HOA pool...is our pool guy doing the right things?

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H

Harbortown

Member
Jun 23, 2020
7
Fort Myers
Hi, I'm new to an HOA board and our pool guy is charging over $2000/month for a relatively small pool. He claims that the insects and leaves cause the DE filters to be clogged, requiring them to be flushed weekly. Plus, he charges for coming over 5x/week to skim the water and vacuum/clean, etc. Is there such a thing as a prefilter that can trap the insects, etc. to reduce the clogging? It seems like everything I've read indicate that the DE filters should only need to be flushed a few times a year. Any tips, suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
 
There should be at least one skimmer, each of which has a basket that catches larger debris before it gets to the DE filter. You can also put a sock in the skimmer basket, which helps catch finer debris.

Assuming this guy isn't lying, it's possible the skimmers don't have baskets in them. But any decent pool guy should know that.

I think he's pulling a fast one and would explore other options.
 
The maintenance requirements of your pool depend on the way it was constructed, the equipment it has, its environment, and the bather load. If your pool users expect a perfectly clean pool every morning then it may require the pool guy to swing by and clean anything that blew into the pool overnight.

Have you gone out in the morning before the pool guy comes and see the condition of the pool? Have you shadowed him a few times to see things through his eyes?

We recommend a DE filter be backwashed when filter pressure rises by 25% over clean filter pressure and not by a schedule. The filter can get loaded up and need a backwash in a few days if have a storm blow debris into the pool or if your landscapers blow stuff into the pool. There is a constant battle between landscapers and pool guys.

Show us some pics of your pool and equipment and we can help you understand it. Whether your pool guys time and cost is reasonable depends on what your homeowners expect to find with their pool.
 
As a first step, You need to determine how many hours he’s onsite and actually working Before you can determine iF he is overcharging you. 20 each 1 hr visits x $40/hr= $800 so $2000 is crazy. If he’s there 2 or more hours each time, it’s a whole different story. That being said. In my gut it smells a little fishy to me.
 
Ok. Thanks for all of your input. We're investigating some of the areas of concern that you've all been kind of enough to mention. The pool is 30 x 50. The price doesn't include chemicals. Less than 10 adults/day use the pool for a few hours at most. He comes for about an hour/day/5x/week. Then, he charges 2 hours per DE flush twice/week. In his defense, there are a lot of insects here. Maybe a digital flow meter would help confirm the necessity of the flush? Is there such a thing a pre-filter for the larger insects?
 

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Dtkokay said:
There should be at least one skimmer, each of which has a basket that catches larger debris before it gets to the DE filter. You can also put a sock in the skimmer basket, which helps catch finer debris.

Assuming this guy isn't lying, it's possible the skimmers don't have baskets in them. But any decent pool guy should know that.

I think he's pulling a fast one and would explore other options.
Click to expand...
I know what a skimmer basket is, since I used to work at a pool...but this pool doesn't have anything that looks obvious to me. The pool was built in the early 80s. There are multiple little vent-like plastic parts with pipes under them (3 x 5") around the edge. Then there's a large floor filter. All the water from the inground pool goes to a room where it comes out of large pipe. The water flows through a dozen or so DE filters.
 
Any chance you could post pictures of the pool and equipment?

For the pool, post pics of any inlets at/near the surface and also any covers in the deck near the pool. For equipment, post pics including an overall view of the equipment and also close up pics of eachpiece of equipment.

That being said, your HOA pool may need to be maintained to commercial pool standards based on state, county and/or city mandates. You may wish to investigate what those standards are and if they apply to the HOA pool.
 
Some pictures of the pool and equipment would help us figure out if what the pool guy is doing is excessive or not. It doesn't sound like a standard pool build from what you describe.
 
ajw22 said:
The maintenance requirements of your pool depend on the way it was constructed, the equipment it has, its environment, and the bather load. If your pool users expect a perfectly clean pool every morning then it may require the pool guy to swing by and clean anything that blew into the pool overnight.

Have you gone out in the morning before the pool guy comes and see the condition of the pool? Have you shadowed him a few times to see things through his eyes?

We recommend a DE filter be backwashed when filter pressure rises by 25% over clean filter pressure and not by a schedule. The filter can get loaded up and need a backwash in a few days if have a storm blow debris into the pool or if your landscapers blow stuff into the pool. There is a constant battle between landscapers and pool guys.

Show us some pics of your pool and equipment and we can help you understand it. Whether your pool guys time and cost is reasonable depends on what your homeowners expect to find with their pool.
Click to expand...
 
Harbortown said:
I know what a skimmer basket is, since I used to work at a pool...but this pool doesn't have anything that looks obvious to me. The pool was built in the early 80s. There are multiple little vent-like plastic parts with pipes under them (3 x 5") around the edge. Then there's a large floor filter. All the water from the inground pool goes to a room where it comes out of large pipe. The water flows through a dozen or so DE filters.
Click to expand...
All of that sounds odd and unusual.

Pictures would be helpful.

How is the water quality?

For the price, you should expect really good water quality.
 
Harbortown said:
View attachment 148981If I had to guess, these "skimmers" are probably the biggest issue. Does anyone know whether it's acceptable to modify these to put something like screen under them to prevent the debris from getting in?
Click to expand...
How many of these things are there?

Can you show pictures of everything?

When was the pool built?

Do you have a permit to operate from the health department?

Are the chemistry records available for inspection?
 
Those are not acceptable submerged suction outlets.

If those things have any suction on them at all, it's dangerous.

You need to have the entire operation reviewed by a qualified local professional expert.
 

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