing kit for a little of nothing – which will more than pay for itself when you decide to check your water.
Pool Safety For Children
Having a swimming pool on your property can be a great way to have fun for yourself and your entire family. Even though a pool can be fun, it can also be very dangerous if you have children around. If you can wait, you should wait until your kids are least or older before you put a pool on your property. On the other hand, if you already have a swimming pool, there are ways that you can protect your children.
One thing you should always remember is to never, ever, allow your children to be alone near your pool. Children tend to be drawn near the water, and all it takes is a second for them to fall in the pool. If you and your children are at your pool and you need to leave the area for a second, you should always take your children with you.
To be on the safe side, you should always make sure that you have plenty of safety equipment around your pool at all times. Safety items are great to have around, as they can save the life of a child or anyone else who can’t swim. You should also invest in a shepherd’s hook as well, as you can use it to pull someone out of the water. Having a phone at your pool is also a wise investment, as you can easily call for help in the event of an emergency.
If you don’t have a fence around your pool you should look into getting one. A fence is a great way to protect your pool from children. If you have a protective fence up, you won’t have to worry about little kids falling in while you are away from the pool. When you put your fence, you should always make sure that it’s at least foot high, with a locking gate. This way, no one can get into the pool without the key – which you should keep with you at all times.
You can also learn CPR as well. Even though you may not ever have to use it, it’s always great to know in the event of someone falling in your pool that is unable to swim. Whenever you have children or people you know can’t swim at your pool, you should always stay within reach of them, so you can react instantly if they fall in. A second is all it takes to save someone’s life.
Always keep in mind that swimming is fun, although you should always think in terms of safety first. Once you have finished using your pool for day, make sure that you secure the area well – and lock the gate up tight so no one can get in.
Hot Tub Improvements Over The Years
Hot tubs have come a long way in 30 years. What was once limited in size and shape has now become able to fit with every taste and sense of décor? Long gone are the days of a small tub with a wooden skirt and a round shape and in have come sizes and shapes of all the imagination can conjure up.
One practical obstacle that has been taken care of is the easy access to get to the filters. These used to be more difficult to get to and as a result were less likely to be cleaned, but now, because of the improvements made to the more recent model hot tubs, these filters have easy access and will afford for a much easier maintenance of the filters. When the filters are not hosed off on a regular basis they get clogged and the water coming back into the hot tub will be dirty.
There is a vast array of colors and styles to choose from today, too. Tub interiors can be blue, white, maroon, pink brown or gray and the outside of the tub can be made with a material that contains microbiological agents that will not allow harmful bacteria to adhere to it, keeping your hot tub much more safe and germ free. The outside skirts of a hot tub have almost completely changed from wood to a plastic simulated wood that is more durable than its predecessor and requires little to no maintenance.
Another improvement to the hot tubs manufactured today are the fact that each one can be customized to fit the individual’s specific needs without much work. There is the number of seats to select, the seating configuration, the number of jets that will accompany each seat. In some cases a seat can be specifically molded to accommodate one person, where it is designed especially for that person and the jets are all strategically placed in order to offer the best in comfort and relaxation.
Today there are solar-heated hot tubs that can really cut back on the cost and energy it may take to keep a hot tub temperature regulated and steady. For some people, just the fact that there is a green or eco-friendly option makes the hot tub more attractive to them. This is a definite improvement over the hot tub designs of 30 years ago.
There are some models that have the capacity to hold aromatherapy essential oils and while relaxing in the warmth of the hot tub a person can add to that relaxation with the scent of lavender, ylang ylang or sandalwood. Adding aromatherapy to a hot tub will simply enhance the effect.
There are bells and whistles that can be added today to hot tubs that were never dreamed of 30 years ago; there are units that have their own, self-contained stereo system with surround sound, and others offer TVs, VCR and/or DVD players. My personal favorite embellishment for today’s hot tub is the addition of a waterfall and/or the use of color-changing lights.