School me on Pools

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › School me on Pools

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#243474 13-Dec-2018 10:23

Bought a new house with a pool in Marlborough. Possession is after xmas. I've never owned one before or had any experience of pool maintenance.

What do I need to know about pools?

It's an in ground concrete pool with chlorine and a retractable cover. The cover doesn't look insulating. It's a woven fabric.

It also has an air to water heat pump, which the current owners reportedly use two months per year to extend swimming season.

Given that it's a very sunny location, with a black roof, I'm thinking about putting in a plastic rooftop heating panel.

Mike

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13768 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2144704 13-Dec-2018 11:00

Find out when the filter was last cleaned out/changed. Can usually do it yourself - recommend glass media over sand but comes down to budget.

Remember to use the backwash etc occasionally to help keep the filter running smoothly.

Rain water causes havoc with the levels of pool water, so keep eye on it after rain etc.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

chimera

506 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2145122 13-Dec-2018 23:15

As above, plus...

For Concrete pools you want to keep pH around the 7.4 to 7.6 mark, for fibreglass preferably around the 7.0 to 7.2 mark.

With regards to covers, really 2 main types, solar blanket/bubble covers - that draw the heat of the sun into the pool, and thermal covers, which work better at night at stopping the heat escaping (yours sounds thermal, often best if you have a pool with a heat pump)

Check your water parameters every 1-2 weeks and get a pool shop to test every month.

When dosing chemicals (for eg: for alkalinity up, pH up/down, etc etc) NEVER just throw powdered chemicals straight into the pool (although increasing salt is an exception) ALWAYS mix no more than around ~100g in a 10 litre bucket of water at a time, and stir to ensure it's completely dissolved before adding, then wait a few minutes, and add the next batch.

If you can afford a pH controller, it's well worth using. If it's a saltwater pool, the chlorinator will have a tendency to increase pH over time (so you're constantly dosing acid to bring pH back down) A pH controller with dosing pump is well worth looking at as it monitors pH levels and automatically doses acid to keep pH inline - handy if you don't have the time to do this yourself.

Basically big swings in water parameters is a bad thing. Stability is key.

Read the manuals for the chlorinator (often they have winter switches) and educate yourself on water chemistry.

Unfortunately it's not one of those things you can just forget about for several months and get around to it later.

If you don't have the time, pay a professional to maintain it monthly.

ResponseMediaNZ

518 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#2145124 13-Dec-2018 23:23

MikeAqua:

Bought a new house with a pool in Marlborough. Possession is after xmas. I've never owned one before or had any experience of pool maintenance.

What do I need to know about pools?

It's an in ground concrete pool with chlorine and a retractable cover. The cover doesn't look insulating. It's a woven fabric.

It also has an air to water heat pump, which the current owners reportedly use two months per year to extend swimming season.

Given that it's a very sunny location, with a black roof, I'm thinking about putting in a plastic rooftop heating panel.

How big is the pool?

What kind of filters is it running? do you know if its pressure sand (most common) or other?

You mention Chlorine.. How is the current owner dosing it? is it granulated or liquid? There are also different granulated chlorine types too (ill expand later)
When it comes to chlorine your mainly looking for FAC (free available chlorine) this gives you the value/amount of chlorine is good to be used.

Get a good water testing kit. I do agree to talk to pool specialist but also don't get sucked into buying too many uppers and downer chemicals.. not all pools need them same with not all water in NZ needs these.

Look at the pool if it's sparkling and looks like a pool you pretty much have it dosed right.

muppet

2570 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2145150 14-Dec-2018 06:37

They are a farking PITA.

You've got to buy them chemicals, keep them balanced correctly, run the pump on a very regular basis, backwash the filter (this cleans it), suck up all the leaves etc. They are a damn time and money sinkhole.

I hope one day to subdivide our properly, because the pool is smack bang in the middle of where it'd be carved up and I'd be OH SO SAD to see it go away and NEVER COME BACK EVER.

Of course they're lovely on the 4 days a year you'll use it!

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2145191 14-Dec-2018 09:46

One tip I have is to avoid the "Baquacil" chlorine-free treatment system. Used to look after a neighbour's pool when he was away. I'd always stuff it up and the pool would quickly turn either bright green, cloudy, or a foamy mess. The owner tended to treat it using instinct, close observation, and years of experience rather than following instructions - but he still had frequent problems. Pool was heated using a heat pump system, he'd maintain it at about 28 deg (that cost a fortune in power). That probably made things far worse, as algae growth would happen very quickly - it would look fine to me - then a few hours later would be bright green. People using chlorine / salt systems don't seem to have as many problems.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13768 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2145208 14-Dec-2018 10:03

We occasionally take a sample to the local pool shop, but found last few times that their results differ hugely from our own tests, and when following their instructions, end up in a worse mess ;) Think the girl who does the testing is getting something back to front.....

When we bought the property, the pool water was pitch black. Stuff swimming in it noone recognized. Got a pool guy in who tipped in about 25KGs of various chemicals and few days later, was all nice and clear.......

Only real cost for us so far, has been getting the liner replaced - but that should last another 15+ years now - was quoted $25k to fibreglass it :-p

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2146352 17-Dec-2018 07:42

We have recently had a pool finished at ours - pretty much what chimera mentions above.

We have a Salt Sanitizer and a pH controller; once you get the balance of those 2 sorted, its pretty much just test it (for Chlorine and pH) once a week (or more if you are still getting to the sweet spot for the settings) ,and then water sample to the pool shop once a month.

Our story certainly doesn't align with the sentiment of muppet. Its simple and easy and our family have been using it at least once a day for the past few months!

Oh and get a automatic pool cleaner/robot - dump it in a couple of times a week and forget about it. Don't spend your life (unless you want to) vacuuming the pool.

It doesn't need to be hard.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#2146468 17-Dec-2018 10:24

ResponseMediaNZ:

How big is the pool?

What kind of filters is it running? do you know if its pressure sand (most common) or other?

You mention Chlorine.. How is the current owner dosing it? is it granulated or liquid? There are also different granulated chlorine types too (ill expand later)
When it comes to chlorine your mainly looking for FAC (free available chlorine) this gives you the value/amount of chlorine is good to be used.

Get a good water testing kit. I do agree to talk to pool specialist but also don't get sucked into buying too many uppers and downer chemicals.. not all pools need them same with not all water in NZ needs these.

Look at the pool if it's sparkling and looks like a pool you pretty much have it dosed right.

I don't have any specific info yet. Settlement is a few weeks away so I expect I'll get the info then. Although I have zero experience with pools I have plenty with aquaculture systems which also include pumps, filters, water treatment etc. So at least the plumbing side of things will make sense.

Mike