Tips for Cleaning your pool After a Santa Ana Wind Event

If you service pools in Southern California or own a pool in the area, you will experience a major Santa Ana Wind event at least every couple of years. Depending on your area these winds can fill your pool with tons of leaves and dirt and completely cover your pool. If there is a fire also in the area your pool can also be filled with ash. In this article I go over some tips for dealing with the Santa Ana Winds and the ash from the fires that often occur with the wind event.








First off if you are a homeowner who has their pool serviced weekly by a pool service professional a major Santa Ana Wind event will require some patience and understanding on your part. The pool service company can only spend about 30-40 minutes at your pool the first week and it may take as long as 3 weeks for your pool to get back to it's 100% clean state. With 14-18 service stops each day it is unrealistic that your pool service company can spend an hour or more at your pool that day. If you take your car to a mechanic and it needs a major service but he has 6 cars in front of you in most cases you are understanding and will leave it overnight with him. In the same respect a major wind event will be treated in the same way by your pool service company. It is an inconvenience to see a messy pool in your backyard but the good news is that these wind events happen in the Winter when the pool is not being used.

For the pool service professional you will need to set a timer for each pool for 30 minutes. If you spend less time at another account you can use the time for your current stop. But realistically with the short amount of sunlight in the Winter you will not be able to complete your route each day if you spend 50 minutes to an hour at each pool. Besides that it is exhausting and you could actually hurt yourself by trying to do too much each day. Explain to your customers that your priority the first stop after a wind event is to skim the surface and get the pool running. If they are willing to help out by skimming to surface before you arrive that would be great and you can tackle the leaves and debris on the bottom. I leave a pole and leaf rake at every one of my service accounts and carry extra low priced leaf rakes in my truck to leave at an account if needed. So week number one, spend 30 minutes skimming the surface and getting the pool running.

Week two is when you focus on the pool bottom. It may be covered in leaf debris, dirt and ash. Your focus should be to remove the leaves and debris from the bottom and not worry about the dirt and ash. I highly suggest investing in a Vacuum System like the Power Vac, Riptide or Hammer-Head Vacuum System. It is a major expense but will pay off greatly in a situation like a Santa Ana wind event. At the least invest in a Leaf Master (Leaf Bagger, Leaf Vacuum) which attaches to a garden hose and acts much like a small version of the Vacuum Systems. I have many videos covering all of these and the time saving of using one of these is tremendous. Once you use one you will wonder how you ever survived without one.

Easiest Way to Clean Leaves Out of your Pool on a Budget! Using a Leaf Master: https://youtu.be/KT4Yo2H4EY4
Pool Vacuum Systems & Portable Filtration Systems: https://youtu.be/Nhkpv_X4XtA
Power Vac PV2100 Portable Professional Swimming Pool Vacuum Cleaner: https://youtu.be/xGY7tFUDFGM
Power Vac Large Service Cart for PV2100, PV220 & PV2500 Vacuum: https://youtu.be/y9ORwr_DQtI
Riptide Pool Vacuum System Overview Video: https://youtu.be/ycoGJsyFXNg
Riptide Battery Box: Riptide SL Optional Accessory or Stand Alone Purchase with Vacuum Head: https://youtu.be/Bi1sEDTw6mw
Riptide SL Pool Vacuum System Review & Overview: https://youtu.be/Wp2c9CLDrgY


The dirt and ash present another problem and I suggest using some type of Portable Filtration System or Portable Pump. Here in So Cal most of the pool filters are either Cartridge filters or D.E. Filters with only a Push/Pull Backwash Valve. Very few accounts have a Multi-Port Valve with a “Waste” mode where you can vacuum the pool and bypass the filter. This means that all of the dirt and ash will have to be vacuumed up and go directly into the pool filter. Then you will have to take the filter apart and clean it which takes time. Better to vacuum the pool out with a Portable Pump which is easy to build or invest in a Portable Filtration System by Advantage Manufacturing. This will allow you to vacuum the dirt and ash without it going into your customer's filtration system and you will not have to clean the filter. With all of that dirt and ash going into the pool filter, chances are half way through you will notice a drop in suction and maybe even dirt and ash returning to the pool as the filter gets overloaded. It is far better to use a Portable System then the pool's filter for that reason.

Portable Clean-Up Pump to Vacuum out a Pool: https://youtu.be/bU8No8Jfjrw
Prime A Portable Clean-Up Pump: Installing a Check Valve: https://youtu.be/raZH8QmJses
Vac II Portable Filtration System Set Up and Use Video: https://youtu.be/Wm0EMR3PVSk
Mini Vac II Portable Pool Vacuum System by Advantage Manufacturing: https://youtu.be/rRBYY6scShg
PORTAVAC Portable Filtration System - Set Up and Use Video: https://youtu.be/Qm4zSrKyY48
PORTAVAC: Portable Filtration System by Advantage Manufacturing – Overview: https://youtu.be/uhGYALoLdWs

It is a good ideas to have a Service Contract so that your customer's are aware that the Santa Ana winds are an “act of God” and out of your control. Also explain the clean up process in the contract so that they are aware you can't spend hours each week cleaning up the pool. The Podcast goes over this and more in greater detail so listen to for more detailed information.








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