Pool owners, you getting it ready?

steveinaz

Pool time!

Had to do another 50% drain this year, thanks to high calcium levels in the fill water. Got that done, added salt to get back to 2800ppm (SWCG pool). I just have to get CH and TA numbers for this season, and will likely have to knock TA down, thanks to high fill water alkalinity. Will also have to replace my SWCG equipment this year, as the company mine was made by has gone out of business, and replacement cell supplies are drying up. Likely go with AquaRite or Pentair this time.

drselect

Ready to go. Haven't closed mine down in the past two years. May need to though in a June so I can paint the bottom.

steveinaz

We're fortunate here as well, the climate is mellow enough that I run my pool year-round, though at considerably lower chlorine output.

thsmith

I am going to have to do the 50% drain as well, cleaned filters last weekend but basically I am ready. Mild winters in Texas so she is always running.

steveinaz

I still need to pull and clean my cartridge filters too. Doing that tomorrow.

sda2mike

my pool is open year round:cheesygrin: i use it all year, along with our sauna...my wife uses the sauna year round and the pool only when the water temp exceeds 86!

Rivrrat

I'm going to suggest to the wife we do a partial drain this year to get the calcium down, or I just might do a total drain and repaint next year instead.

Other than that, I just need to run the vac, buy a new solar cover this year, and dump some preventitive maintenance algaecide in the pool and we're good to swim.

PSOVLSK

Cleaned my filters a couple of weeks ago and I have everything pretty much ready to go. I'll have to drain some too as my salt level is too high right now.

Steve: I had to buy a new Aquarite this year and bought from here: http://www.poolsupply4less.com/st_main.html?p_catid=238#.T3X9NIFdX8k Much cheaper than local pool stores, etc. and it was a positive buying experience.

janmike

I'm waiting for the lakes to thaw. :cheesygrin:

steveinaz

PSOVLSK wrote: »

Steve: I had to buy a new Aquarite this year and bought from here: http://www.poolsupply4less.com/st_main.html?p_catid=238#.T3X9NIFdX8k Much cheaper than local pool stores, etc. and it was a positive buying experience.

Thanks for the link!

cnh

Thank God I don't have an in-ground pool anymore. Plowed it under before we left for China for an academic year a couple of years ago. It was really a pain to maintain and I swam in it, maybe 10 times a year at a cost of over 100 dollars a swim? The fact that people who live in a state under Canada have pools in their backyards is a form of "insanity". If we see a few days above 90 degrees here it's an unprecedented heat wave. Most of the summer the pool temp was below 72 degrees! Nice cool (52-55 degree evenings). Average summer temps 75-low 80s! And often not enough sunlight to get solar heating effects!

Since my wife can only swim when the pool temp was above 82. She got two days in a year!

The Doctor who owned this house before me had a wife who was about 5' 2" and probably weighed 250. She liked it "cold", lol. I wonder why?

Pools are nice. But NOT in Maine! The hassle of a two month season and months of winter and 100s or pounds of leaves! No thanks!

But Arizona. NOW that's a "different" story. I've been out there in the spring and it's hotter than summer in Maine!

Enjoy!


cnh

squeeb

Our scheduled opening is May 3rd. The way the weather has been around here lately I kind of wish it were open now. But that is usually just a teaser in Colorado - one more big snow storm is quite possible.

gdpeck

Will probably do a 50-100% drain and fill this year, although the water here is so hard, that is it impossible to keep the calcium down anyway. My wife just replaced some flap on the pool-vac. For two small pieces and some tiny springs it was $32. I really admire Hayward's ability to turn plastic into a precious metal... Also probably need to clean the elements on my diatomaceous earth filter. I have a few weeks to go, as nobody in the family really swims till the air temp is over 100.

steveinaz

I'm a seasonal swimmer myself, so usually around late May early June the pool (unheated) is right around good swimming temps. We prefer 84-86 degree water, because as you know (being Arizonan) it can be 105 out, but when you get out of the pool its cold, due to lack of humidty.

Our fill water down here in SV is 280ppm calcium, so until they come out with that miracle product, partial drains are part of the deal. There are some sequestreants that claim to remove some calcium, but their performance is questioned by many in the industry, AND unfortunately CH test reagents don't pick up the reduction, so you don't know your true CH level.

tonyb

Lack of humidity ?

