- there's nothing quite so refreshing as a dip into a pool on a hot summers day but,

in the cooler months, getting into a cold pool can be bracing, to say the least!

Brief Interlude: - One May morning I was called to a pool by a Finnish lady who asked me to winterize her pool and close it down. I said, 'Do you mean open the pool?' and she said No, they were closing their house down for the summer and going home to Finland where they had another pool

I asked her if she got much use from the pool in Finland, given the local weather is a bit nippy, and she said - get this - 'We swim every day until the ice is too thick for my husband to break with a hammer!' They breed 'em tough in Finland!

Well, we're not all that brave but fortunately there are several ways to heat a pool: -

• Heat-Pumps

• Electric Heaters

• Gas-fired Heaters

• Oil-fired Heaters

• Solar Heaters

• Solid fuel Heaters (wood-burners, etc.)

• Ground-source Heaters

However, heating the pool is just one half of it - once that expensive heat has been put into the pool we need to be able to keep it there, and for that we need to use a pool-cover to prevent, or at least minimise, evaporation and heat loss

We supply all plant and equipment featured on this website. All our work is Guaranteed; Parts and Labour

For free and unbiased advice, a site visit or no-obligation Quotation*, please make initial enquiries by email. Tell us a little about your pool problem and include a daytime phone number. Thanks, we look forward to meeting you soon

Note: - Please contact our recommended pool professionals for supply and installation of all pool-related services: - 

Andalusia and the Costa del Sol - Pool Safety Spain

Nerja area - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

*We only offer Quotations: - a fixed, agreed price that cannot, and will not, be increased. We do not give 'estimates', as an estimate offers the client no guarantee of final price

Share this website with other Pool Owners and Users,  encourage them to read about Pool Safety, learn CPR and help them to save lives, time and money. Please help us to make every pool a safer place - by sharing this information we can cut the number of pool accidents and deaths.  Please also see our Facebook page

Ken Walker - MyPoolGuru©

- using the right tool for the job

The correct selection, use, care and storage of Pool Tools will pay dividends in years to come and allow you to retain and use the same tools for season after season

Pool Tools

Typically you will need a Vacuuming Head, a Brush and a Bag-Net; each fitted to a separate pole and fixed with stainless-steel or bronze bolts

It may seem extravagant to have a separate pole for each tool but if you have to swap poles over between tools the chances are that, eventually, you won’t bother, maintenance will suffer and eventually you will end up with a bill much bigger than the cost of the poles

• Don’t use mild steel nuts and bolts for your pool tools, or any other non-stainless steel or iron fittings in the pool system - staining of the grout lines, plaster or vinyl liner will be the inevitably result

• Ensure you get the correct vacuuming head for the surface of your pool. A tiled or plaster pool needs a head that can apply pressure and scrub the tiled surfaces, whereas a vinyl-liner pool needs a head that absolutely cannot apply too much pressure to the liner

• Ask advice at your pool-store for the correct head for your pool

• You will also need a floating Vacuuming Hose and a Test-Kit

• Other useful articles are large rubber buckets to store containers of liquid chemicals in, a plastic jug to measure pool chemicals and a pool hand-brush to clean the water line

• Buy the best quality tools you can afford

• AstralPool are the European market leader and, though initially a little dearer than ‘budget’ tools, they represent the best value for money

• Don’t be tempted to buy an economy blister-pack tool-kit; the tools in the kit may not all be appropriate to your pool surfaces

• Budget tools often break in the first year, meaning you have to buy again, and are often fitted with inherently weak plastic spring-clip fasteners

• Largely, you get the quality you pay for

• Keep the Bag Net (leaf-net) near the pool, off the ground; perhaps clipped to a wall

• Loose items around the pool are tripping hazards therefore all other pool tools should be put away when not in use, out of direct sunlight to prevent UV deterioration, and out of the reach of animals

• It is worth considering buying an Automatic Pool Cleaner or a larger vacuum head if you clean the pool manually. Either investment will save you countless hours of work over the years

We supply all plant, tools and equipment featured on this website. All our work is Guaranteed; Parts and Labour

For free and unbiased advice, a site visit or no-obligation Quotation*, please make initial enquiries by email. Tell us a little about your pool problem and include a daytime phone number. Thanks, we look forward to meeting you soon

Note: - Please contact our recommended pool professionals for supply and installation of all pool-related services: - 

Andalusia and the Costa del Sol - Pool Safety Spain

Nerja area - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

*We only offer Quotations: - a fixed, agreed price that cannot, and will not, be increased. We do not give 'estimates', as an estimate offers the client no guarantee of final price

