Category Archives: Pool and Spa Equipment

Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Maintenance

Pool Cleaners Make Maintenance a Breeze

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 Robotic Pool Cleaner

Owning a pool is incredibly rewarding experience. It can also be a lot of work if you have to spend your summer days cleaning the pool instead of enjoying it. Automatic pool cleaners take the labor out of pool maintenance. They are a lazy person’s dream come true! There are three types of automatic pool cleaner: suction side, pressure side, and robotic.

Suction side cleaners are basically like a water powered vacuum cleaner. They use your pools own suction, usually from the skimmer, to remove dirt & debris from the bottom of the pool and send it to the filter. The only drawback to these is that you tie up your skimmer while the cleaner is running, which limits your ability to clean the surface of the water.

Pressure side cleaners use one of the water returns or a secondary booster pump to push the dirt & debris into a bag on the cleaner. Fine dirt is stirred up and eventually cleaned by the filter. These cleaners don’t tie up your skimmer so it continues to clean the surface while the machine is operating on the bottom.

Robotic pool cleaners are computer-controlled pool vacuums that can scrub any size pool and operate independently from your pump and filter system. They have an internal microchip that controls their movements. This type of cleaner can either be pre-programmed to a pattern that you select or can use logic to sense the size and shape of your pool and clean every inch. Robotic pool cleaners are generally the most recommended type of cleaner because of their ease and effectiveness.

No matter which type of pool cleaner you choose, you will be making a smart investment. Instead of hours each week scrubbing and working, you can lay back enjoy your pool the way that it was intended to be enjoyed!

Innovative Solutions, Pool Accessories, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Equipment Storage

Pool Float and Towel Caddy Keeps Poolsides Tidy

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The last things you probably want to see after spending time cleaning and maintaining your backyard swimming pool each week are wet towels, pool floats and rafts, and other pool toys strewn about the poolside or left adrift in the water.  Keeping your pool area organized and tidy is easy when you use a handy pool float and towel caddy.  Easy to put together and made of weather proof and water proof PVC, a pool float and towel caddy offers a convenient place to hang a wet towel or two and to neatly store pool floats and rafts until the next time they are needed.  Pool noodles, beach balls, and other pool toys can be tossed into the built-in hamper to keep them safely confined — especially handy on those breezy days.

Pool and Spa Equipment

Choosing a Swimming Pool Filter Type That’s Right for You

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Hayward Filter Filter Cartridges

Swimming pool filters are an essential part of your pool maintenance. They filter out fine particles and dirt to ensure that you are swimming in crystal clear water, day in and day out. Choosing a filter can be confusing because there are several different types on the market. The three basic kinds of pool filters are sand filters, cartridge filters, and diatomaceous earth (or DE) filters. Below is an outline of the different choices on the market and the benefits of each. Hopefully, using this information will help you choose the best option for you and your family.How Sand Filters work.

Sand Filters – Sand filters use a specially graded sand, or a similar synthetic alternative, as the filter media. The water enters the tank and travels down through the bed of sand. During this process, the dirt and debris is trapped between the grains of sand. When the water reaches the bottom of the filter, it enters the laterals and is returned to the pool. Sand filters filter out debris down to about 40 microns in size. These are great for pools with light to moderate use that do not receive a large amount of dirt and debris. To the right is a brief demonstration of how sand filters work.       Edit:  There are now alternatives to filter sand.    Replacing the filter sand with half as much Z-Media (a type of volcanic ash or synthetic volcanic  ash product) can bump up the effectiveness of sand filters to filter debris down to 4 microns,  now making this type of filter the best of these 3.

Cartridge FilterCartridge Filters – Cartridge filters use a paper-type cartridge as the filter media. They filter down to approximately 40 microns, making them basically equal in capabilities to a sand filter. Cartridge filters have, in the past, had a bad reputation.  They were considered hard to maintain because of the need to clean and change the cartridge frequently. However,  manufacturers have recently come up with new filters that have increased surface area and only need cleaning once or twice each year. This actually makes the maintenance issue a positive aspect of this type of filter. Replacement filters are readily available and easy to change.

DE FilterDE Filters – DE filters use diatomaceous earth as a filter media. The DE filter has plastic grids covered with a plastic type of fabric. A layer of filter powder (Diatomaceous Earth) covers the grids and filters. Diatomaceous Earth is a porous powder with microscopic openings. When magnified, it looks like tiny sponges. Water passes through the DE and debris down to 5-8 microns is filtered out. The DE is finer than sand and is, therefore, able to filter much smaller particles from the water. Because of this, DE filters are considered the best type of filter by most pool professionals. If you want top of the line filtering and crystal clear water, you will want to choose the DE filter.

Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Opening

Tips for Opening Your Pool

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It’s that time again, pool owners! Time to open your pool for the season and get ready for swimming. I always look forward to this time of year. To make opening your pool easier, I have compiled this list of steps that you will need to follow to ensure that you are swimming in no time!

  1. Remove your winter cover, dry, and store away for next season.
  2. Remove all expansion pillows, plugs from the skimmer and wall returns, etc.
    Filter Flosser
  3. Next, you will want to check your filter and pump to make sure that they have not sustained any damage during the winter months. Replace any damaged or worn out parts, including replacing pool filter cartridges. If your filter needs to be cleaned, but not replaced, consider using a filter flosser, which sends high pressure streams of water into your filter in order to blast out dirt.
  4. Check lighting fixtures inside the pool for cracks and loose wiring. Replace any damaged parts.
  5. Check the surface of your pool. If you have a fiberglass or concrete pool finish, you will want to check for cracks, scratches, and coping issues.  Contact a pool repair professional for any problems. If you have a vinyl liner pool, you will want to check for tears, leaks, or discoloration. If you notice any tears or excessive bubbling and fading, you will want to consider purchasing a replacement vinyl liner.
  6. Next, reinstall any rails, ladders, slides, etc. that were removed during the winter months.
  7. Add water to fill the pool until the desired level is reached.
  8. Clean all leaves, twigs, and debris from the pool. You can use a manual brush and leaf rake or an automatic pool cleaner. Make sure that your floor, walls, and surface are clear or dirt and debris.
  9. Now, turn your pool on and run the filter for 12-24 hours to mix any old water with new water added to the pool.
  10. Test the water, “shock” the pool with high levels of chlorine, and adjust the alkalinity, calcium hardness, and chlorine levels as needed using specialized pool chemicals. Add stain and rust remover, super shimmer, and algaecide as needed. You can even purchase a start-up chemical kit that has everything you need to get started in premeasured doses! Remember to wait 24 hours (and test again) before swimming!

 

Start-Up Chemical Kit

Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Safety

Critter Friendly Pools

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Have you ever woken up and peeked outside toward your backyard swimming pool only to see that some poor critter had its final “swim” during the night?  Do you ever worry that your family pet might accidentally meet the same fate?  Even if your pet is no stranger to being in the pool, getting out of a pool is not always easy for animals — even if they have been shown where the pool’s stairs are located.  Unfortunately, tens of thousands of pets and other animals drown in backyard swimming pools every year in the U.S. alone.   Ensuring their safety is easy, though, thanks to the Skamper-Ramp.

Featured on The Early Show, Good Morning America, Animal Planet, and in local news segments around the country, the Skamper-Ramp is an inexpensive, durable, and easy solution that provides animals with a safe way out of a pool and gives pool owners peace of mind.   Skamper-Ramp is a necessary accessory that not only helps your family pet, but also the miscellaneous frogs, snakes, possums, and squirrels that somehow find their way into your pool when you’re not watching.

Possum Finds His Way Out