1. Dinosaurs were present on the earth.
2. When people wanted a pool heater, they purchased a gas-fired heater (natural gas or propane).

While dinosaurs are now extinct (are they really?), gas-fired heaters are approaching the same status.  Heat pumps have become the rage and for good reason.  Even though they cost more up front, they offer several advantages.

1. They cost less to run. For example, if you had a 200,000 Btu propane heater, you would burn over two gallons of propane every hour it is on.  At $2.75/gallon, that 200,000 Btu heater would cost you approximately $6.00 EVERY hour it is fired up. (1 gallon of propane generates approximately 91,500 Btu).  A quality heat pump will operate for about 10-15% of that.  Natural gas costs are not as high, but the estimated savings are still well over half.
2. A gas-fired heater operating in a pool with low pH will quickly get damaged or destroyed by the acidic water, and the copper that etches out of the heater can stain your pool’s liner.  Remember that big rainstorm that dropped your pool’s pH from 7.4 to 6.7 seemingly overnight?  That’s a doubly-whammy!  Hello heat pump!  Low pH will not affect the heat pump in the same way.  While we always recommend keeping your pool in balance, heat pumps are a lot more ‘forgiving’.
3. Environmentally, the heat pump will have a less significant impact and is considered a ‘green’ product.  Mother Earth will appreciate your consideration.

We are proud to sell Aqua Pro heat pumps.  We’ll stack them up against any system on the market and our customers seem to agree as our sales on these double every year.

Now…about the dinosaurs.  Yes…they still are around.  They are called ‘birds’ and scientists generally agree that birds are indeed ‘living aviary dinosaurs’.  As Casey Stengel said, “you can look it up.”  Now there’s another old-timer.  –Max

A lady walks back to the water test center and Harold Osborne II (AKA H2O detective), follows her to help diagnose her water. Harold asks, “What seems to be the problem?”

“I started my pool up and I have a salt system. I’ve added 4 bags of salt and I still can’t get my chlorine level up. The pools a little green and I am running the system at 100% production and I am not making any progress.”, the customer states.

“Well, your salt level is a little high.”, says Harold.

“That’s what I am talking about! I think there is something wrong with the system. I think I should get a tech. out to take a look.” she says in an exasperated manner.

“Hold on  for a minute. Let’s walk through this first. First of all, one shouldn’t add salt just because the chlorine level is low and adding salt will not necessarily raise your chlorine level. You need a proper amount of salt, not more or less. You see, what salt systems do, is run at a constant rate putting a small steady amount of chlorine into the pool. When one has an issue, like a little algae like one would expect when starting a pool for the season, a salt system is not intended to handle this type of situation. One needs a lot of chlorine all at one time to get enough chlorine in the pool to kill all the algae. Your salt system is probably working, but the chlorine is being used up trying to kill the algae and it can’t get to a high enough level to make any progress. What you need to do is shock the pool with liquid chlorine and put a dose in of Eliminator and that will kill your algae and allow your salt system to catch up and get an established level.”, Harold knew the customer would be skeptical. He’s given this speech many times before and the customer is always skeptical in this situation.

“I really don’t think that my system is working, I’ve been running it at 100% production 24 hours a day. It hard for me to believe that it still doesn’t show chlorine if it’s working”, says the customer with a doubtful look.

“Please give my recommendation a try. If it doesn’t work then you can always have service come out. If it works it will save you a service call for no reason.”, Harold was resolute with his answer and the customer grudgingly agreed to give it a go.

Two weeks passed and Harold saw her in the store at the water test station. This time he wasn’t testing the water. The customer said that her pool was clear now and that the chlorine was holding and all is well. The salt system was doing exactly what it was supposed to do and no service call was needed.

This was not news to Harold. He’s seen it countless times before.

Some ways to test your filters performance are:

1. Check your pumps lid. If your pump lid is full of water yet has a small amount of air, this can be a cavitation problem. Cavitation is the presence of air in a liquid line. Air is a sign of pump cavitation and thereby is showing an air leak on the suction side of the system. If you find a leak contact us here at the store and we can offer you ideas on how to check and fix this leak.

2. Look at the water flow returning into the pool. If the water flow is not returning with force there is some sort of obstruction in the line. Some possible obstructions are leaves or debris in the pump or skimmer basket. These things impede water flow.

3. A dirty filtration system is another very common issue.

• With sand systems the filter can be backwashed.
• With diatomaceous earth systems you can “bump” the filter. Bumping is a process where you knock the diatomaceous earth off of the internal fingers or grids. This dirty diatomaceous earth falls to the bottom of the filter and the usable diatomaceous earth is recycled through the system. If too much of the diatomaceous earth is filthy with dirt and grime you will need to drain the entire system, clean it and introduce new diatomaceous earth to the system to regain proper flow.
• Cartridge systems can sometimes be cleaned as simply as removing the filter and spraying it with a water hose. From time to time a cartridge will need a chemical cleaning. For these chemical cleanings we suggest FC-5 cleaner which is a detergent and acid based chemical that will cleanse dirt and break down solidified materials in the cartridge.

