How's Your Filter? The Trio - Part II

4/15/2013 1:06:25 PM

Today we look at Part II of the Trio, Circulation. It was pointed out last month that if you had the circulation of a rushing river, moving your water at say, 1,000 gallons per minute, you likely wouldn’t need filtration or sanitation. I guess algae can’t grow when it’s moving so fast. But our little pipes and little pumps just can’t handle 1,000 gallons per hour, can they?

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

4/15/2013 12:38:50 PM

In the Fall of 2007, POOLCENTER.com contributed to helping the Chapin Family realize their dreams. Having been a fan of the award winning television series "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," since its inception, everyone here at POOLCENTER.com headquarters considers it an honor to be mentioned as having helped such a loving and caring family like the Chapin's. The thank you card from them warmed all of our hearts and brightened an already great Summer. Thank you, Chapin Family, for being such a great asset to your community.

Pool Community Featured in Inc.com Magazine!

4/15/2013 8:44:27 AM

In April of 2008 POOLCENTER.com launched the "Community Pool," a place for our customer's to interact, share information, fun stories about their pool, post videos, collaborate, and just keep in touch with other pool owners. In order to make this happen, POOLCENTER.com implemented "community software" which is actually a sub-domain. The sub-domain http://community.poolcenter.com features many categories and sub-categories for users to navigate and browse at their leisure. Back in 1996 (ol' 96) POOLCENTER.com posted some information up on the web for their service customer's associated with Cox Pools, the information was to help/assist residential pool owners with such things as testing water chemistry, how to clean a pool filter, how to "winterize" a pool, etc., and so "Pool Info" (i.e. POOLCENTER.com) was born.

How's Your Filter? The Trio - Part I

4/11/2013 10:33:54 AM

I always like to use the analogy that - if you had a filter as “big as a house” you wouldn’t need worry about circulation and sanitation. Or – if you dumped in 5 gallons of bleach every few days, you wouldn’t need to filter or circulate much either. Or – imagine circulating your pool water so fast, like a rushing river – turning it over at a rate of 1,000 GPM (gallons per minute) that Sanitation (chlorine) and Filtration becomes unnecessary for clean and clear pool water.

Pool Safety: Have a Safety Scan

4/11/2013 6:23:41 AM

Once you have your pool opened, taken care of your chemistry requirements, and got the equipment up and running, it's time to make sure your pool is as safe as possible. This is not one of those trademarked terms, just a phrase I use to describe looking at the entire pool area and adjoining areas, for possible, maybe probable, safety issues. There is a term that is trademarked, I think - called Layers of Protection. It would be helpful to the discussion of a Pool Safety Scan if I start by talking about the layers of protection surrounding a swimming pool.

How To Throw The Best Pool Party Ever!

4/10/2013 11:34:43 AM

Party time! Gather some family and friends and let's have a pool party. The most fun you could ever have around your pool, is when you have guests and are entertaining. It is the perfect time to show off your pool and yard. The key here is preparation. Invitations, menus, helpers, pool, and yard will all need to be taken care of in advance. The more you do ahead of time, the more time you will have to enjoy the party. Start about a month before the party. Make a list of who you want to come. We can't give any advice here. But too many people would not only be unsafe, but we want enough room for eating, swimming, and just laying around.

Pool Safety Tips

4/10/2013 10:16:15 AM

Anyone who has been to a community pool has no doubt heard the lifeguards shouting at children "No running!". A whistle is blown and everyone is told to slow down. There’s nothing that can ruin a fun pool party like a trip to the emergency room. Especially for something that could have been avoided. Swimming pool accidents are responsible for many injuries and deaths per year. Not only is drowning the most common cause of death of children under the age of 5 in many parts of the country, But countless of other injuries occur each year from falls, entrapment and just plain carelessness and negligence. The first and foremost thing we all need to do, is just use common sense.

Enersol Solar Heating

4/10/2013 9:18:27 AM

What is the advantage to solar pool heat? It's free! Can't beat that. It is also very easy for DIY types. For less than the cost of a conventional pool heater, consider that being your only expense for years, while extending your swimming season by months. 85 degree pool in October? No problem. For free! With all this talk about the whole green movement, and the use and depletion of our natural resources, it makes sense to not only consider, but utilize solar heat for swimming pools.

Yikes! My Pool Water is Green!

4/10/2013 8:31:37 AM

The green pool. Not very pleasant. Pools turn green from green algae. There is only one sure way to knock the green from a pool. Chlorine. And make sure it’s enough chlorine. Many times we hear, “But I put four bags of shock in the pool, and it’s still green” Well, four bags of shock should kill algae in a pool under 20,000 gallons, If they are added at once, not a bag at a time. The key to getting rid of algae, is “super chlorination.”

Tips on Opening Your Swimming Pool

4/10/2013 7:49:07 AM

There are a few steps you can take to make your pool opening a bit easier in the Spring. Once the weather starts to heat up, usually towards the beginning of March, peel a corner of your winter cover back and add some liquid chlorine to the pool water. Circulate it with the pool brush or submersible pump and leave the corner of the pool open for about an hour. This allows the chlorine and by-products to gas off.

