Pool Service Long Beach,CA.

 

Pool & Spa Service Blog

Pool & Spa Blog

May 28,2017

The 3 Types of Pool Algae that can be in your pool, black, yellow and green. 

Black algae is the worst form of algae pool owners deal with and looks black or dark blue-green in color. The early signs of this algae are the appearance of black specks that look like dirt particles at the bottom of the pool that don't brush away and is caused by unbalanced pool water.When left untreated, black algae can spread through out your whole pool. It can be eliminated when caught early enough with algaecides, sanitizers, a lot of brushing of the spots and once gone cleaning your pool filter. The main thing to keep black algae away is proper water balance & pool maintenance. 

The most common form of pool algae is yellow algae which you will notice initially starting on the south side of your pool or spa surface area. The visible yellow algae is caused by many things like low chlorine levels, unbalanced pool water, pool pump not running long enough, skimmer/pump baskets not being emptied regularly, a dirty pool filter and high levels of debris falling into your swimming pool. The best way to stop yellow algae is to keep pool water balanced and proper pool maintenance.

Green algae happens from swimming pools getting maintained very little or not at all, meaning no one is normally adding chemicals so the water becomes unbalanced and the pool filter does nothing. The best way to remove green algae it is to shock "super-chlorinate" the pool, clean the pool filter, balancing the pool water a long with normal pool maintenance of at least once a week.

Algae is the most widespread issue that swimming pools have and it is one of the primary reasons that it is important to have a professional monitor your swimming pool on a recurring basis. If you are experiencing pool algae problems feel free to call us 


 

​June 2nd, 2017

How to vacuum your swimming pool

​If you don't have the swimming pool tools consisting of a telescoping pole, vacuum head, vacuum head/hose adapter and vacuum hose you will need to buy them.

​when you have these pool tools you want to make sure to put the pool vacuum/hose adapter into the vacuum head so the vacuum hose can connect to the vacuum head. Once the hose is connected you can connect the telescoping pole to the vacuuming head by pushing in the two prong clips that will snap into the end of the telescoping poles holes connecting the two together.

Once this is done & secure you extend the telescoping pole so you can drop the vacuum head and hose into the shallow end of the pool. You then need to prime the vacuum hose filling it with water which can be done by holding the vacuum hose end to one of the pools return lines, you will see air bubbles blowing out from the bottom of the vacuuming head and will do this until all bubbles are gone. This tells you the hose is primed and you then connect that end of the hose to the skimmer hole.

Attaching the vacuum hose to the skimmer for the first time you will see a skimmer basket that catches leaves which you will remove to look at how many holes you have in the skimmer. There are two types of skimmers, a one hole skimmer or two hole skimmer. If you have a one hole skimmer there should be a diverter valve sticking up out of the hole that you can turn for more or less suction as it shares the suction from the pump with the main drain. To vacuum your pool you want stronger suction & once finished you can adjust diverter valve back to the setting you want which can share the suction with the main drain. When you have a two hole skimmer the hole farthest from the pool considered the back hole is the suction hole you will use. Most skimmer should have a skimmer float that you will have to remove which is a newer type diverter valve that connects skimmer with main drain. When your vacuum hose is connected to skimmer hole you start vacuuming back and forth across the bottom of the pool until your satisfied, then unplug vacuum from skimmer and return things to normal. Be prepared to get a little wet from vacuuming your pool and know this is something you want to do at least once a week as part of your maintenance.

 


 

​June 11th 2017

When to clean your pool filter

​Your swimming pool filter will need to be cleaned when you see the pressure gauge on top of your filter has risen in pressure 8-10lbs. ​Many things can cause the pressure to rise in different swimming pools like the amount of people using it, debris around the pool falling into it, not maintaining your pool properly on a weekly basis by balancing the chemicals & getting algae out breaks, having to small of filter for the size of your pool, old worn out filter elements needing replacement and not running your pump long enough so the pool water can get cleaned which again leads to algae out breaks that clog up the filter elements.


​June 12th 2017

How to clean your cartridge filter

​When you start the filter cleaning process the first thing you do is turn off the pump so you know it won't turn on when you have the filter apart and open the pressure gauge relief valve on top of your filter to drain all the water from the inside of the filter. The next step would be to take apart your filter strap that holds the filter together so you can remove the top filter lid and expose the filter cartridges. Before you can pull the cartridges out one by one you will need to remove the cartridge bracket that holds them all in place which will pop off the top of them with a flat screw driver. When you have all 4 cartridges removed you want to inspect them for any damage like cracks in the heavy plastic on top & bottom of each one and look at how the cartridge pleats look as they should be nice & straight with no wide gaps in them looking swollen or badly stained all over. you want to rinse al the dirt and tiny debris from the cartridges until they look clean and then spray them down with a bottle of degreaser and let them sit while you do the same to the others. After they have sat with the degreaser on them you again rinse the cartridges until all bubbles are gone and they will be ready to reinstall back into your filter and be held in place by the cartridge bracket that connects them all together and sits on top of them. Make sure to inspect the filter tank O-ring for any flat spots or being stretched out as it should be tight around the lip of the bottom filter tank, add some pool lube to the O-ring to help things when closing back up the filter by putting the filter lid back on and tightening down the filter strap. Once you have it done turn on your pump drain the air out of the filter and look at the pressure so you know where it is when clean as you will be able to know when the next cleaning is needed.