*NOTE* Cartridges need to be replaced periodically.

Once you have diagnosed your filter you can begin to start balancing your pool’s water chemistry. As always, we can check your water in-store. This enables us the ability to enter you into our system or update your file to cater to your needs. We can then offer you suggestions for chemicals and proper application. Always keep in mind, a clean pool begins with the filter.

And above grounds?  Very strong too!  I am very confident that we are going to have a substantial backlog of pools to build once the weather breaks.  If you are considering an above ground pool for this year, I’d recommend picking one out and getting on ‘the list’.  This is a good list to be on, as these people will not miss real swimming time this year while awaiting an installation date.  –Max

“I am at my wits end. I am hoping that you can help me out. I’ve been taking my water sample to a different pool store and I have dumped over $100 in Phosphate remover to try and get my pool to hold chlorine and get rid of the algae and nothing seems to work. The phosphates have come down some, but I can’t get completely rid of them.  I have a friend that brings her water here and she says that you guys are the best.” She said with a tone of exasperation.

“Tell your friend thanks for speaking so highly of us. I hope we can live up to the hype.” Harold started filling the sample tubes with water then reagents. By the time the reagents were dissolved there really was no need to run it though the machine, because after testing thousands of waters he knew what the results were by color. The tests were always nonetheless run through the machine and recorded into the store data base for future reference. He proceeded to type the customers information into the computer and run the test.

“It does show that there is zero chlorine in your pool, your PH is fine and your phosphate are a little high at 1300 parts per billion. How much chlorine have you been putting in and how often?” asked Harold.

“That’s exactly what I am talking about. This has been going on for over two weeks. I’ve put three treatments of phosphate remover in and I’ve been putting about two gallons of  chlorine in the pool nearly every day for the last week and about once every two days prior to that and the problem doesn’t go away. I just can’t seem to get the phosphates down low enough to have the chlorine stay in the water.” She responded, rather despondently.

“Well, in my opinion you are treating one of the potential causes rather then treating the problem itself. The phosphates are not eating the chlorine, it is actually the chlorine is spending itself oxidizing the algae. The problem is, you have 20,000 gallons of water in your pool. If everything is going great and you just need a weekly shock, two gallons is the perfect amount. You, however do not have a perfect situation. You have a mildly bad situation and you need to treat it as such. I would recommend that you put in 8 bags of shock and some Eliminator to completely wipe out the algae.” Suggested Harold.

“8 bags of shock? That sounds like a lot.” Exclaimed the customer. “Can I try less? What about the Phosphates? They are still high!”

“The problem is…” retorted Harold, “this is science, and if you do the math, less just isn’t going to give you a positive outcome. One molecule of chlorine will go and kill one algae cell, the problem is, if you don’t kill them all off, they multiple at and incredible rate. If you don’t kill them all off at one time, the money you’ve spent on half measures are a complete waste of time and money, because by the time you do your next application the algae has multiplied back to the same level you were at the day prior. It’s better to take care of the problem once and for all. As far as the phosphates go, reducing phosphates is a tool, not an end all solution to fixing a problem or preventing a new problem from occurring. There are other weapons we can use to prevent algae, rather then phosphate removers. The problem with phosphate removers are, phosphates are naturally reoccurring and you will be constantly chasing after that ‘White Whale’ with little success.”

With a look of surrender the customer agreed to take Harold’s advice. She bought her chemicals and promised to follow up with a report and another water test in three days. There is very little Harold hasn’t seen in his line of work and this was no exception. As expected he had to really sell the answer he was suggesting, because it was going against what the customer believed and was told at a different establishment. He was confident that his solution would work and she would be in a lot better frame of mind the next time he saw her.

1.     Get any leaves out that are on the bottom.  Some people say the heck with a few leaves in the pool.  The fluids in the leaves can stain the liner. This is difficult to clean in the spring.

2.     If you have an algae bloom, kill it before closing.  Brush the liner real good, attack the algae with proper chemicals to kill it, and then close it up.  You can always vac out the dead algae in the spring, but live algae will stain the liner too.

3.     Do NOT winterize using strong doses of chlorine shock.  A better choice is a specialty winterizing kit that does the work without hurting your cover.  The problem with using shock to close is the elevated chlorine levels ‘gas-off’, weakening the seams of your cover and greatly reducing the life of the cover.

We will be glad to answer any questions you might have about winterizing your pool.  Just call or stop in.  –Max