Author: Sara May

Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Protect Your Pool Skimmer from Freeze Damage This Winter

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 Pool Skimmer Guard

When water freezes, it expands by approximately 9%.  When this water is in your pool skimmer, that expansion is just enough to cause damage.  Instead of repairing or replacing your pool skimmer each spring, protect it with a Skimmer Guard when you winterize your in ground or above ground pool in the fall.  This handy (and affordable) little gadget is made to absorb the expansion that occurs during a freeze, so it protects your skimmer all winter from damage caused by expanding water.  Instead of expanding outward and cracking the skimmer, freezing water will actually compress the Skimmer Guard.

Skimmer Guard proves to be an easy and inexpensive way of saving yourself the hassle and expense of dealing with a damaged skimmer each spring.

Pool and Spa Safety

Anti-Entrapment Drain Covers Make For a Safe Vacation

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Safety Drain Covers

I’m vacationing this week with my family at a hotel with an indoor water park.  Fun?  Yes.  Safe?  Yes!  In addition to having several lifeguards on duty throughout the water park — at the top and bottom of each curvy slide, along the lazy river, near the kiddie spray area — they can also boast a safe hot tub.  Safe because the drains at the bottom of the spa are equipped with Anti-Entrapment Drain Covers, also known as Anti-Vortex Drain Covers.

Anti-Entrapment Drain Covers are domed, or in some way raised from the flat surface at the bottom of the pool or spa so that no body parts, clothing, or objects can ever completely cover the drain and create a deadly suction from which escape is extremely difficult.  Thanks to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007, all drains at public pools and spas must be fitted with Anti-Entrapment Drain Covers.  Most public pools and spas have complied, but it’s worth it to double-check the drains for yourself the next time you visit a public pool or spa.

Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Can a Winter Cover Siphon Drain Replace a Cover Pump?

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Pool Cover Siphon Drain

You’ve covered your above ground swimming pool with a winter cover and secured it in place, but what do you do about the water that inevitably accumulates on top of the cover over the fall and winter months?  Many people use Automatic Cover Pumps or Manual Cover Pumps to remove that water when it reaches a certain level.  These cover pumps are fast, powerful, and often expensive to purchase.  There is an alternative, though, that uses absolutely no electricity and costs a fraction of what standard cover pumps cost.

The Winter Cover Siphon Drain is a simple device that costs very little and uses human power to pump the water off of your pool cover. Squeeze the device to create a siphoning action; this pulls the excess water away from the pool cover, and the pump stops automatically when the cover is drained.  The Siphon Drain saves money and electricity, but it also requires more monitoring of the water levels on your pool cover and more time to drain that excess water.  If you, as the pool owner, feel that the extra time spent is worth the money saved, then the Winter Cover Siphon Drain is an excellent choice.  But, if monitoring the pool cover regularly is not desirable or possible, a standard Automatic or Manual Cover Pump would be most suitable.

Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Closing and Winterizing, Pool Opening

Think Ahead to Spring: Now Is the Time for Leaf Nets

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Leaf Nets

Now that it’s time to close the backyard swimming pool for the season, it’s also time to think ahead to next season.  Doing a quick job of winterizing and cutting corners will save you time now, but when spring rolls around and you see the damp and decaying layer of dead leaves that has accumulated on your winter pool cover for months, you’ll wish you had spent a little more time preparing the pool for an easy spring clean up.

One fast and simple way to prevent that disgusting layer of slimy, decomposing leaves and debris from building up on your winter cover is to use a leaf net.  A leaf net is a mesh cover that goes over your winter cover or safety cover.  Set it up before the leaves begin to fall this autumn, and remove it before your first snow.  The time and effort saved by collecting autumn leaves in a leaf net will go a long way in the spring when you are ready to prepare the pool for a new season of swimming.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Hot Tubs and Saunas, Pool and Spa Maintenance

A Spa Vacuum That Sucks Debris, Not Energy

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Miracle Spa Vaccum

Maintaining a hot tub in an environmentally friendly way hasn’t always been easy.  Spa vacuums, for example, are most often powered by electricity or by a handful of batteries — either way, they suck up just as much energy as they do debris.  If you want to keep spa maintenance as green as possible, you may want to try the Miracle Spa Vac, which uses a unique siphoning action to clean dirt and debris from hot tubs and spas, rather than relying on batteries, electricity, pumping, or water hook ups to do the work.

The Miracle Spa Vac is a self-contained unit that can lift grit, dirt, beach sand, and even marbles, or pennies into its filter. It has a rugged aluminum pole that can extend up to 7 feet, and the Spa Vac’s clear capture chamber lets you see the debris as it enters the vacuum.  The Miracle Spa Vac can also be used for spot cleaning in swimming pools, which can save you the time and trouble of hauling out the full-sized pool vacuum if all that’s needed is a quick clean up.

Many people believe that any small steps we can take to be more environmentally friendly do, indeed, make a difference.  The Miracle Spa Vac may prove to be one of those small ways that we can do our part, and luckily, it doesn’t require that we give up our beloved hot tubs.