20 New Pool & Spa Articles June 2020
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I think we can all agree that being locked down is no fun for anybody. For pool and spa workers 2020 has been a roller coaster of a year so far with unprecedented numbers of people at home using their pools and spas more than they ever have before. Pool and spa industry supply chains are drying up. The spring 2020 season saw pretty much every pool heater available on the market bought dry and pushed into indefinite backorder. In some areas in late May you could not have purchased a new pool heater if you have gold bricks to buy one with. Still, as of this writing half way through July, most pool heaters are still not available. Record breaking heat waves are helping to temper the anger from pool owners as most pools are too warm, not too cold right now.
Record breaking sun and a spreading pandemic are both not great things to someone with an autoimmune disease and a serious allergy to the sun. So while I might have been in lockdown for the entire month of June this year I was able to make the most of my time. We all need hobbies. I, for example, brewed right around 30 gallons of high octane fruit wines. That is in the neighborhood of 150 bottles...because I don't want to get too thirsty. Also gardening, home renovations, planning for the future and adding another 75 videos to my youtube channel were all things that helped to keep me busy while under lockdown. I also took on somewhat of a writing challenge during this time.
I write regularly for my swimming pool blog of which I aim for one new pool or spa article per week. I used to have it at five per month but it was pretty hard to keep up with that pace and the timing of five articles in four weeks was awkward. I ended up adopting four per month, one per week essentially, and I find this is enough to keep me busy during normal times. With so much time on my hands during lockdown I decided to challenge myself to write more than normal. I ended up having quite a few distractions during the month which easily could have been enough for me to call off the whole self-imposed writing challenge, but I soldiered on and I would like to share with you the (impressive) results of this writing push.
How Often Should You Change The Sand In A Pool Filter?
How often should you change the sand in your pool filter? This is something that many pool owners jump to quickly when they experience problems with water quality or clarity in their pool. However the problem might not be with the sand in the filter at all, and you might do more harm than good by changing your filter sand when it doesn't need to be changed yet.
How Do You Backwash A Pool Filter?
How do you backwash a pool filter? Learn how to tell when you should be performing a backwash for your sand filter in this article including both when to backwash as well as how to perform the backwash itself. This regular maintenance item for sand filters is easy to do but very important so be sure to learn how and when to backwash yours.
What Is The Best Pool Water?
If you are a swimming pool owner who wants better quality water this article will help you to understand some of the options available to you. In particular this article explores the pairing of germicidal UV along with chlorine treatments and why (how) this is one of the best ways available you can treat your pool water.
How To Repair Cracks In A Concrete Pool?
A crack in a concrete pool is pretty much the last thing you want to see and there is no repair process which will ever be as strong as the initial shell was, and that was not strong enough. So understanding that an unstable shell will continue to crack, some pools crack once and then cease movement which means the potential for a repair job is possible. If you had to patch static cracks in a concrete pool this would be a good technical process to follow.
Leaking Pool Light Repairs
Read this article to learn why pool lights are so prone to leaking, where they tend to leak from, and how you can go about making a repair to your leaking light fixture. Also covered is important information about lights and safety, as well as information about products that you should never use to try to fix a leaking light.
How Much Chlorine Should I Add To My Pool?
New pool owners struggling with dosing information for chlorine will benefit from reading this article that breaks down how much of each type of chlorine you would need to add to get a predictable change in the free chlorine count in your pool. Also learn about why this is such a hard question to get a straight answer for.
Do I Need A Bypass For My Pool Heater?
Learn about the important function of a bypass for your pool heater and how you should use one to protect your heater from both regular chemical dosing for your pool, but also periods of time where the water chemistry is not within the ideal ranges. There are a few technical considerations for this, but most pools heaters will benefit from an external plumbing bypass.
Cutting Costs For Your New Pool Build
Swimming pool option upgrades can be more expensive than the pool itself. Learn about what items you should consider cutting from your pool design in order to meet your budget requirements. Most pool owners want to have all of the bells and whistles but these costs add up quickly...and are they really worth it?
What Is A Variable Speed Pool Pump?
You have probably heard people talking about variable speed pumps for swimming pools. This article explains (and shows) what a variable speed pump is, how they work and why you should want one for your pool. As of July 2021 you will be required to have one (if you don't already) so this will be relevant for all swimming pools.
How Long Do Pool Liners Last?
How long your pool liner lasts will depend almost entirely on how well you maintain the water quality and chemistry in your pool. Additionally liners are made thinner than they used to be, and the chemicals used in vinyl sheet manufacturing are less harmful than they used to be, but this results in a shorter service life than previous generations experienced with their liners.
Can I Plaster My Own Pool?
If you own a concrete swimming pool and you were thinking about trying to plaster your own pool then it is very important that you read this article. Learn about why plastering a pool has unique challenges and what your options look like if you want to know more about whether you can plaster your own pool or not.
