How To Find And Fix A Problem In Your Swimming Pool

"I'm having to add water to my swimming pool every week. Do I have a leak?" Depending on the climate near your home, it is not unusual to be losing a 1/4" of pool water a day due to evaporation. This means almost 2" a week! The greatest factors affecting this are humidity, wind, and air and water temperature.
To find out if you really have a leak inside your swimming pool, fill a bucket with water from the pool and set it on the steps of your pool with the the surface of the bucket above water level. This will keep the water in the bucket exactly the same temperature as the pool. If you do not have steps, you can look at evening out the bucket on the top ladder tread. At this point, compare the water loss between your bucket and your pool over a period of a few days, the more, better. We are assuming that your bucket does not have a hole in it! If you notice a big difference, you've got a leak!

Now let's realize that leak! Fill the pool to its normal level and measure the level. A piece of duct tape is fantastic for this. Next together with your filter system running the whole time, wait 12 to twenty four hours and appraise the lack of water. Then refill the pool back to the same level along with the filter system off, wait exactly the same period of time (also over the same area of the day, ie. 8 AM to 8 AM or 7 PM to 7 AM) and measure the water loss.
If you're losing more water using the filter system running, the leak is around the pressure side of your plumbing somewhere PAST the impeller of the pump. If you are losing less water with the filter system not running, the leak is on the vacuum side of your plumbing somewhere BEFORE the impeller of the pump. Please note that in this case, most of the time the pool only loses water when the system is off and never when it's on. If the water loss is identical, then your leak is incorporated in the structure of the pool and not in the plumbing.

Let's deal with a leak in the plumbing first. We are going to believe that there is not an obvious leak (one that you can see) on the filter system. Did you check where your backwash line comes out? There are two methods to find this leak. First, you can pressure test the lines, then dig, following the leaking line till you find it. You can also call in the local leak detection service. We'd highly recommend the latter, unless you like to dig. Professionals will use "geophones" to listen for the leak and just dig where necessary!

Now lets look at a leak in the structure of a concrete pool. You will need some food coloring for this, and you'll want to switch off the pump at least an hour before you do this. In a concrete pool, any cracks in the shell are usually obvious. By squeezing out the food coloring near the crack, you will see the crack pull the food coloring in. That will show you where the pool is leaking. Yes, you may have to get in the pool to do this, but isn't that why you got the pool in the first place? If there are no visible cracks, you will want to squeeze out the food coloring around any of the items that pierce the shell of the pool (main drain, returns, lights, etc.). Make sure to check the "mouth" of the skimmer where the plastic of the skimmer meets the concrete. This area is very susceptible to movement and quite often separates creating a leak.

Once the leak is found, it is easy to fix using a patching material. Most of them works under water. After patching, check again with your food coloring to make sure you plugged the leak. Please note that if you patch near a fitting, you will want to leave the pump off while it cures, so the flow of water doesn't wash the patch away.

What if you have a vinyl pool with a leak? A leak can be a little harder to find and fix in a vinyl pool, but it's not impossible. We would propose that you first check around all the items that pierce the liner (main drain, returns, lights, etc.). If you find that the liner has pulled away or perhaps is leaking behind a fitting, we would Highly recommend that you simply call in your local pool professional at this point. If you mess this repair up you could be easily looking at a new liner!
If you don't detect a leak around the fittings, you will need to search the liner itself. A lot of vinyl liners have a pattern on the walls or bottom which can make it difficult to see a hole. Sometimes by running your hand over the floor and walls you may feel a tear or puncture that's not easily visible. If you have a friend who is a diver, he or she can do the job a lot easier with a tank than you can by holding your breath. Note: only certified divers ought to be using diving gear, even in a pool. Sometimes there is a depression on to the floor which might indicate erosion brought on by the flow of water. After finding the leak it's an easy matter to patch, utilizing a vinyl patch kit and following a directions. Click here for more week pool service by Gilbert Aquanuts.

