Discuss – If possible find a broker with experience in home improvement loans and swimming pool financing. A bank equity loan is not the same as a this type of loan and will almost certainly cost you more.
The summer season is upon us. It’s time to relax and enjoy a beautiful day by the home pool, town pool, lake or the ocean.
But parents DON’T RELAX TOO MUCH! Remember that your kids are just that, they are kids. As the old adage goes “kids will be kids”. Just because you tell them to be good, safe and careful, doesn’t mean they will listen.
Just because we tell our children to do something, doesn’t mean that they will. Our children make choices everyday in their lives. Some of those decisions are good and some are bad. We as parents must recognize this and act now.
Hundreds of children drown and thousands have to be hospitalized each year for near drowning experiences. Too many children are dying every year from this
senseless and easily preventable occurrence and we can change that today!
Discuss – Copper Ionization systems work within a calcium hardness range of 200-2,000ppm. Because it converts calcium to bicarbonate, the Copper Ionization will eliminate and prevent calcium scaling on pool walls and rock features.
I know, right now you are thinking, “My child isn’t going to drown because I am always there while he/she is swimming”. Well, ready for a shock? According to the
National Swimming Pool Foundation, nearly 90% of children who drown each year WERE being supervised. WOW! What are we doing?
Well, truth be told, we are obviously not watching our children. Although parents have a lot going on in their
lives, they must watch their children carefully while they are swimming. It is a job that requires undivided attention from parents.
According the same study conducted by the NSPF, most parents were distracted for the following reasons;
talking to others, talking on the phone, eating or even reading.
We need to wake up to this danger now. How can we possibly watch our children, when we are doing all these other things? As the plot line in that new summer novel heats up, a child’s lungs could be filling with water as they struggle to survive and the child’s parent could be only feet away.
Discuss – Salt water pool systems will use an average of 500 watts of AC power for a 20,000 gallon pool. Copper Ionization systems will use an average of only 40 watts of DC power to treat the same amount of water.
The main part of this problem is that people always have a feeling that something bad is not going to happen to them and therefore they do not feel like they are in a dangerous situation. They feel that the water is safe. Well let’s look at a simple analogy.
You are at a busy intersection with your 4 year old. If you cross the street with him/her, there is not much danger to either of you. The adult understands the rules of the road and crosses safely with the child while not thinking much of the situation.
But let’s say that you tell your child to go ahead and cross the street while you fill your friend in on the new gossip from the weekend. Huh? Does that even make sense? Well that is exactly what we are doing. We have taken a relatively “safe” scenario and made it very dangerous in seconds.
And this is the key to drowning also, seconds. It only takes seconds for a child to go under water while the mother or father answers a cell phone and begins chatting. Parents must not let themselves become distracted.
Discuss – Make sure the swimming pool cover comes with enough parts to securely anchor the cover without worry of slippage. Most larger swimming pool covers come with a strap or anchor for every four feet of cover.
Parents need to realize two important points. Lifeguards are lifeguards, not babysitters. When we bring our children to a public swimming facility, we still need
to watch them carefully and not depend on others. Also, we need to enroll our children in swim lessons. After all, the sooner they can swim, the safer they will be.
As parents, we need to be part of the solution, not the biggest part of the problem. Mike Michels is a Certified Pool Operator and Assistant Pool Manager in Bergen County, New Jersey. Mike also teaches Science at Indian Hills High School in Oakland, New Jersey.
He has Co-Authored two books through Kagan Cooperative Learning. They are “Cooperative Learning & Science: High School Activities” and “Higher-Level Thinking Questions: Biology”. The books can be previewed and purchased online by visiting
http://kaganonline.com/
Filed under Swimming Pool Safety, Swimming Pool Water Quality by 
Discuss – If possible find a broker with experience in home improvement loans and swimming pool financing. A bank equity loan is not the same as a this type of loan and will almost certainly cost you more.
