Par Pool & Spa

Vacation Proof Your Pool

Every time you go away on vacation for a week or two, you come back and the pool is looking, well, not so good.

We hear it all it the time.

The good news is, we have 9 simple, easy to follow steps that virtually guarantee that, if followed, clear, clean water upon your return home.

Before you leave for vacation this summer, give yourself an extra hour to do just 9 simple steps. Following these steps are a whole lot less costly than fixing your pool water because of an algae bloom or cloudy water or bottomed out water balance. You can even download & print out a check list to help you out.

Dust Bunnies & Water Bugs

Yeah, Dust bunnies & Water bugs... Almost every pool has them!

Worse yet, there's no real way to get rid of them. Each is a nuisance in it's one right.

First Dust bunnies.  Dust bunnies are simple agglomerations - a fancy word for bunches - of pollen, dirt, tree dust, bugs, and dirt. Nothing more. Nothing less.

They accumulate in the corners of your pool. You can vacuum them up and, more than likely, they'll be back the following day.

You've Got to Shock!

That's right! You've got to shock your pool. There's no getting around it...

If you don't regularly shock your pool, whether it's a chlorine or bromine sanitized pool, or a biguanide product such as BioGuard Soft Swim or Arch Chemical Baquacil, or an ionizing system such as Pool Frog or Nature2, or even a salt/chlorine generating system, you're asking for cloudy water, algae, burning eyes or worse.

Shocking your pool on a regular, weekly or bi-weekly  basis does so much for you. I'm not just pushing a chemical sale on you, I'm trying to save you time, money and a whole bunch of aggravation.

Pink Slime & White Water Mold

Pink Slime & White Water Mold.

These two pool water care problems are probably the ickiest things you could possibly deal with in swimming pool water care. As you can see in the picture, Pink Slime & White Water Mold can grow together. Pink Slime is pinkish in color. White Water Mold is whitish-gray. More specifics in a minute. Worse yet - if that were possible - most pool dealers and service companies do not know how to properly diagnose or treat them. And they have to be dealt with promptly and completely.

Let's look at what Pink Slime (PS) & White Water Mold (WWM) are and are not. First some basics, then the video.

Where's My Chlorine?

"I need to buy some chlorine stabilizer. My pool can't keep the chlorine level normal." says the new customer.

The next thing we do is ask them, "do you have a water sample?"

They answer, "No. Why do I need a water sample? The pool just won't hold chlorine."

And so, we continue down the list of questions. The odds that this pool owner will need stabilizer - otherwise known as "conditioner" or its chemical name cyanuric acid (CYA) - are slim to none. There are many factors as to why a pool will NOT need to add this chemical. In fact, if you randomly do add CYA, you may actually compound the problem and make it worse.

Algae Care

"This green stuff is everywhere in my pool!"

Well, it shouldn't be... Learn about what algae is, how it affects your swimming pool and tips on how to treat it in this video.

There are 3 basic kinds or types of algae: Green, Black & Mustard. Each has different characteristics, which lead to different methods of treatment.

Cloudy Pool Water Woes

"My pool water is cloudy. I can't see the bottom. I'm shocking it all the time. I'm frustrated!"

I hope that doesn't sound familiar...

Cloudy water in swimming pools is the most frequently asked about problem.

Unfortunately, most pool owners or pool operators reach for a bottle of water clarifier and in a couple of days, well, let's just say that they're disappointed in the lack of results.