Summer Storm Tips
Summer weather is approaching quickly, and with the recent dust storm and windy weather we have been having, I just wanted to send you a reminder of things you can do to help us keep your pool beautiful and to also outline things that we do not do as a part of monthly service.
Since we are only at your pool once a week, there may be times during the stormy season that you will need to go out and check on a few things to make sure that your pool will be in good condition until the next time we arrive. Here are a couple things that we recommend keeping an eye on:
1. Your skimmer basket - your pool typically has one skimmer basket, if it is larger it may have two. The stuff that floats on the top of your pool, floats into the skimmer basket keeping it from the surface of your pool. If you have a lot of flowers, trees or plants near your pool it will be very likely that your baskets will fill faster. It just takes a minute to empty these out and it will help keep your pool clean.
2. Your leaf basket - if you have a leaf basket attached to your vacuum hose, you may want to keep an eye on how full that is getting. Think of drinking a thick malt through a straw, the thicker the malt the harder it is to suck it up through the straw. Your pump is working hard to breathe and keeping the leaf basket clear will allow your vacuum to have more suction and will require your pump to function properly.
3. The basket on top of your pump - sometime debris gets up through the vacuum hose and is more likely to get through if you don't have a leaf basket attached. Pop the lid open or look through the top and if it looks full, clear it out so that your pump can get the proper circulation needed to keep your pool clean.
4. Keep some shock and test strips on hand - you may want to keep some shock on hand so that if you see your pool start to look green or cloudy you can throw some shock in to prevent it from turning green before we get there for your regular service. Use a test strip to see if your chemical balance went crazy from the dust, rain or debris getting into your pool. You can always text us a picture of your water if you want our advice as to if you need to add anything.
5. Have a pool brush and net on hand - Sometimes you may need to brush an area off the side of your pool if you notice green areas forming on the side of your pool. In hot weather, algae grows quickly and this will help it from spreading throughout your walls. Grab a net if you see things floating on the top or bottom that you think may cause problems with the function of your pool.
6. Keep an eye on your pool vacuum - If you notice that your pool vacuum is stopped or running slowly, there may be something wrong with it. Grab it out of the water and check the wheels to see if a rock or something is stuck in it. Your vacuum is an essential tool to keeping the bottom of your pool clean. We skim the top of your pool and scrub the side walls. We charge extra to vacuum your pool so make sure your vacuum is doing its job; and if you don't have one...get one :)
7. Clean up large debris from the storm - we will not remove large tree branches from your pool after stormy weather. Please make sure that you check your pool for debris after a storm and have your landscaper keep your trees and flowers trimmed back during the stormy season. This will help keep your pool clean. If we find that it becomes too difficult to keep your pool clean due to yard maintenance, we may have to charge a clean up fee on top of monthly service.
8. Heed our recommendations - if we are recommending that you need new equipment or need to drain or perform other essential services to your pool it is because we want to be able to provide the best possible care for your pool.
We appreciate all of you as customers and we want to continue caring for your pool for a long time.