Author Topic: Classes or books on how to maintain a pool  (Read 2487 times)

kkbmustang

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1285
Classes or books on how to maintain a pool
« on: June 10, 2013, 10:07:24 PM »
The weekly pool cleaning guy needs to get optimized out of a job. We need to learn how to do it. Any suggestions for classes to take or books to read before we fire the guy? Our last attempt at doing it ourselves ended very badly. A swamp of a pool and nearly having to drain it. Ended up calling in the big dogs. Costs to undo the damage were over $2000.  Would like to not repeat that again.

I'm taking suggestions, referrals, guidance, anything. Would like to save $220 a month on this dude.

Mustache Fatty

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 56
Re: Classes or books on how to maintain a pool
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2013, 11:23:04 PM »
We have had a pool for 8 years and have always maintained it ourselves.  We use a Polaris pool cleaner to clean the pool and we drop some chlorine in the pool once a week.  Occasionally, other chemicals are needed but you can tell by sticking a paper stick in the water to let you know.  If the pool looks cloudy or if algae takes root, we take a sample to the pool store and they give us a printout of exactly what to do.  This latter step only really happens if we let the maintenance go for a while, but it does happen from time to time because we sometimes forget about the pool.  It is not hard at all to do this yourself.  You don't need a book.  Just buy a bottle of testing strips and the chemicals you need and get started. 

If you are paying $220 per month, this seems like an ideal expense to cut out.  It is very easy to do this yourself.  As a caveat, we do not have a bunch of trees around our pool, so it might not get as dirty (and as quickly) as yours.  Good luck!

ace1224

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 468
Re: Classes or books on how to maintain a pool
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2013, 05:42:29 AM »
i took a certified pool operator course at the local community college a long time ago.  i used to be a lifeguard in high school and state regulations said that to be open you had to have a CPO.  i now maintain my parents pool for them.

its pretty easy.  get a tester kit and follow the instructions, we use the taylor ones.  they even come with a booklet that tells you what to do if your levels are too high or too low.  usually the most i have to do is add some muriatic acid to lower the ph.  chlorine will burn off in the heat so sometimes i have to add that too.

PantsOnFire

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 141
  • Location: PA
Re: Classes or books on how to maintain a pool
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2013, 08:48:54 AM »
Another MMMer posted this link a while back:

www.troublefreepool.com
It looks like a good resource if you are trying to avoid the high costs associated with commercial pool chemicals and services. 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!