Share this website with other Pool Owners and Users,  encourage them to read about Pool Safety, learn CPR and help them to save lives, time and money. Please help us to make every pool a safer place - by sharing this information we can cut the number of pool accidents and deaths.  Please also see our Facebook page

Ken Walker - MyPoolGuru©

- the pool-pump works with the filter to maintain water clarity

• It pumps pool-water through the filter to trap suspended, microscopic particles and returns the filtered water to the pool via the Return Jets

• A pool pump must have a debris basket with a removable lid for access, often this lid is transparent so can see when the strainer basket is getting full

• Replace the basket, pump lid or lid gasket at the first sign of any damage to prevent expensive pump repair bills and/or a flooded pump-room

• The pump should circulate the entire volume of the pool through the filter in 4 hours

• This is known as the ‘Changeover Period’

• There are no advantages to fitting a pump that is too big for the size of the pool filter and the pool plumbing

• An over-sized pump will drive filtered particles too deep into a sand-filter, or even right through it and back into the pool, and will reduce filter efficiency; it will also cause unnecessary wear and tear on plumbing

• Furthermore, a pump that is over-sized for a sand-filter will push the sand out of the filter during a backwash

• 50mm (2”) pipe-work should have a pump of 0.5 - 1.5 HP only

• With an incorrectly sized pump your swimming pool can be as still as a millpond or as turbulent as river rapids

• A correctly sized pool pump will steadily circulate the water around the pool, allowing the surface debris to float up to, and be drawn into, the skimmer

• Most pool pumps are self-priming, centrifugal pumps

• Such pumps have a vacuum chamber, containing the strainer basket and known as the 'pump housing', which must be filled with water so that the pump can produce a vacuum and enable it to draw water from your pool

• The pump housing will be full whilst the pump is switched on, and should remain full during inactive periods

• Some pumps have a plastic handle on the strainer-basket

• The handle is used to remove the basket for cleaning but also presses against the underside of the pump-lid and serves the function of keeping the basket submerged

• Without the handle the basket may float to the top of the chamber while the pump is at rest and, when the pump cuts in again on the timer, could allow debris to bypass the basket

• Debris will then quickly clog the impellers and drastically reduce the efficiency of the pump

• If the handle is broken or missing you should replace the basket with a new one from the pool-shop - money well invested

• In an emergency you can make a replacement handle from a couple of plastic tie-wraps until you can get to the pool-shop for a new basket

• Whilst you are at the pool-shop you could ask if they stock the new generation of pump baskets and buy one for your model of pump; they are much better than the originals and do not have a handle to break or to lose

• Alternatively you can keep the basket at the bottom of the chamber by placing a small stone in it - do not use any metal object

• When the pump motor rotates it drives the impeller, found in the pump’s center section

• With the motor running the tips of the impeller are hydraulically sealed to the inside of the pump diffuser

• This enables ‘self-priming’ to occur

• A self-priming pump has a separate diffuser, which helps to eliminate any air in the system

• Keep the pump, pipe-work and Rotary Valve clean and dust-free but avoid the use of solvents when cleaning

• Pipe-work and Valves must not be exposed to direct sunlight for prolonged periods as they are not always UV stable and may discolour, weaken and eventually fail

• Keep pumps and associated wiring clean and dry

• Other than this there is no maintenance to carry out

• If the pump becomes submerged it must be stripped and repaired, by re-winding the motor and replacement of the bearings

• It’s frequently more cost-effective to buy a new pump of the same make and model as the existing pump

• Buying the same make and model means that the pump can be changed without making any alteration to the pipe-work

• Retain the old pump and keep it for spare parts such as pump lid, strainer basket, capacitor, etc.

• Use a qualified tradesman to repair or replace a defective pump if you are in any way unsure of what you are doing

We supply all plant and equipment featured on this website. All our work is Guaranteed; Parts and Labour

For free and unbiased advice, a site visit or no-obligation Quotation*, please make initial enquiries by email. Tell us a little about your pool problem and include a daytime phone number. Thanks, we look forward to meeting you soon

Note: - Please contact our recommended pool professionals for supply and installation of all pool-related services: - 

Andalusia and the Costa del Sol - Pool Safety Spain

Nerja area - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

*We only offer Quotations: - a fixed, agreed price that cannot, and will not, be increased. We do not give 'estimates', as an estimate offers the client no guarantee of final price

Share this website with other Pool Owners and Users,  encourage them to read about Pool Safety, learn CPR and help them to save lives, time and money. Please help us to make every pool a safer place - by sharing this information we can cut the number of pool accidents and deaths.  Please also see our Facebook page

Ken Walker - MyPoolGuru©