MOTHER NATURE, YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND!
Mother nature seems to be a little confused with the seasons this spring. From cold and rainy for over a month (who has blue prints for the arch ready to go?) to blistering heat and humidity, this New England spring is giving all of us a run for our money. I bet I am not the only one who hesitates putting the snow gear away. Pool owners have been especially hit hard this spring with this crazy weather. Rain that won't quit is causing balancing issues while the heavy pollen and hot sun is eating up chlorine as fast as it can be added. Are you frustrated? Of course. 90 + degree days after lots of rain = green green green and we have all had it.
Does your pool remind you of this?
Sooo... what can we do?
Well, if putting your pool indoors isn't an option, then let us give you our top four nuggets of advice for surviving the spring...
1. When in doubt, chlorinate
Whether you are a salt pool or a straight chlorine pool, it doesn't matter on this one. You need chlorine and you need a lot of it. Why? Because it kills algae which is the main cause of spring time problems with pools. Regular shocking, add an extra stick to the basket, do whatever you can to keep the chlorine level ideal (1 - 3 ppm).
A subset to this discussion on chlorinating is that not all chlorine is created equal. We aren't naming names here but consider the sources and know that you get what you paid for. Don't believe us? Get small jug of cheap chlorine and get a small jug of a quality chlorine ahem Bioguard would be a good one, the first thing you are likely to notice is consistency. Cheap chlorine will feel softer, maybe even crumble a bit in your hands. What that means? It will also likely disintegrate faster than its higher end counter part. End of the day, you will spend just as much, if not more, for the cheap chlorine than the higher end because you will have to buy more.
2. Keep up with filter cleanings
Think of backwashing being the quick fix to clearing your filter on a daily basis. The problem is that backwashing doesn't necessarily get all that gunky algae that sticks to the guts of your filter. As time goes on that gunk gets thicker and covers the grids of your filter. Before you know it, you are backwashing multiple times a day, the pool looks cloudy, and your returns are barely pumping out water. What is happening is that your grids have so much algae and "gunk" that they are not filtering water through any more. This can reduce your heater's efficiency, raise your filter pressure, cause water balancing issues, and make you pull out your hair when it comes to keeping your pool clear. If this sounds like your situation, get out there and clean those grids. Usually just hosing them off can work wonders. If it is really caked on, see your local pool chemical dealer for cleaning solutions to get those grids good as new.
3. Brush, skim, empty, repeat
Tedious is a good word for this time of year with pool care. Even if you are on a weekly service cleaning plan with a company, you are probably finding that you need to still do some work. Maintaining the pool in the New England spring is NOT, I repeat NOT, a weekly job. It is an everyday, maybe morning and night, job at this time of year. At this time of year, pollen falls into the pool as fast as it can be scooped out. Springtime flowers come with lots of extra debris, especially if you are a fan of the flowering trees. Skimmers filled with pollen and flower petals block the chlorine from working and overload the system. Algae grows on pool walls before you even see it and multiplies by the millions. How many times have you gone to bed with a clear pool and woken to a green one? Pollen, petals and leaves clog filters quickly, the more you can skim out before it goes into the skimmer the longer you will have between the filter cleanings.
4. Have you tried our Pool Complete?
Ok, so we are a pool company so we need to plug a few of our products :) Pool Complete came out last year with a guaranteed satisfaction. Not only does it pull phosphates (you know the chemicals often found in suntan lotions, lawn chemicals, etc), but has clarifying properties that leave your pool unbelievably crystal clear. Don't believe us? Check out this
Pool Complete Drone Video
The good news
- The good news is that we are almost past the worst of it. Soon the pollen will be gone, the trees all will have bloomed and pools will become more manageable every day. As the old saying goes, "this too shall pass."
Not able to splurge on a heater? Leaving a solar cover on when the pool is not in use during the day will allow the heat from the sun to be trapped allowing for a subtle increase in the pool temp. While you may not have 80 degree water from a solar cover, it can surely take the edge off when taking that plunge. Another bonus to solar covers is that it reduces evaporation. With cold nights and warm days, water evaporation increases causing your pool to lose more water. Solar covers prevent that evaporation reducing the amount of water you have to add to your pool and less water added means less balancing of chemicals and reduction in pool expenses.
Heard the expression, "strike while the iron is hot"? Well, this is one you want to use while the warm temps are still upon us. Want to keep swimming the month of September? Add Smart Shield to your water at the end of August. Smart Shield's special formula creates an invisible coating on the water's surface that creates a barrier which maintains pool temps and reduces evaporation for up to 30 days after application. Throw another bottle in toward the end of September to keep the effect lasting. 
