Harem
I've cliqued
Pool Maintenance
People are often asking how much it costs to maintain a swimming pool; how much do companies charge, etc.
Well, I gleaned this article from the Fethiye Times and I thought that it might be found useful:
Pool Maintenance Part 1
Way back in 2003 when the village wing bought their land and then went back to UK to plan the house and pool to be built the following year, the male half of the partnership got a large book from the USA in his Christmas stocking that year entitled “The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual” – he was horrified.
However, he did agree to be responsible for maintaining the pool in terms of treating the water and daily cleaning.
He has hardly ever opened the book.
But whilst we could afford to build the pool we knew we couldn’t afford to pay someone to come round and maintain it – especially given our location (miles from any other pools).
The company that built the pool gave us an A4 sheet of instructions in Turkish for maintenance and a very brief training session for the reluctant pool man.
Five years later we have a crystal clear pool and very low bills for chemicals, in fact the 2009 season will barely cost £100.
The pool in question is 12m by 3.5m with a standard depth of 1.25m.
It is a long rectangle designed for swimming as exercise – though also used for occasional ball/Frisbee games when friends come round.
So why is our maintenance so cheap when compared to paying someone to come around and vacuum/add chemicals?
First of all our pool is not overused – and we suspect this is the case for many of our readers.
The famous manual tells you how to calculate your ‘bather load’ which is the maximum number of people who can be in your pool at any one time:
- One bather per 15 square feet (1.4sq.m.) of surface area in portions of the pool that are 5 feet deep (1.5m) or less.
- One bather per 20 square feet (1.9sq.m.) of surface area in portions of the pool that are more than 5 feet (1.5m) deep.
Thus our pool has a bather load of 15, when the reality is we have never had more than 6 people in there at any one time.
People dirty your pool and upset the chemical balance in the water.
Less people means less chemicals are necessary.
Secondly when the pool was first completed our intrepid pool man tested the water regularly only to find the testing kit was telling him to add more of this or that.
Hardly ever did the water seemed chemically balanced when he used a testing kit.
Five years on he no longer uses the kits relying on the evidence of his eyes instead.
If the water sparkles all is well.
In part 2 of the article - which I will try to remember to copy and paste - we'll go into a little more detail on how to keep your pool in tip top condition.
Well, I gleaned this article from the Fethiye Times and I thought that it might be found useful:
Pool Maintenance Part 1
Way back in 2003 when the village wing bought their land and then went back to UK to plan the house and pool to be built the following year, the male half of the partnership got a large book from the USA in his Christmas stocking that year entitled “The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual” – he was horrified.
However, he did agree to be responsible for maintaining the pool in terms of treating the water and daily cleaning.
He has hardly ever opened the book.
But whilst we could afford to build the pool we knew we couldn’t afford to pay someone to come round and maintain it – especially given our location (miles from any other pools).
The company that built the pool gave us an A4 sheet of instructions in Turkish for maintenance and a very brief training session for the reluctant pool man.
Five years later we have a crystal clear pool and very low bills for chemicals, in fact the 2009 season will barely cost £100.
The pool in question is 12m by 3.5m with a standard depth of 1.25m.
It is a long rectangle designed for swimming as exercise – though also used for occasional ball/Frisbee games when friends come round.
So why is our maintenance so cheap when compared to paying someone to come around and vacuum/add chemicals?
First of all our pool is not overused – and we suspect this is the case for many of our readers.
The famous manual tells you how to calculate your ‘bather load’ which is the maximum number of people who can be in your pool at any one time:
- One bather per 15 square feet (1.4sq.m.) of surface area in portions of the pool that are 5 feet deep (1.5m) or less.
- One bather per 20 square feet (1.9sq.m.) of surface area in portions of the pool that are more than 5 feet (1.5m) deep.
Thus our pool has a bather load of 15, when the reality is we have never had more than 6 people in there at any one time.
People dirty your pool and upset the chemical balance in the water.
Less people means less chemicals are necessary.
Secondly when the pool was first completed our intrepid pool man tested the water regularly only to find the testing kit was telling him to add more of this or that.
Hardly ever did the water seemed chemically balanced when he used a testing kit.
Five years on he no longer uses the kits relying on the evidence of his eyes instead.
If the water sparkles all is well.
In part 2 of the article - which I will try to remember to copy and paste - we'll go into a little more detail on how to keep your pool in tip top condition.