June 13th 2017

How to clean your DE filter

​Cleaning your DE filter you start by turning off your pool pump making sure it will not turn back on while cleaning your filter while you have it apart and opening up the filter relief valve on the top of your filter so all water empties out. You have a choice when water is draining from filter to open up the pump lid and stick a shirt in pump basket or put the filter in backwash mode because the DE powder can go back into the pool making a mess. when the filter is empty you can remove the filter tank strap and remove the lid exposing the filter grids. Depending on the type of DE filter you have some grids pull out all together as a unit with the filter manifold that is connected and sitting on the filter suction pipe so will lift of straight up with a little back and forth turning action ready to be taken to be cleaned. There is also another type DE filter which has the bottom of the filter grids showing at the top of the filter tank with the filter grid separation bracket bolted on top of them which separates them keeping them aligned. These grids have to be pulled out individually from the filter manifold which is attached at the bottom of the filter so you will have to unbolt the axle that holds the grid separation bracket. When grids are free from either filter & manifold you rinse the grids free of DE powder individually and inspect them and the filter manifold for any holes, when finding any replacing them. When putting back together the first filter mentioned that pulls out as a complete unit you will have to align the manifold, grids & bottom separation bracket back together the same way it came apart or it will not fit back together or fit inside the filter tank. This filter has 8 grids, 7 big ones and 1 half sized one which always fits to the left side of the manifold suction pipe hole. when you have all 8 grids in place and want to bolt on the bottom separation bracket you have to align the V slot it has with the manifolds suction pipe hole so it fits back into the filter. The second DE filter mentioned have all the same size grids which plug into the manifold at the bottom of the filter and then you attach and bolt back on the separation bracket. Make sure to clean and inspect then lube the take O-ring that sits on the lip of the bottom filter tank and then strap filter tank lid back together tightening everything up. Turn on pump inspect filter for any leaks when you see everything is good add DE powder back to filter threw skimmer adding the a mount needed depending on the size of filter. Make sure to check filter pressure when clean so you know when to clean or backwash in future.


​November 8th 2017

What is Cyanuric Acid

​Cyanuric acid is known as stabilizer/conditioner for your swimming pool & is used to reduce the rate at which free available chlorine is lost to the sun's ultraviolet rays. Maintaining the proper CYA level is vital to prevent the loss of chlorine as having too little the chlorine will evaporate causing high chlorine usage & having to much will cause chlorine lock & high chlorine usage as the chlorine becomes very weak.


July 21st 2018

Swimming pool water evaporation rate

Normally pools see 1/4 - 1/2 inch loss of water per day due to evaporation. This is roughly 2-4 inches per week. Pools that get more shade tend to lose less water & pools that sit in the sun all day lose more water. Other things can effect swimming pool water loss like the amount of people swimming with carry out, water features always running, a water leak, things that help save water would be not running your pool heater and keeping a pool cover on the pool.

January 16th 2019

The Truth about VS Pumps

These VS pumps do save you money but the truth about these pumps is they can't run your pool on the slow speeds like they advertise because of one thing "circulation". The pool needs to circulate the pool water and the only way to do this is at certain speeds or the pool will get algae on the walls no matter how good the water chemistry. People who have salt water systems find this out as the water has to pass through the salt cell at a certain RPM or it will not work correctly causing low chlorine output or none. If you like heating your pool the pump has to also run at a certain RPM speed for the pressure in the heater to be correct so it will turn on & warm the pool water. So VS pumps do save you money but not at the rate that is claimed by the advertisement that is offered. 

 

MAY 29TH 2019

Shocking your pool water

When you want to shock your pool water you can't add chlorine and have a reading of 1-3ppm as this is just the everyday normal reading you should have on a daily basis and it will do nothing to help clear the pool. When shocking your pool water you need to add enough chlorine to have a reading of 15ppm to be at a shock level, once you know the level is there you then need to monitor this level on a daily basis keeping at 15ppm adding more chlorine as needed as the chlorine will get used up fixing the problem. When you are shocking your pool it is because you have a issue with algae on the walls, cloudy water or green water, so you will want to clean your filter and run the pool pump 24/7 until the water is crystal clear brushing the pool walls everyday. When you think the pool looks great you will want to reclean your pool filter so all algae is gone and keep your chlorine readings between 1-3ppm.