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Several chemicals should be added to a swimming pool on a regular basis to keep the water safe and clean. Many swimming pool owners become unhappy with the common chlorine based chemical routine, and look to alternative sanitizers (such as Baquacil or SoftSwim) called “biguanide” based pool chemicals. Unfortunately these alternatives prove to be more expensive initially to purchase the chemicals, and cause problems over time which temporarily close the pool down.
If used in large quantities, or if not maintained properly, chlorine may irritate the eyes and skin of swimmers. Biguanide based swimming pool chemicals are much softer and have almost no affect on swimmers, but these chemicals are not capable of controlling organic contamination. Examples of organic contamination might be wastes left behind by swimmers or material that has blown or fallen into an outdoor pool, which promotes the growth of algae. While a chlorine swimming pool instantly neutralizes harmful organics, a biguanide swimming pool requires the addition of concentrated hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis. This liquid hydrogen peroxide solution proves to be more dangerous than chlorine to both store and handle.
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.
Because biguanide based sanitizers cannot control organic contamination, microorganisms present in the pool water will build a resistance to the biguanide chemical over time. Like an evolving virus, these organisms become used to the biguanide sanitizer and form a type of water mold or slime. This ugly slime can only be eliminated with a strong dose of chlorine-based pool shock. The chlorine pool shock quickly removes the water mold, but also destroys all of the biguanide in the water. The immediate result of the chlorine and biguanide chemical interaction is very cloudy water which turns several unnatural colors, making the swimming pool unsafe to use for several days or weeks. Rather than risk further organic contamination and lost swimming time, most pool owners return to a chlorine pool chemical routine.
Chlorine is the right pool sanitizing chemical in every situation, except when a swimmer has developed allergies to the chemical. Pool chlorine is relatively inexpensive and easy to use, when used properly. With a basic understanding of pool water chemistry, and an easy weekly pool maintenance routine, any home owner can maintain a backyard pool with very few problems.
Discuss – Chlorine powder is important in killing germs such as algae and bacteria that live in your pool and multiply at extremely fast speeds. To eliminate these germs, you should use a large amount of chlorine powder in your pool.
Please visit InTheSwim.com for a complete selection of quality pool chemicals and swimming pool supplies.
Filed under Swimming Pool Problems, Swimming Pool Safety, Swimming Pool Water Quality by
Discuss – Chlorine powder is important in killing germs such as algae and bacteria that live in your pool and multiply at extremely fast speeds. To eliminate these germs, you should use a large amount of chlorine powder in your pool.
Pool ladders are installed in almost all swimming pools. They are used to climb in and out of the pool. There is a wide collection of ladders available for both in-ground and aboveground pools. They are available in aluminum, white vinyl, structural plastic, resin and stainless steel materials. Color choice does not vary much, since painting them is not viable. Some of them are lined with anti-skid material to avoid slips and falls. They come with easy assembling techniques and provide a few years warranty. They are available with outdoor equipment suppliers, hardware stores, pool accessories suppliers and on the Internet.
For in ground pools, ladders generally have 2-5 steps going towards the deck. The ladders could have a platform or could just land straight on the deck. The height and shape of the ladder should be compatible to your pool. Various types of ladders suitable to vinyl liner pools and concrete and fiberglass pools can be found. They need to be secured to the pool at both the upper and lower ends.
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.
For above ground pools, A-frame shape ladders are commonly used for climbing into the pool. They need to be filled with sand or water to avoid floating in the pool. Very frequently they come with a platform at the top. Again, one must check the height of the pool, although a few inches are adjustable in most models. For these pool ladders, the weight of those using the ladder is a factor. For safety reasons, most of these ladders come with a padlock and an anti-entrapment barrier that inhibits trapping of children or swimmers between the ladder and the pool. For security reasons, some have a swing-up outer section that prevents unauthorized access to the pool. One can even find specially designed pool ladders for easy access by handicap persons. These would have steps arranged to allow easy entry by the handicapped or elderly.
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.
Ladders provides detailed information about ladders, pool ladders, boat ladders, step ladders and more. Ladders is the sister site of School Playground Equipment.
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