Swimming Pool Tips and Reviews

 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 once every year. This year we were hit by a massive wind event in my service area, Claremont California. I would say wind speeds were well over 70 MPH with the highest wind gust recorded at 89 MPH at a station in the San Gabriel mountains. Trees that were over 100 years old fell over like toothpicks.  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 25-30 minutes at your pool the first week and it may take as long as 3 weeks for your pool to get back to its 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 major service yo...

 Your skimmer basket is one often overlooked component of your overall swimming pool operation. It acts as the primary debris filter before your pump basket and it is vital to a smoothly flowing pool. If the basket has a tear in it or is not placed in the skimmer properly debris can pass into the pump basket slowing down and even stopping the pool’s normal operation and water flow.  One common problem is that most skimmer baskets do not have a built-in weight. They tend to float up when the pool turns off and this can allow leaves and debris to get under the basket. When the pool turns on this debris will go into the skimmer and get sucked into the pool pump basket. Worst case the pool pump basket gets full of debris when this happens. A terrible case scenario is that the skimmer line gets clogged with debris. This means you will need to blow the line with a drain bladder or hire a plumber who uses C02 to blow the lines.  A simple solution for the floating basket would be...

One of the downsides of the Spin Touch is that the disks used to get the test factors are what some would consider on the expensive side and they can only be used once. There are alternative disks made for the Spin Touch that can be used up to 3-times each. They are limited to a few test factors but you don’t need to do all of the test factors each time so they are actually very practical. Here are the 3-Test Disks and the test factors that they can check. 3 Disk Use Series: Spin Touch Disk Series 4334-H  Range Free Chlorine [DPD]  0-15 ppm Total Chlorine [DPD]  0-15 ppm Bromine [DPD]         0-33 ppm pH                    6.4-8.6 Spin Touch Disk Series 4335-H  Range Free Chlorine [DPD]  0-15 ppm Bromine [DPD]          0-33 ppm pH                    6.4-8.6 Total Alkalinity          0-2...

 Paythepoolman is not just a clever pool routing software name. Although I do love the name! It will do so much for your pool service company and below is a list of some of the features and benefits you will get with the software/app. You can learn more and watch videos on their site to learn more:  https://www.paythepoolman.com/ Online Invoicing & Online Payments Included: Customers receive their invoices instantly. You collect online payments within minutes of signing up. Employee Routing, Tracking & So Much More: When it comes to having employees, you want to be as efficient as possible while providing excellent service. Easy Drag n Drop Routing from a tablet or computer 1-Click find the 5 closest pools for the most optimal routes. Automatic Email Proof of service with Pictures & more. Easily track your routes from your Owner Dashboard. Track Chemical Readings, track Chemical Usage, track Employee time worked or Pools serviced per week. Get Repair Request with p...

The Polaris 3900 Sport and its sister cleaner the P39 are both extremely popular Polaris pressure side cleaner models. And for good reason as they work extremely well. The biggest downside to these cleaners is the updated body design. In particular, if you compare it to the Polaris 280 it is more like doing repairs on a 1988 Toyota Corolla vs a 2022 Tesla. Maybe not that extreme but when it comes to replacing the RO538000 Head Float for the 3900 Sport and P39 you will need to disassemble most of the cleaner. With the Polaris 280, you simply pull it off the back and it takes 10 seconds. Can I get a hip hip hooray for over-engineering?  The float on the back is an important part that allows the Polaris cleaner to stay balanced in the pool. The 3-wheel design is not the most aerodynamic or more importantly not the most stable design format for a cleaner that is moving on the bottom of a pool. Think of the float as a counterbalance that keeps the cleaner upright on the pool bottom....

The swimming pool service sector is being squeezed from two sides now. In the last couple of years, National Pool Partners (NPP) has been buying up large pool service companies and merging them into giant regional pool service companies sometimes taking over entire communities. Now PoolCorp has thrown its hat into the pool service arena by their recent purchase of the Pinch A Penny franchise parent company Porpoise Pool & Patio Inc, and Sun Wholesale Supply Inc.  What does all of this mean for your pool service company? That all depends on your region and company size but in a nutshell, these two entities are going to create more cooperate-run competition for you. NPP is expanding mainly in employer-friendly states like Florida and Texas and they are actively purchasing large pool companies with 1,000 or 2,000 or more accounts. Gobbling up the big fish companies in the areas they operate in. But NPP is not a discount pool service and they will be charging premium rates. Think T...

  If you clean multiple full-size filters on your pool route each season, speeding up your cleanings is always something in the back of your mind. The best tool that I have found to make your day faster is the Multi-Tork socket tool. I’ve been using them for years and I have the first edition set made out of plastic to prove it. The latest versions are all metal and built to last.   The Multi-Tork Filter Sockets are designed to help you get the pool filter clamps on and off the filters very rapidly. You simply attach the specific socket for your filter to a drill and spin the clamp or bolt loose in a matter of seconds. These sockets work on a variety of filters by the three name-brand manufacturers - Pentair, Hayward, and Jandy as well as some off-brand filters. This is a simple way to speed up your day if you are a pool service professional and a great tool for the Do-it-Yourself homeowner.   Time is money out in the field and if you take apart and clean multiple fil...

 With the looming chemicals shortage in 2022 coming off a disastrous 2021 you may be considering upgrading to a saltwater pool (SWG) to avoid the coming madness. Or you may want to sell more of these to the customers on your pool route. The only real benefit of a SWG is that it will add chlorine to the pool for you or more accurately create or generate chlorine and introduce it into the pool without you doing anything. You don't save any money when you convert to a salt pool. It cost a lot more than using Chlorine or Bleach in your pool. Factor in the cost of the unit plus install, say $1,500 and then a new salt cell every 3-5 years at $500 and the salt to start $150 and you’re looking at over $2,000 for the first 5 years. And this is a low estimate in some regards.  You would have to spend over $400 a year on chlorine to match that number. Typically, you are not spending over $100-$200 a season for your chlorine.  The other drawback is the constantly rising pH. Calcium f...