Pool Party Rules: Safety First, Fun Next

Usually no one says no to a party, especially one that involves a swimming pool. A swimming pool is a  great luxury that not only adds more class to your residence but also ensures a great deal of enjoyment. While swimming in your pool for an hour or two, you can not only burn excess calories but also you can get rid of the physical and mental stress arising due to your tedious work schedules. Furthermore, no other activity cools your body better than swimming does during summers.

A swimming pool also serves as a great spot for a party. You just need to make a few changes around it, such as the following:

• Set up tables and chairs.
• Place a music system and bring in  DJ if necessary.
• If alcoholic drinks are to be served at your party, have a separate table for those and see if you need a bartender.

While all of the above-mentioned tasks are pretty tedious, none of these involve modifications in any part of your swimming pool such as filter accessories and equipment. These parts, however, should be ready to serve their purpose that is to keep the pool water clean and clear.

During a pool party, you are going to have a big crowd of swimmers, which means that the level of pool water contamination is going to be higher than usual. It is thus necessary to make sure that your pool filter equipment can handle a bigger load of impurities. Have your filter serviced at least two days before the party and replace filter cartridges if necessary. You also need to implement some safety measures such as the following:

• Before you  start inviting people, consider your pool capacity. If the number of swimmers is too much for your pool to handle, the party will become a pain. 
• If a lot of children are coming to the party, ask the parents to bring life vests.
• Prepare a list of pool rules and display them for everyone to see. These rules may include instructions related to swimming after drinking, contaminating pool water or keeping children away from crucial equipment such as filter accessories. 
• Appoint a monitor or lifeguard to keep an eye on swimmers. This way you can avoid accidents during the party. 
• First aid kits and any equipment needed for emergencies should be kept handy. 

With the above-mentioned steps implemented, your pool party will be safe, enjoyable as well as memorable for your guests. 

How Exactly is a Swimming Pool Built?

Looking at the way people enjoy their swimming pools, one can definitely get tempted to have one of his/her own. The right season for building a swimming pool depends on the region. In areas where the weather is warm most of the time, people start building their pools right from the beginning of the year. In colder climates, on the other hand, the winter frost can stall the plumbing lines of a pool. People thus have to wait until spring before starting the process. Besides being aware of the climate concerns, a potential swimming pool owner should also know the basic process of building a pool.

                       

Usually, a pool owner cannot be expected to know anything apart from terms like pool filter, pleated filter cartridge, water circulation, pool pumps, vacuum and sanitizers. The pool-building process, however, has a way more elaborate explanation than any of these. Some of the major steps in the same, followed by deciding the design and hiring the contractor, have been explained below:

• In areas where the water tables are high, some pool experts conduct a test to estimate the ideal water level for the pool. The results of this test are sent over to a local authority for approval.
• An outline for the pool is drawn on the ground with paint.
• For accommodating the pool, excavation and digging are carried out on the ground within the outline. 
• A grade inspection of the project is conducted.
• Electricians, steel sub-contractors and plumbers are contacted and brought in for the job. 
• Ground bonding and steel are thoroughly inspected. This is followed by the first electrical inspection and a test for static pressure in plumbing.
• The swimming pool's steel cage is sprayed all over with gunite. It takes almost 12 days for gunite to set.
• A second test of plumbing, electrical connections and bonding is conducted.
• Equipment such as pool filter, pleated pool filter cartridge, pool pump and vacuum are assembled properly to create a complete equipment pad. Following that, a connection between the pool and the pad is made, which can take almost two to six weeks.
• Workers install the coping and pour concrete decks. Final inspection of concrete is conducted. This is followed by application of a thin layer of plaster on the gunite which should have set by now.
• The pool is then filled with water and the plaster is allowed to cure under the water for at least three days. After the plaster cures, a final inspection is conducted.

Once the above-mentioned steps are completed, the pool owner needs to buy maintenance products such as  pleated replacement filter cartridge, sanitizers, filter-cleaning solutions and brush. 

