Discuss – Don’t clean your pool! A dirty pool is an expensive pool (expensive for you, profitable for your local pool business). The more you let your pool go, the more it will cost to get things back together again.
It’s not uncommon for pool owners to notice that water seems to be leaking out of their pool after opening it for the year. But where is the leak coming from? Let’s take a look and see how to find and repair swimming pool leaks.
First of all, you have to make sure that it really is a leak in the first place. What do you think is a leak, may be something else. There are actually three main causes of water loss from swimming pools and they are:
1. Swimming pool plumbing leaks
2. Swimming pool shell leaks
3. Normal evaporation or excessive splash
So before you go any further let’s rule out number three in the list above. It’s important to do this, because actually the sun can evaporate quite a bit of water from a pool on a daily basis without your realizing it, and swimmers can splash a lot of water out of a pool too..
To find out for sure if the water loss is due to evaporation or not, take a fairly large container and fill it with water and place it on the first step of your pool. Then remove enough water from the container so that the water level in the pool and in the container is exactly the same. Now leave the container there for a couple of days to see what happens with no one using the pool in the meantime. If after a couple of days the water level in the pool has gone down, and the water level in the container has gone down the same amount, then you know that the water loss you are experiencing is most likely just evaporation due to the sun.On the other hand, if the water in the pool has gone down farther than the water in the container, then most likely there is indeed a leak in your pool somewhere.
Discuss – Vinyl liners, automated pool covers and solar covers may become damaged from the use of chlorine or salt water pool systems. Since Copper Ionization systems do not require the use of harmful oxidizing chemicals, these expensive pool components can be expected to last their normal life expectancy.
To find a pool leak, the first place to inspect is around your filter and pump. Do you notice any water spots or damp areas there? If so, try to trace back where the water is coming from. Very often, it will be a connection on one of the pipes in this particular area.You may need to turn on the pump for a while and observe it to see if any leaks develop while everything is running. If the leak begins to show, and you feel comfortable with repairing the pool plumbing, then this is a job that you may wish to do yourself. However, for most people it will be a job that is best left to a pool professional.
If no obvious leaks can be found in the plumbing, then perhaps the leak is in the shell of the pool itself. And in this case, it’s almost always advisable to leave any of this type of work up to a well-qualified professional.
Discuss – Find a swimming pool cover that is strong and sturdy. The cover should not only keep your swimming pool clean, it should add safety as well for humans and animals alike.
As you can see, finding and repairing swimming pool leaks is usually just a matter of eliminating possible causes until you find the real problem. Once the problem is found, your final decision is whether to fix it yourself or pay someone to do it instead.
Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find out more about swimming pool designs and swimming pool safety covers by visiting our Home Improvement website.
Filed under Swimming Pool Maintenance, Swimming Pool Problems, Swimming Pool Repairs by 
Discuss – Metallic parts in your pool will dissolve (walls, floor, handrails, ladders, light fixtures, and equipment). This could even lead to discolored water and stains on the pool walls and floor.
Keeping the pool clean has become an easier task these days with the availability of high-quality pool accessories. Pool-cleaning tools include pool vacuum heads, pool skimmers, and pool brushes for easier pool maintenance.
Some specialized tools include clear-view vacuums, leaf skimmers, telescoping poles, leaf rakes, wall brushes, corner brushes, stain erasers, skim tools (to skim dirt), mitts, filter savers, telepole replacement clips, aluminum pole hangers, and pole and hose hooks. Some of these are also known as pool sweeps, filter grids and cartridges, saltwater chlorinators, pool pumps and motors, pool filters, and pump/filter combinations (skid packs for above-ground pools).
Discuss – Every other day test the pool water. Use test strips or a DPD kit and measure free chlorine, pH and total alkalinity.
The primary aspect of having a clean pool is to ensure that pool water care is up to date. Water care products such as sanitizers, balancing chemicals, algae-treatment chemicals, stain treatment/prevention products, water clarifiers, saltwater systems, and pool-testing kits. Generally, a common oxidizer/sanitizer, like chlorine, is used to burn up organic material in the water. Doing so greatly reduces the load on the filter. Maintenance of pH balance and proper total alkalinity levels are of utmost importance. Equally significant is the checking for calcium hardness and stability. A pump that is sized properly goes a long way in preventing energy waste. An automatic pool cleaner is a necessary luxury that saves time.
In order to maintain a constant chlorine feed, either hand-feeding or tablet-feeding (a floating chlorinator is an inexpensive option) can be done. Saltwater chlorine generators are an excellent and a very popular method to do this. Using a simple test kit or test strips, test the water chemistry at least once in a week and more often during times of heavier usage. Super-chlorinate the pool if the chlorine reading gets too low and if algae develops, as well as after a heavy rain.
Discuss – Make sure your chosen swimming pool cover comes with a good manufacturer’s warranty. In general, the swimming pool cover should come with a warranty of longer than 2 years.
Pool Supplies provides detailed information on Pool Supplies, Pool Cleaning Supplies, Discount Pool Supplies, Pool Safety Supplies and more. Pool Supplies is affiliated with Inground Pool Covers.
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Discuss – A chemical called Floc or Flocculant is sometimes a good idea if you are in a rush. Lets say you have a pool party tomorrow and your pool is cloudy.
It’s high summer, the weather is hot and your pool is in constant use. You test your water, keep the chlorine up and shock like you’re supposed to but the pool looks cloudy. The pool stays stubbornly cloudy despite your best efforts. What’s up with that?
Here’s the scoop. Your pool is having contaminants added too fast for chlorine and your filter to handle. Chlorine is an oxidizer. It chemically burns complex organics from swimmers and the environment like sweat, sun tan lotion, dust and other stuff best left unmentioned. It reduces these nitrogen-based chemicals to simpler compounds and makes them useless to algae and bacteria as food. This keeps your pool clean and sanitary.
During hot weather and heavy swimming chlorine is being used up at a much higher rate and needs constant replenishment. In addition, sunlight breaks down chlorine with ultraviolet radiation. Given lots of chlorine working on lots of contaminants the oxidized, broken-down material never gets a chance to be properly filtered. It stays suspended in the water causing cloudiness despite your test parameters being good.
Discuss – Salt water pool systems and Copper ionization systems both use a chamber in their process. The difference is that a salt water pool system’s cell may need to be replaced in 3-5 years at a cost of over $400.
OK, WHAT CAN I DO?
There are several things that can be done to improve the appearance of your pool water.
-Try a floccing agent. Available at any pool store, a floccing agent drops suspended material to the bottom of the pool overnight so that it can be vacuumed out.
-Run the pump and filter 24/7 until the weather breaks and cooler temps arrive. Make sure your filter is clean. Backwash more often if necessary.
-Take a one day swimming break to let the chlorine and your filter catch up. (This is a last resort.)
Use the steps above and your pool water should clear up quickly. Oh yeah, take a swimming break in a heat wave? I was kidding about that one.
Rob Coxworth
Dr. Duck
WebfootLeisure.com