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Episode 10 - “Pull on the Pool Cover and Shut it Down for Winter”
Introduction and format:
You’re listening to episode 11 of The Pool Man Podcast - “Pull on the Pool Cover and Shut it Down for Winter”
This episode was recorded on May 14th, 2020.
I’ve designed this podcast to give you all the information you need to keep your pool in tip top condition all year round. The Pool Man Podcast is written and produced by me, and is intended as a guide only. I always recommend that you employ the services of a professional pool technician, should you encounter any problems you are unable to solve yourself.
Welcome to the eleventh episode of The Pool Man Podcast, and just incase you’ve been living under a rock for the past months, we are all still in compulsory isolation and hopefully, all still observing social distancing in our ongoing fight against the dreaded Corona Virus.
They say that no matter how bad things may get, there will always be somebody, somewhere worse off than us… and one thing we can be eternally grateful for is that here in Australia we aren’t ruled by Trump. My heart goes out to all the American families who have lost loved ones to due to this horrible virus, and in many, many cases to the incompetence of the Trump administration. And indeed to families the world over as this pandemic continues to sweep the globe.
Please keep safe and look after each other!!
There is however some light at the end of the tunnel with the government looking at relaxing some of the current restrictions this week, and by the time you hear this podcast, that may well have already happened. My only fear is are we going to undo all the good we’ve done?
In the past few weeks we’ve had the weather go from beautiful summer-like autumn days to a biting frost and now it’s feeling more like the middle of winter!! For a pool guy that’s hard to take because a lot of our regular customers drop off and times tend to get a little tough as far as income goes. This year has been particularly bad due to COVID 19 as many of my customers have either been temporarily stood down, or they’ve lost their jobs all together.
When times get tough it’s completely understandable that they will have no option but to cut services like lawn mowing and pool care. Of course I hold no ill feelings towards any of them and have offered to continue to give free advice over the phone, and in extreme cases I’ll still come of for emergencies (Without charge) for regular and elderly customers.
So coming into winter I often get customers who say they usually just turn off the pump over winter. PLEASE DON’T DO THAT!! It really is the worst thing you can do because it will go green. The pool can’t not go green. As I’ve said in the past, a very wise man once told me that a swimming pool needs three things to stay in excellent condition;
Circulation - Good strong non-restricted water flow from a quality pool pump in good repair.
Filtration - A quality filtration system in good repair with a regularly cleaned filter.
Sanitation - A minimum chlorine level of 2ppm in winter and 4ppm in summer. (Chlorinator or Doser)
The best option for most is to enlist the help of a professional pool technician, but it’s really not difficult to maintain these basics if you know how to do it. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there on basic pool care and Google can help as well, but if you have any concerns give your local pool technician a call and they’ll be happy to help.
Another horror story I get regularly, and this podcast is in response to some feedback I received a few weeks ago, and I’ll give these guys a shout out in the feedback section a little later.
The story tends to be about customers who usually call just as we’re coming into summer, and the conversation always goes something like this… “I rolled back the pool cover, and guess what? The pool has gone green… I always do that because it saves me heaps of money in electricity”
Unfortunately this is an all-too-common story, and the worst part is that it can be easily avoided!! The way it works is that the colder weather almost puts the pool into a deep-freeze so a month in it may not be uncommon for the pool to look clean and clear early on, but out of sight, out of mind, and you can bet your bottom dollar that eventually without chlorine, circulation and filtration it will eventually go green.
VERY GREEN!! So much so that those minor savings in electricity you thought you would get by turning the pool off will most likely turn into a hefty green pool recovery bill. It can cost between $200.00 - $2000.00 depending on the intensity of the algae growth!!
Ask your pool tech for a winter maintenance service. Mine includes a good scrub and vacuum, a full electronic test and chemical balance and a good quality copper-based winterising algicide, and I dial back the chlorinator to minimum requirements.
So, listener feedback... I received a couple of messages after the last episode, and as always I appreciate your appreciation of the show!!
First up I have a message from the Facebook page from a lady by the name of Rhonda from Fulham Gardens in Adelaide SA. Rhonda says...
“Hi there, I wanted to ask a question about shutting my pool down over winter. We seem to have problems after every winter and it’s costing us a fortune in chemicals to clean it up each year. What is your recommendation to keep it nice for the entire year so we don’t spend a fortune at the start of every swimming season? Thank you in advance. Rhonda SA”
Hi there Rhonda, thanks for your message, and if you hadn’t already noticed, I got the inspiration for this episode from your story. Don’t feel so bad though, I can assure you that it’s not JUST your story. I get plenty of customers in the same boat. Just follow the steps I outlined earlier and you should be in a lot better situation this summer.
The next one came via email from Chris over on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Chris was asking a couple of questions about how to turn his standard salt water pool into a mineral pool, and I’m planning on exploring that in an upcoming episode, but he was also asking if it’s a good idea to to have a pool cover to keep dust and leaves out of the pool.
How’s it going Chris… I’ll answer that question in a couple of ways. Yes, without a doubt, it’s always advisable to have a pool cover, but, not really for the reason you were asking for. If you have any kind of pool heating, which you told me you do, then it’s an absolute must!! I had a customer once who put in a gas heater and ran it all the way through winter at 36 degrees Celsius without a cover. His quarterly gas bill for winter was somewhere close to $6000.00
Pool covers, or some people call them pool blankets, are primarily designed to keep the heat in the pool and for reducing evaporation of the water. They also have a side effect in that they allow the heat from the sun into the water, but they don’t let it escape. This in effect becomes a cheap pool heater, and greatly reduces the amount of heating required which can save you a lot of money.
I guess people think a cover will keep dust and leaves out too, and they kind of do, but the problem is that when you roll the cover off the pool all that dust and leaf matter roll off the end of the cover and into the pool.
Thanks for the email Chris, and I hope you get that all sorted out soon!!
I’m an agent for Daisy Pool Covers so if anybody is interested in a cover, roller or both jump onto the Daisy Pool Covers website www.daisypoolcovers.com.au and put your measurements into their on-line calculator, select a roller and that will give you a price on the spot. Drop me an email with the measurements and your contact details at thepoolmanpodcast@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to place an order for you!!
Once again, I do really appreciate your messages and the fact that you all took the time to send them. I look forward to corresponding with you guys every week!!
You can email your questions to thepoolmanpodcast@gmail.com and put the word “Question” in the subject field. It just helps me sort through them all a bit more easily.
So drop me an email and I’ll do my best to answer them for you in an upcoming episode.
You can also use this email address if you’d like me to come out and have a look at your pool. If it’s too far for me personally, I’ll be happy to hook you up with a professional pool technician in your area, Australia wide.
This production was made by me and should only be used as a guide to keep your swimming pool clean and clear. I always recommend that you employ the services of a professional pool technician should you have any issues you are an able to solve yourself.
I have a Facebook page and you can find it over at facebook.com/thepoolmanpodcast, and you can have a look at the Pool Man website where you’ll find all the show notes for the podcast, info on my business and tips and tricks for you to keep your pool sparkling!! Head over to thepoolmanpodcast.wixsite.com/thepoolman or just search for The Pool Man Podcast in the Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher Radio which is available on iOS and Android, or over at PodBean.com and search for The Pool Man Podcast.
I do ask that after you listen, could you please give me a rating and subscribe so you automatically get the next episode when it becomes available, it also gets my numbers up so I rank a little higher and that really helps other people find me too, so I thank you very much in advance for that!!
So stay safe and stay in touch at thepoolmanpodcast@gmail.com
I hope you can join me again for the next episode of The Pool Man Podcast, coming soon to a pod catcher near you.