Pool Tips
SAFETY TIPS FOR CHILDREN:
A swimming pool can be an exciting place but very dangerous for children. It is recommended that you do not put a swimming pool in your yard until your children are older than 5 years. Here some tips on how you can protect your children from drowning:
- Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, not even for a second
- Touch supervision is best with children younger than 5 years. Keep the child within an arm's length of you at all times.
- Put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children's reach.
- Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd's hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.
- Air-filled "swimming aids" are NOT intended as approved life vests.
- Children are curious and easily tempted. Remove all toys from the pool after use so there will be no reason for a child to attempt to retrieve anything.
All of these tips seem like common sense, but they are sometimes taken for granted. Remember, even though your child knows how to swim, It DOES NOT mean your young child is safe in water.
ABC POOL SAFETY SITE
ENERGY CONSERVATION
- Run your pool’s filtrations system only during off-peak hours.
- When leaving on vacation for more than a week, turn off the pool heater, including the pilot light.
- If you use your pool only on weekends, reduce your heater thermostats settings eight to ten degrees during the week.
- Use fencing, hedges, landscaping or cabanas to shelter your pool from wind.
- When reopening your pool for a new season, make sure your pump and filter are in proper working order before adding chemicals to the water.
- If your pool heater is more than five years old, a new high efficiency gas heater such as a Heat Pump could quickly pay for itself in utility bill savings.
SKIMMERS
- To prevent your skimmer basket from tipping over when the pump switches on or off, place a small weight or rock in the bottom (the weight must be larger than the suction pipe below the basket)
- Check to make sure the skimmer weir is in place and moving freely.
- Make a habit of checking and emptying skimmer and pump baskets regularly
WATER LEVELS
- Maintain your pool water level halfway up the skimmer box opening
- Normally, a pool should lose no more than ¼ in of water each day. If you notice a greater loss, suspect a leak
POOL LEAK SIGNS
- Algae or other persistent water quality problems exists
- Loose tiles or cracks in the pool deck
- Cracks and gaps in the bond beam
- Water-saturated soils in the area around the pool, pool pumps and plumbing
- If you see bubbles in the return water when the pool’s pump is running, it’s likely there’s a leak in the suction side of the filtration system.