Easy Fixes For Big Concrete Pool Problems
Easy fixes for (potentially) big concrete pool problems looks at some very important maintenance points of concrete swimming pools and how a little work now can prevent major expenses in the future. Most expensive concrete pool failures could have been prevented with just a few regular maintenance items if the owner of the pool had just known to do them.
Pipe Size For Efficient Pool Plumbing
Pipe size for your pool filtration system is one of the very most important decisions you will make for your pool that will determine how efficient (or not efficient) your running costs will be. Water moves very ineffeciently at high speeds and the larger your pipes the slower the rate of water velocity despite moving even greater total volumes of water.
How To Clean A Pool Sand Filter
Learn how to clean a pool sand filter in this article. This important degreasing process is something that most owners of sand filters fail to do. Bio-films, grease, oils, sweat and all sorts of nasty bacteria accumulate in your filter media and backwashing does not remove most of these from your filter. Learn how to degrease your filter and get rid of the gross scum living in there.
What Size Pool Filter Do I Need?
Find out how to choose the right size of filter for your swimming pool. Choosing the right filter involves calculations for your flow rate and turnover rate for your pool. Also learn about which filter you should buy and which ones can have a drastic reduction in flow for your pool due to an increase in resistance to flow. Matching your filter to your pump size and pool volume is very important.
Can You Put Chlorine In Your Pool Skimmer
This article talks about the importance of not putting chlorine into the skimmer strainer basket or pump strainer basket for your pool. This is both harmful for the pool system as well as being potentially dangerous. Learn about the application specific products that exist specifically for adding chlorine to your pool safely.
Why Is My Chlorine Not Working?
Learn what makes chlorine less effective in your swimming pool. There are times where you can have a measurable chlorine level in the water and yet you still have active algae growth due to the chlorine being limited in ability to work as it should. Learn how this can happen to your pool and what you can do to help your chlorine work properly.
Empty Vinyl Pool Keeps Filling With Water
You have an empty vinyl liner pool that you have removed the liner from and now you have water leaking in through the walls and floor and filling up in the deep end. If you are wondering how to patch a vinyl pool to stop it from leaking you definitely need to stop now and read this article. Vinyl pools are built differently than concrete or fiberglass pools and this affects how water leaks into them when empty.
The New Pool Pump Shopping Checklist
If you are shopping for a new pool pump it is important that you do not just buy the same pump again for your pool. Or worse yet, decide to buy a larger sized motor thinking this would be beneficial for your pool. Learn about pool pump sizing and how most pool owners make a big mistake when selecting a replacement pump for their system.
Pool & Spa Chemistry Crash Course
This is a re-write of an existing core article on pool and spa water chemistry. In addition to adding more details about how to balance pool and spa water I also added video components with more in-depth information to help new pool owners learn as much as possible (as quickly as possible) about pool and spa water chemistry and the importance of always balancing your pool water.
June was a busy month for me this year. Along with these 20 articles you can also check out some of the new video content I have created using my pump test lab on my youtube channel. I also created a few new tiers for my swimming pool consulting services which proved to be an extremely popular service right out of the gate. This will clearly be an area of this website that I develop further moving forwards. The response has been overwhelmingly positive for these new services. I ceased to be able to send physical products like my instructional DVD series, and in June I was able to switch this over to fully digital so I can resume selling my (extremely long) tutorial series on how to make fake rocks and garden statues. When this lockdown ends for me I will be taking an extended vacation to be sure!
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Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool and spa specialist from Ontario Canada. With over 10,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the 2018 Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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www.ClearComfort.com
Clear Comfort's patented hydroxyl-based advanced oxidation systems (AOP) represent the pinnacle of water care technology available to pool and spa owners. To put a complex technology simply, if you are looking for the best possible water care system for your pool or spa then you are looking for a Clear Comfort AOP system.
- Swimming Pool Steve
www.PoolPartsToGo.com
New Black + Decker variable speed pumps are available online from www.PoolPartsToGo.com and they are a drop in replacement for many popular pump models including Pentair Superflo and Hayward Super Pumps. With an adjustable platform base, union connections included and a very strong warranty these pumps offer an impressive value to pool owners.
- Swimming Pool Steve
www.PoolSupplyWarehouse.com
Pool Supply Warehouse has a large stock of swimming pool equipment, chemicals, maintenance items and consumables needed for caring for your swimming pool. They offer fast shipping and by shopping with this retailer you are helping to support Swimming Pool Steve directly.
- Swimming Pool Steve
www.PoolSuppliesCanada.ca
When it comes to ordering pool and spa supplies online in Canada www.PoolSuppliesCanada.ca is by far the best option. They carry everything from chemicals to replacement pumps to entire pool kits, with free shipping options and more "in stock" items than any other Canadian online retailer.
- Swimming Pool Steve