When the first hot day of summer strikes the last place any pool owner wants to be is standing in their local pool shop.
Grant Forbes, the owner of Poolside Beaconsfield, knows this better than anyone.
But lucky for pool owners everywhere, Grant has some handy tips to keep them out of store queues and in their pools – and it all starts long before summer hits.
If you do this, your visit to the pool shop at the start of summer will result in you requiring more chemicals and you not swimming until the pool has turned back to what is considered chemically safe.
So you can have a pool that looks fantastic all year round and is ready to use when you need it or you can stand in your pool shop on a hot Saturday morning getting frustrated because you’re standing in a queue in the pool shop to be told you need all these chemicals and cannot use your pool.
“It will cost you the same to maintain your pool for 12 months – whether you visit your pool shop every month in winter and every two weeks in summer, or if you ignore it and let your pool turn green throughout winter”
According to Grant, one of the keys to maintaining a quality pool is investing in quality equipment such as pumps and pool cleaners, because, as he says; You shouldn’t have to come home and work on a pool. You should come home and be in the pool!
Another important factor in keeping a pool looking tip-top is a pool cover.
A pool cover does three things, firstly, it keeps large debris out. The second thing it does is keep the heat in, and the third thing is that it reduces your water evaporation by 97%.
Once summer is over, a heating system can extend its use well into the cooler months. There are multiple heating systems on the market now with each having its own benefits. The first is a solar heating system that ideally goes on the north-facing roof and uses the sun to heat your pool water by way of a circulation pump.
Second is a gas-fired heating system that uses natural gas to heat your pool water by circulating the water through the heater.
The third is a heat pump which uses similar technology to reverse cycle air conditioning using the heat in the air to heat your pool water by way of a circulation pump.
Advice for any time of the year
The best advice I could give anyone is to visit their pool shop on a regular basis and do what the computer-generated report tells you to do without question. There are millions of pieces of data that come together in the software program to recommend what is best for your pool as no two pools are the same.
I also suggest having your equipment serviced each winter so it is in reliable condition for your summer swimming experience.