Swimming Pool Tips and Reviews

There are several ways that you can test your swimming pool water or spa each week. The most common methods are test strips and reagent test kits. Not as common but growing are the photometer testers or digital testers. Here is an overview of the different testing methods. Test strips are not only popular but very easy to use. Many different manufacturers make them like AquaChek, Taylor, and LaMotte to name a few and you can find them just about everywhere from your grocery store, hardware store and local pool store.  You can purchase them online as well and there are many different types of strips available for testing everything from chlorine, borate to copper in the water. The ease of use of test strips makes these great for beginners. Just dip them in the water sample and match the color of the strip to the guide on the back of the bottle. I find that the color matching is accurate, and it will give you a good range of the chemistry level in your pool or spa. The...

Pleatco has been working on creating the best replacement cartridge filter and this year they have come out with the Pleatco Advanced ULTRA Filter Cartridges. The Advanced Ultra is only available at your Brick and Mortar retail store or from your pool service professional. These cartridges have a new feature called Pure Pleat technology which keeps the pleats rigid without the need of any bands across the center of the cartridge. Here is what Pleatco has to say about the Advanced ULTRA cartridges: “Over the past 5 years, Pleatco Advanced Technology has become the new standard in pool & spa filtration. We stand behind the honest fact that all our filter cartridges featuring Pleatco Advanced Point Bonded Filtration Fabrics & Free Flow Core Technology hold more dirt, are easier to maintain, provide greater flow, save energy and last longer... and we have the research and results to prove it. Our mantra is ‘constant improvement’ and we have continued to develop...

PoolRx is a simple way to keep your pool algae free all season long. It is also effective in cleaning a green pool and a side benefit of the product is that you will use less chlorine in the pool all season long.  In this Podcast, I talk to Fred Schweer VP of Sales at PoolRx Worldwide about using PoolRx at the beginning of the season and to clean up a green pool. He also offers tips to pool service professionals on how to market and sell PoolRx to the customers on your route. PoolRx is a Mineral Technology does two very simple things when used in your pool or spa; it eliminates all algae and will allow you to use less chlorine during the pool season. The active ingredient is Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate (chelated). What Chelated means is that the metals in the PoolRx have been bonded to form two coordinated bonds similar to what Metal Sequestering Agents do. This means that the Metal Ions will remain in the PoolRx unit with no metal ions being introduced into the poo...

Test strips are a great way to get a snapshot of your pool or spa chemistry levels. They are easy to use, coinvent and inexpensive. Taylor now makes a whole new family of test strips for your pool and spa and for service use. Here is a breakdown of the different test strips Taylor now carries. Pool Test Strips 50 count test for (S-1331): Free Chlorine, pH, Alkalinity, CYA Spa Test Strips 50 count test for (S-1332): Chlorine/Bromine, pH, Alkalinity, Hardness 7-Way Test Strips 50 count (S-1335): Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine/Bromine, pH, Alkalinity, Hardness, CYA w/ mobile app  Salt Test Strips 10 foiled wrapped strips (S-1341): Salt Borate Test Strips 25 count (S-1342): Borate Service Pro Test Strips 100 count test for (S-1351): Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine/Bromine, pH, Alkalinity When using the Taylor test strips it is highly recommended that you use a water sample bottle and get the sample 18 inches down in the water away from a ...

The VS OMNI Variable Speed Pumps with Smart Pool Control is the easiest way to fully automate your entire equipment pad. I am not just talking about controlling the Variable speed Pump from the OmniLogic App but controlling every piece of equipment from the pool and spa lights, heater, cleaner booster pump, water feature pumps, salt system, spa booster pump, spa air blower and more. The Smart Pool Control can automate everything on your existing equipment pad. The OMNI VS Pump and Smart Pool control is backed by an industry leading 4-year warranty (TriStar 950)! I suggest getting a Hayward Service Tech to do the installation for you and after these 6 easy steps your equipment will be fully automated and half the cost of purchasing a full complete automated system. 1. Mount Wiring Base Unit and Control Pad. 2. Replace pump. Detach power from the filter pump (or other high-powered equipment) and make wiring connections to the Wiring Base Unit. Run the supplied 6-ft whip ...

The AMS Aquarium Maintenance System is a game changer in the Aquarium Industry. Water Tech has really done a great job with this hand-held portable vacuum and it is by far the easiest way to clean out your aquarium.  No more priming hand help pumps, this thing is battery operated and has excellent suction and filtration. The AMS comes with several parts and can be used as a vacuum or as a siphon. Here are the parts that come in the box: 2 Suction Pipe Assembly pieces 1 Nose Cap 1 Cleaner Body 1 Syphoning Adapter & Hose 2 Filter and Frame Assembly 1 Battery Chamber cap with gasket 1 Battery Chamber cap with gasket I’ve used the larger Water Tech products on my Pool Route to vacuum everything from full-size pools down to small spas and they work exceptionally well. You will find the same tech in the AMS vacuum but on a smaller scale. The AMS has great suction, much more than any hand-held pumps that I have used in the past. It also features two very l...

Surface debris can usually be handled fairly well by your pool’s skimmer. But in many cases, you may have large trees over the pool or maybe small particle debris and pollen during the season that your pool skimmer can’t handle. Also, if you are running a Variable Speed Pump you may notice quite a bit of surface debris while it is running on lower speeds. One solution to keep your pool surface clean is to invest in a solar-powered surface skimmer. This video features the SolaSkimmer Solar-Powered Surface Skimmer by Remington Solar. The SolaSkimmer is very effective and the best part is that the MSRP is $499.00.  This makes the SolaSkimmer the most affordable Solar-Powered Skimmer on the market today. USE COUPON CODE: Solar20 to save 20% at check out! To order from Remington Solar: https://remingtonsolar.com/products/solaskimmer-solar-powered-skimmer/ Here are some of the features of the SolaSkimmer: Uses 110V charger or the Sun to charge the cleaner Requi...

Spring is the time to get your pool ready for the upcoming Summer months. If you don’t prepare your pool right for the Summer months ahead you will be battling all kinds of problems like algae, poor filtration and maybe even a green pool. So, in Spring you need to do several things to get your pool ready for the Summer months ahead. As you open your pools to start the season be aware of these things below. The first thing you will notice in the Spring is that the water temperature begins to rise. It all depends on your area but by late April or May, the water temperature could already be at Summer levels. This means that the chlorine level will not hold steady as it did in the cold water of Winter. Now is the time to make sure the pool chlorine level is at 3-5 ppm to avoid problems with algae. I suggest at this point to start checking the pool chemistry once a week at least in the Spring. One thing that you should be doing in the Spring if you have a DE or Cartridge filt...