Tell ya what big guy, last time I was in Scottsdale, dry heat my ****, it was humid. I could have filled your pool with the sweat flowing off my body. Maybe in the south, you don't have much humidity, but I've noticed it in the bigger cities, not so much in the north too around Sadona, which is flat out beautiful.

I can imagine that pool water in august has to be like a hot tub, do you guys do anything to cool it down or does just being in the ground keep the temp more constant ?

rromeo923

Filled our in ground pool in 2 yrs ago and rarely have missed it.

Live in the woods. Never got very warm and a pain in the ****. However, every once in awhile it was awesome.

gdpeck

tonyb wrote: »

Lack of humidity ?

Tell ya what big guy, last time I was in Scottsdale, dry heat my ****, it was humid. I could have filled your pool with the sweat flowing off my body. Maybe in the south, you don't have much humidity, but I've noticed it in the bigger cities, not so much in the north too around Sadona, which is flat out beautiful.

I can't speak for Sierra Vista, but I live in a Phoenix suburb, and I believe the humidity level has gotten a little bit higher due to so much (relative to the rest of the desert) vegetation. Also if you come here in the summer during monsoon season, which can last from June until September, the humidity is higher. Even then though, it maybe gets to 50% instead of the normal 15%-25%. Unless it's raining or has rained within the last 24 hours.

I can imagine that pool water in august has to be like a hot tub, do you guys do anything to cool it down or does just being in the ground keep the temp more constant ?

We have a water aerator, that sprays water on the surface to break up surface tension and create a slight evaporative cooling effect, but I don't think it has too much effect. Most of the pools I've seen in Arizona have one of those. There are some cooling devices available, such as heat pumps, but I don't know of anyone who uses them. Mostly, when the water temp gets above 90 degress, I only swim at night.

steveinaz

Ordered my Pentair IC40/power station SWCG this week. My current SWCG cell was dead, and the company is now out of business, so i decided to replace the whole system. Have to bump my salt levels up some--which I like, due to softer water.

steveinaz

Tony
It's extremely dry down South. If I leave my pool uncovered for 1 Summer night, I'll lose 4 degrees of temp off my water just from evaporation. My relatives freaked out when they got "chilly" in 105 degree temps when getting out of the pool---it's due to our lack of humditity. We're typically below 20% humiditiy in the summer (except for monsoon season), the winter is even dryer.

I have to keep my pool covered with a solar blanket when not in use to maintain nice swim temps, 84-88 degrees. Keep in mind, though I'm South of Tucson and Phoenix, we're actually cooler because we're at 4600ft elevation. Sierra Vista generally runs about 6-8 degrees cooler than Tucson.

Tucson and Phoenix folks probably do have to do some water "cooling", especially Phoenix--which is HELL HOT. Leaving the pool uncovered a few nights, and aireating will cool water pretty effectively. 78% of water "heat" is lost thru evaporation. This technique doesn't work well in humid environments.

sucks2beme

Pools in Dallas summer are like a hot bath. I had an above ground when the kids were still kids.
That was many years ago. I never used it much and was glad to have it gone.

steveinaz

You guys have significant humidy---that's why. I WISH I could leave my pool uncovered in the summer, it's a PITA to cover it every night.

Rivrrat

After the middle of May (give or take), I almost never have to cover my pool until mid Sept. It'll hit around 90 in August.

gdpeck

I used a solar cover once, to try to extend my swim season an extra month, and it was a nightmare. Not only is is a pain covering and uncovering, but the cover I bought disintegrated due to the sun and chlorinated water, and I was still finding little blue pieces of plastic in the filter for years. I'm not sure how much my water temp fluctuates based on time of day. We just sort of seem to know when it is comfortable to swim. I enjoy water temps in the low 80s up to about 90 ish, then it seems too hot for daytime swimming. My wife likes the water temp above 90 and the air temp above 100 to swim, and my kids will swim with the water temp down into the high 70s, but don't like the cold air so much.

steveinaz

Yep, covers are a PITA, but down in SV they are unfortunately a necessity unless you like cooler 80-82 degree water, which we do not. My personal favorite is 85/86 degrees, Bev likes 87/88 degrees. I only get 2 seasons (a stretch) at most out of a solar cover because the sun is so friggin harsh here, and actually if I wasn't so cheap, I'd be replacing it every year. They do work well, I've gained 7.5 degrees per month since January, and I'm up to 70 right now. We'll be swimming in mid-May this year, when usually it's the first week of June before it's just right.