Swimming Pool Caulking and Expansion Joints

10/31/2012 2:07:31 PM

One of the strongest forces of nature is ice. Basically, nothing can stop it. When water freezes, it will expand. With great force. Ice can break steel, concrete, ock and just about anything else that gets in it’s way. So, if you have a slab of concrete and water gets under it, freezes and turns into ice, that slab will rise.

California Title 20 Pool & Spa Amendments Adopted

10/23/2012 8:38:35 AM

As of January 1, 2008, filtration pumps sold with a capacity of 1hp or higher must be capable of operating at two or more speeds. This would include the variable speed pumps made by Pentair, such as the Intelliflo, which will seek the lowest possible energy usage.

How Safe is your Neighbor's Pool?

2/25/2011 12:42:32 PM

A grieving mother has told how her 3-year-old daughter's body was found in her neighbour's pool. Vimbai Machakaire was playing in her West Auckland garden with her brothers and sisters on Thursday when her mother Emily noticed she was missing about 6.30pm.

CPSC clarifies main drain enforcement priorities

2/25/2011 12:42:13 PM

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act, was signed into law on December 19, 2007. CPSC has an obligation to carry out the will of Congress and to enforce the Pool & Spa Safety Act as written. This message today seeks to clarify our enforcement priorities.

Frozen Pool Test Kit Reagents?

2/25/2011 12:41:49 PM

“How long is the shelf life on my test reagents” is one of the most common questions we hear. There really is no definite answer to that question. Some test kit reagents have an unlimited shelf life. Other reagents need to be discarded after a certain amount of time.

How's Your Filter? The Trio - Part III

2/25/2011 12:41:22 PM

So, what is Sanitation of pool water? According to Wikipedia swimming pool sanitation refers to both visual clarity and levels of microflora, such as bacteria and viruses in swimming pools. The goal of sanitation is to prevent the spread of diseases and pathogens between users. Unsanitized water may also support the growth of algae which will present as a greenish tinge initially, then if left unchecked may completely inhabit the pool water displaying a solid green murky appearance.

Commercial Pool Main Drains - Time is running out!

2/25/2011 12:41:00 PM

If your public or commercial pool or spa is open year round, you have just days left to comply. The VGB act requires all pools to have dual main drains with special approved drain covers. This can be costly if you have single main drains currently, to convert to dual can cost $1,200 or more per drain, and require draining the pool. We have listed some workarounds below, however, Check with your local health department to be sure!

Free Solar Pool Heat?

2/25/2011 12:40:35 PM

We all know that the sun is free – at least in most regards. The last sunburn I got cost me plenty, from the Hotel in Nag’s Head to the gallon of Aloe Vera I slathered on afterwards. But are you ready for the sun to Pay You Back?!? Voters in Florida are…they have passed Constitutional Amendment 3 on November 4^th, creating a property tax exemption for renewable-energy home improvements. This does not include solar pool heaters, unfortunately. It does include, however, solar hot water systems for the house and photovoltaic systems used around the home.

Is your pool pump electric bill out of control?

2/25/2011 12:40:13 PM

You can save on your electric bill by using a smaller pool pump motor and operating it less. Many regional or state agencies are offering incentives to pool owners to help them convert to pool pumps that consume less energy.

Frozen Swimming Pool - What to do with a Frozen Pool

2/25/2011 12:39:46 PM

Frozen swimming pools! Old man winter has set many pools a-frozen! What to do ( and what not to do ) when your pool freezes slightly, and when it freezes solid! We cover all pools, from in ground to above ground, sunbelt to snowbelt. Some tips on how to deal with a frozen pool, and when to just leave it alone!

ABOUT US - History of POOLCENTER.com

2/25/2011 12:37:14 PM

POOLCENTER.com went on-line in January 1996, essentially establishing one of the very first websites for pool owners and users providing clear and accurate information on pool topics, competent technical support, exceptional customer support/service, and quality swimming pool products at a fair and competitive price to customers worldwide. POOLCENTER.com's award winning pool technical support is provided by Blue Thumb, LLC.

Customer Vision: Case Study

2/25/2011 12:36:53 PM

Customer Vision is a Des Moines, Iowa software solutions company that POOLCENTER.com contracted to host and help implement the new Pool Community. The Biz-Wiki tool provided by Customer Vision allows ease-of-use and top of the line support and is fully compatible and scalable across many different platforms. POOLCENTER.com decided to "go with" the Customer Vision team after researching approximately 4-5 different community software providers. It was clear that they were ready and willing from the very beginning with a test database having been setup only hours after placing a request for quote. The ability of the software to mimic POOLCENTER.com's new homepage design was key in the successful launch and the software proved to be robust enough to handle the task.

Winterize your pool with the Mighty Vac!

2/25/2011 12:36:34 PM

A lot of you have asked for help with blowing your own pool plumbing lines. In our winter guide, we give an extensive written explanation, but nothing beats a good ol’ video presentation to help crystallize methods in your mind. In this video, we re-visit Joe Coxes pool, where we shot a pool opening video. An in ground vinyl liner pool, Joe’s pool was great for demonstrating how easy it is to blow out your plumbing lines with a Mighty Vac.

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