WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO WAIT FOR THE SPRING

WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO WAIT FOR THE SPRING TO START A POOL

This summer has been hot, so very hot.  You may have been one of the people fighting the crowds for good sand space at one of the Massachusetts' beaches.  Maybe you are a beach person and were fine spending half a morning packing, paying to park, then trying to find some sand of your own and hoping that you will be able to get some good water time in before the high tide.  But maybe you had no choice so you fight the good battle.

Alternatively, perhaps you are like me, a pool girl at heart.  If so, maybe you are paying for a health club membership with pool privileges, or hoping that the neighbor will let you and the family take a dip. Now, after weeks and weeks of high humidity and blazing heat, you have decided that this is the last year without a pool.  The decision being made... when do you start the process?

So often, people think the right choice is to start fresh in the spring with constructing a pool.  The truth is... now is the time to act.

Why?  Well, for a few different reasons actually.

First, pool company schedules are a little more flexible in the fall.  In the spring, pool companies are inundated with construction, openings, and generally getting pools up and running for established customers.  If your pool company is not busy in the spring, you may want to question why that is.  Crews are limited as much resources are going into the service side of a company.  

Come September, many people are starting to close their pools which means less service which frees up crews for construction.  For those that are remaining open, the slightly cooler weather brings with it less difficulties with operation such as fewer water treatment issues and fewer filter cleaning service calls.  Again, all of this means less backlog for new construction.  

Secondly, and even more of an issue for spring construction is the New England weather.  Last year, we battled with having snow on the ground in May, while this year brought cold and rain well into the swimming pool season.  It is as the old saying goes, don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.  Unpredictable weather in New England, particularly in spring, makes swimming pool construction schedules somewhat of an Olympic event.  

While this doesn't mean a spring pool is not doable, it does make the timeline much more open to delays, so if you are looking to swim by a date certain, then you absolutely should consider starting the process in the fall.

It is now August and you're thinking that you are going to spend the next eight weeks writing checks and watching construction and then you will have to wait months before you are able to enjoy your pool.  Well, that is possible, but it is also possible with a warm fall and the help of a pool heater that you may at least be able to enjoy a few weeks of fun before the cold weather shows up.  Even if you aren't able to enjoy the pool this year, finishing the project before the winter months roll in still means that you will be able to opened and swimming as soon as the spring air comes to Massachusetts.  Wouldn't that be better than losing out on a whole two months of swimming time?

With fast turnaround for estimates, we can be breaking ground in your backyard before you know it. Call today to set up your free in home estimate.

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WONDERING WHAT IS WRONG

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WONDERING WHAT IS WRONG

The whole world is in a tizzy this morning about what happened to the Olympic pool in Rio and we cannot help but chuckle because it took us all but a minute to figure out the problem.  Why, because we see it constantly and the call goes something like this:

 I woke up this morning and my pool is mint green.

Further inquiry and we soon learn that water was added then the pool was shocked.  So, why do we ask those two questions?  It's all in the chemistry.

See when minerals, such as copper or iron, mix with Chlorinated water, the effect is that the water turns green.  It is almost instant.  Don't believe us?  Check out this YouTube video of the reaction - click here.   So we can tell you exactly what happened.  The pool likely is being shocked with high dosages of liquid chlorine overnight so that it is sanitary for the swimmers come morning.  Water is also probably being added as well, but here is where someone dropped the ball.  No one added the a mineral bonding agent, such as our Pool Magnet, before shocking the pool.  Ergo.... Green Water.   If you are a blonde, I bet you are now shaking your head in understanding because you have likely had green hair at some point in your life.  

Still don't believe us?   We had a client who called us in a panic due to an impending pool party at his home.  He had added water and shocked the pool and woke up to find this! 

Looks pretty familiar, doesn't it?  So, how fixable is this and how quickly can it be done?  It is really all in the filtration.  For a normal size pool, it can take about 48 to 36 hours of non-stop filtration after treating the pool with Pool Magnet.  For an Olympic size swimming pool, our bet would be about a week.  Now, is it dangerous to the swimmers?  No, other than the danger of not being able to see the bottom, there is no health risk to water turned green by minerals in the water.  

IS IT POSSIBLE IT IS SOMETHING ELSE?

While we would definitely bet minerals have something to do with the green, there is an alternative theory.  It could be algae.  We have all heard the news saying it happened "so fast."  Well, here is the thing, if it IS algae (and we still don't think it is), it really didn't happen so fast.  Algae hides in cells and is generally present before it is ever visible.  Phosphates, like such may be found in skin products, and nitrates, which tend to build up when water is in constant use and not always balanced as well as it should be, can both exacerbate algae growth in a pool.  So even when water chemistry "appears" to be fine, it may not prevent algae growth.  Algae will cause water to turn dark green and cloudy, think of a pond.  You cannot test for algae, so it is a culprit that often is there without anyone knowing until one day POW you wake up to a green swamp instead of your blue sparkling pool.  Why do we think it is still metals?  It is all in the color.  Based on the photos shown of the pool, the green doesn't have that deep, dark swamp look to it.  It has more of the minty green color we see in mineral laden pools.  Also, it wouldn't take much to confirm that it is algae verses something else.  All one would have to do is brush the side of the pool and see what looks almost like a "puff of smoke" coming off the wall.

Other alternatives, there is always that possibility that there is something weird in the water, perhaps not something that we see here in the states, but to us, it looks like your everyday copper problem.  

So here at Aquaknot Pools, we will continue to watch the saga unfold and maybe send an anonymous suggestion that they get a few cases of Pool Magnet Plus sent to Rio.  

GO TEAM USA!!!!