The Advantage of Having Pool Repair Service

It is very important to locate and perform a swimming pool repair as soon as the problem occurs, or else the problem will only worsen. The greater the making of your pool was, (and the more knowledgeable your service provider was), the less problems you ought to have. Some problems however, are inevitable.

Kinds of Pool Problems
Listed here are common types of swimming pool problems that need repair:

Broken plaster: Extreme, cracking or damaged plaster has to be repaired or the water will breakdown the concrete beneath the plaster. It may be essential to resurface your pool, for the way severe the damage.
Cracks: One such problem from sun damage or the earth’s movement.
Removal of rust: rust could mean that we now have bigger problems, for example, rust can happen because there is something wrong with the rebar.
Problems can also occur using the grout, tiles, bonding, and beams. These should also be repaired.

Maintenance Tips To Prevent Repair

To prevent problems from arising, we recommend day to day pool care, by following these tips:Two times a week
Check the pH level. The water should be slightly alkaline and have a pH between 7.2 and 7.6, as this is the best level for chlorine to be effective.
Check the chlorine level, to ensure bacteria and algae are being eliminated.
Check the skimmer basket is clean of debris and dirt so this dirt does not end up back in the pool.

Once a week
Do a shock treatment, in the evenings. These may be bought from a pool shop and will enhance the level of chlorine in your pool, destroy germs and enhance the appearance of your pool. Click the link to read more about keeping your swimming pool water crystal clear. Ask a worker in the sales department for more information. Add algaecide, in order to control algae from growing in your pool. It is best to do this the morning after you do the shock treatment. Ensure you get a good quality algaecide, otherwise your pool tiles can get damaged and a swimming pool tile repair will be necessary. Add ‘Metal Out’. Tiny deposits of metal are occasionally present in pools, ‘Metal Out’ will ensure that these metal particles are destroyed. Add clarifier, which will get rid of cloudy water and keep your pool looking clear and sparkly. Clarifier likewise helps with water purification, as it causes tiny particles (that are too small to be removed by the filtration system) to group together and form larger particles that won’t make it through the filtration system.

Monthly
Check the calcium level, which should be at just the right balance. If the pool water contains too much calcium, scale formation will occur, whereas whether it is too low, corrosion will occur. Have a sample of pool water to a pool shop for them to test this for you.

Mid-season
Clean swimming pool filters
The Pool Team comes out and inspect your pool mid-season to make certain things are running as it should be. Don’t Sweat It.

The Pool Team is a specialist, wholesale pool company. We can offer you a commercial or residential swimming pool service, to areas in and around Johannesburg, and we can also perform maintenance checks for you to prevent problems or ensure there aren’t already some existing ones. We can also offer you a wide variety of quality pool products, wherever you're in the world, to meet your requirements and budget. Whether you need a concrete swimming pool repair, fiberglass swimming pool repair, gunite swimming pool repair, inground swimming pool repair, or any other type of swimming pool repair or renovation, we can make it better and also have you back to doing your laps very quickly! Click here for more week pool service by Gilbert Aquanuts.

How a Pool area Filter System Works

Today we’re likely to speak about how a pool area filter system works. There is a pump timer, a swimming pool pump along with a filter. We’ll discuss the use of the pump, the filter, the plumbing and just how all of this works together.

Water travels from the pool to the pump. Water comes in through two pipes. One comes from the pool skimmer and the other comes from the primary drains at the bottom of the pool. The water is pulled into the pump around the suction side. Just before entering the pump the water moves by way of a basket called a strainer pot. The basket is a secondary means for filtering the water to avoid debris from getting into the pump chamber where the impeller spins. The water leaves the pump on the discharge side or “pressure side” of the plumbing. The water is pressed from the pump into the filter. The filter serves to get rid of dirt and debris from the water. The water that is clean then leaves the filter and, sometimes, passes through a chlorinator and back to the pool. It is best to chlorinate the water after it leaves the filter so that less chlorine goes into the pump and filter which can be harmful to the equipment.

