How much should the pool man do?

[emil]

Hi guys,

Our pool construction, salt water pool, was completed 15 months ago, everything is good. The pool looks great, it's clean, etc. My pool man comes every Friday, vacuums, sweeps, etc etc. I can barely count the number of times I have seen him test the pool water and I've never seen him add salt. We added salt at start up, but that's it.

So my questions/concerns are:
1) Is it normal with a salt water pool to not test the water?
2) Should any salt been added since the first batch?
3) Should I get a new pool guy? I have no time to do it myself.

I have questioned him, he is actually the one who installed my equipment and outdoor bbq. He says everything is going good.

Any opinions/comments?

 

[kimkats]

I have to say that the best thing you can do is get your own test kit (see my siggy for the best one money wise). Once you learn how to do the test it really does not take that long to take care of your own pool. If the vacuuming is what you do not have time for you can get a cleaner that does it for you. I will say it only takes me a few mins to do the daily tests and a couple more on the weekends when I do a full set.

I am guessing that your pool guy puts a bunch of pucks in a feeder and calls it good. If this is allowed to continue your CYA (stabilizer) will get too high for your pool and you will start to have big problems with algae.

You can read all about it in Pool School up at the top of the page.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Kim

 

[Texas Splash]

Hi Emil! About your questions:
1- All water should be tested for CYA, FC, CC pH, TA, and for you.. salt. Review our ABCs of Water Chemistry for more info.
2 - Once salt is added, it's not going anywhere except perhaps for splashout, backwash, etc. So it's still good to test for salt from time to time. It's not uncommon to add salt once or twice a year depending upon the amount of water exchange of the pool.
3 - As far as TFP is concerned, ANYONE can, and probably should, test their own water with a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006. It's not that difficult, and most chemicals are obtained at your local grocery store. As for filter cleaning, scrubbing, etc, if you are physically capable - sure. Do that yourself as well if you like.

At TFP, we're all about DIY and saving money. But the decision to retain your long-time pool maintenance man will ultimately be yours. If you need our help though, we're here 24/7.

 

[Matrioux]

Adding salt is rare, maybe once a year or so depending on how often you have to drain the pool because of heavy rains. Salt doesn't evaporate or get used up. You only loose it to draining and splash out.

I would certainly second the advice to get a good testing kit (TF-100) and test yourself. Even if you use a service, it will let you know if they are doing a good job or not.

 

[gwegan]

Your pool guy should do what your agreement with him provides. Is there a written agreement? Does he specify the included services on a flyer or website?

Generally a pool service should be testing for chlorine and ph at least every trip. TA, CYA and salt every month. CH every few months. He should be turning on the equipment to make sure it works every week. He should be recording these tests. You should be getting a copy of the tests and a note on what was added to the pool.

Many pool services don't do the above. But that is the bare minimum. I also don't like pool services because they tend to rush the tests. They put the drops in too fast and are not precise. I don't trust their results. They are also concerned with doing it fast and making sure the pool looks ok -- not solving problems or anticipating what is happening. For example right now the weather is changing and the days are getting longer. You pool guy should be extending out the SWG run time to take into account the increased daylight and direct sun on the pool. He should also be checking to make sure you have sufficient CYA to protect the chlorine in the pool and make up from any rain dilution. Those both require testing.

With a SWG the above is only about 20 minutes of work every week. I do it early Saturday morning.

 

[emil]

Thanks guys,

Kim, he doesn't add pucks. Vacuums, sweeps, brushes, once in a while I've seen him dump some chemicals from a bottle.

 

[clambert1273]

How much should the pool man do? Nothing... lol

I even requested my landlord fire hers and let me take care of the pool... takes me about 10 min per day and maybe 30 min on a weekend to do a good brushing etc... Since I have taken it over, there have been no issues with the water and the only issues we discovered were his lack of maintenance on the equipment which is very old and going to fail at some point. Right now, lucky enough, we take care of it and have equipment serviced as needed.

 

[Pooldoctor]

Looking after a pool by yourself is so easy and I find it therapeutic. There are pool owners who are lucky to know that it has water in it, let alone want to learn to test or do anything other then wet their butts in it. I gather it's no different than lawn care, landscaping or general housework. Last check, there are over 9 million pool in the US, yet about 40,000 users here? Do the math, most prefer to feel special and have someone else take care of all their stuff.

 

[NeedMoreSun]

LOL, we bought a house that came with a pool. With everything going on getting moved we continued the pool service the previous owner used. The equipment was well aged, and also not what I wanted so an entirely new pad with 100% new equipment was in the works. I wanted to keep the pool service at least for the physical items, like vac and empty strainers until the final cutover of all the equipment. However, I also already had my test kit and was starting to get things where I wanted them. I requested the pool service ONLY record their test results but to make no changes or additions. Soooo, it started with a PH of around 8 and TA about 150. I worked on the TA and got it down to about 80. One day I was on the phone outside while pool guy was here and I heard "splash". I thought he fell in and yelled. Turned out it was a bucket of sodium bicarbonate and my TA was back to 150 and PH spiked again He got fired the following morning.

His tests were also not even close once I started testing and comparing. ALL were off, but CYA WAY off. Pool had used only pucks for years and he kept insisting CYA was "about" 90. Using dilution method it was actually over 200 and I didn't bother trying to find out how much over. So, if you use them, I'd also now want it in writing what they will do and what they CAN'T do.

 

[Pooldoctor]

Good for you