There are three popular types of filters. One is a sand filter. The sand collects and traps debris. To release the debris the sand filter needs to be backwashed. Another filter is a cartridge filter. They have a greater surface area and are reduced maintenance. One or two times per season a cartridge filter must be hosed off and cleaned. The last type of a filter is a DE or diatomaceous earth filter. DE is a fine powder that coats the grids of the filter housing. DE filters are the best for trapping the smallest of debris. DE filters must also be backwashed occasionally and the DE power needs to be replaced with each backwash.

Backwashing a filter is the simple procedure for running the filter in reverse and flushing the filter of debris. You know it is time to backwash when the pressure in the filter rises above 20 psi. This means there is an excessive amount of debris in the filter and water is struggling to go through the system. If back-washing doesn't work or pressure increases rapidly it may be because the pool has a lot of debris or the filter needs to be manually cleaned.

Sometimes after your pump continues to be off for a long time of your time it can be hard to re-prime it. This is because all the water has drained from the filter and the plumbing. To facilitate priming, completely close the main drain valve. Fully open the skimmer valve. Place the filter valve in the circulate position. Then turn the system on. This will isolate the filter from the circuit thereby asking the pump only to prime the plumbing. In seconds you should have a full and constant water flow through the pump. Once this has been established, quickly shut off the pump. Move the filter valve into the filter position and restart the pump. The prime continues and fill the filter. Don’t forget to bleed the air from your filter when prime is established.
Click here for more week pool serivce by Gilbert Aquanuts.

Maintain the Cleanliness of your Pool

A little while ago, we made a decision we really needed to find a pool service. Initially we assumed we would cut costs from working on our own pool.

Going swimming became an undertaking. Pretty much each and every time we swam we would sweep the pool, check for algae growth and clean out the filter, and so on. In addition to that we would wash a couple of times per week, not to mention we devoted quite a great deal of time in the pool store having our water screened. One particular weekend we couldn’t remove the algae despite the things we did. Straight after scrubbing in addition to continually shocking and putting chemicals in only to get our water tested to learn we still had an out of balance and algae-loaded pool and no more money, we made the decision it had become worth it to work with a pool service.

You'll find several different alternatives in our city for pool care: chemical-only service, weekly full service, full bi-weekly service, and a lot of options somewhere between. These options span from $40 to $130 however in most cases professional services cost you around $80 or $95, based on the services offered and how frequent they  service the pool. Chemical only service sounded appealing mainly for the package price, however , also necessary some work on our part to maintain the pool clean up. 100 % regular service offered chemicals, brushing the pool weekly and frequent checks on our pool tools... the carefree selection for pool owners if you've got the money.

We had observed that many of us had to do our research on the firms. Some may say they give “full” services and do small work to make it appear  they might be fully servicing the swimming pool, but then wind up charging you more when your pool becomes green because they then will toss in more chemicals and scrub more often to make up for the lack of assistance they said they offered. I wanted to ensure to obtain a reasonable and truthful pool service company. Fortunately local friends and the net provided a lot of assessments to give a basic idea of the "good" companies and the "bad" businesses to do business with. We quickly decided, no matter how great the value, there were just a few businesses we'd not work with as their testimonials were so weak.

 Now, we're able to move ahead on calling the firms with higher reviews  ones fit our requirements the most beneficial. Most of these companies in this list were the ones that charged between $80 and $95. The primary task required would be to get the swimming pool from slightly green to clean up and blue. We called around to many companies and made certain customer service representatives were kind and helpful; we verified the value and asked if there have been any hidden chemical fees or any other costs involved. We asked specifically what their services included and how soon they would be able to come service our pool. We had a few different companies come look at our pool to determine the course they might take in cleansing it. After our efforts, we are happy to be paying for an honest pool plan to allow us to look after our pool, enabling us have fun with swimming with family and friends without worrying in regards to the cleanliness of the water and pool area.

Click here for more week pool service by Gilbert Aquanuts.