A Peek into the Chemistry of Salt Water Pools

When it comes to a swimming pool, clean and clear water is all that most of us worry about. All that matters is uninterrupted swimming fun in dirt-free water. However, some water-soluble chemicals can cause more trouble than that caused by dust particles and leaves. A simple example is the deposition of calcium scales that ruin the appearance of a pool. These scales are usually formed when the pool water is too hard. “Hard” is a term for water containing a large amount of chemical impurities that are difficult to remove.

Pool water hardness, as a matter of fact, is not the only problem faced by swimming pool owners. Intending to avoid the usual means of adding chlorine to pool water, some people take unusual steps that help generate chlorine in the pool water. For instance, electrolysis of saline water can help synthesis of chlorine. Many people choose saltwater pools so that they can use this reaction to make their own chlorine – in the long run, they are left with a saline water in their pools, that comes with its own bunch of chemical troubles. High-quality products such as those from Rec Warehouse alone unfortunately are not enough for one to deal with these troubles.

The following section explains some of the common problems in saltwater pools and solutions for the same:

Increase in pH

Electrolysis in a saltwater pool yields two products, namely hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. While the former is too acidic, the latter is too alkaline – the two products normally neutralize each other causing minimal or no change in pH. Sometimes, however, agitation of water in the salt cell can result in the release of carbon dioxide which in turn increases the pH of water. While a pool filter cartridge can be highly effective in trapping impurities in pool water, it certainly can't deal with pH problems. This issue can be taken care of by using chlorine tablets which lower the pH of pool water thus bringing it back to normal.

Corrosion of Pool Equipment

While salts have a lot of significance in chemistry, they also happen to be corrosive. Materials like steel and concrete are known to suffer dire consequences because of salt. A saltwater pool normally contains low quantities of salt, mostly below 3500 ppm. However, equipment can get affected by galvanic corrosion even when the salt levels are this low. Furthermore, concrete and porous stones surrounding the pool will eventually become a victim of passive corrosion. Installing pool equipment made from bronze or thermoplastics will eliminate the possibility of corrosion. Otherwise, you can use sacrificial anode to slow down the process. 

With saltwater pools, you will have many other tasks other than pool filter cartridge replacement, such as taking care of above-mentioned problems. Make sure you are prepared for the same if you own one.

Some Wrong Myths Surrounding Swimming Pools

The exciting world of swimming pools involves certain myths that often influence the decision of those who wish to own one. While some of these myths have turned out to be true, some others are far from reality. Here we will be focusing on the wrong myths that cause pool-lovers to change their mind about buying a swimming pool. Some of those myths have been explained below:

Myth #1- Swimming Right After Eating can Prove To Be Fatal:

One of the outdated manuals from early 2000s states that swimming immediately after having a meal can result in a serious cramp that can sometimes be fatal. This myth is not completely true. Author of the manual says that bathing within one and a half hour from the time of the meal can cause a cramp which will cause extreme pain your limbs and restrict you from swimming properly, thus increasing the chances of drowning.

While the scare tactics excellently play their role here, the science does not support this myth. Among the several drowning cases in the past, none has been caused because of a post-meal cramp. This is just another trick based on an exaggerated scientific fact, similar to that used by certain companies in order to stop them from buying particular items such as Jandy Zodiac filter cartridges.

While swimming right after eating can make digestion difficult, it certainly can't be fatal.

Myth #2- Urine in Pool Water Can Be Revealed by Certain Chemicals:

A lot of pool owners are under the assumption that some chemicals can help them    find out if there is urine content in their pool water. Unfortunately, there are no such chemicals – no supplier of pool chemicals has yet been able to come up with additives that can prove the guilt of those who purposely contaminate swimming pools in such a disgusting manner. Such chemicals, as a matter of fact, are just fictional.

You can definitely take care of dust particles and other debris in your pool with high-quality equipment such as Jandy pool products, but finding evidence of urine in the pool is a different process. Some traditional ways of deducing the same include checking for a sudden rise in water temperature and thoroughly observing any color changes. The contamination caused by urine can be prevented by adding 1 to 3 ppm of chlorine. In extreme cases of contamination, however, you need to go for shock treatments.

Wrong myths such as those mentioned above will only brainwash you into believing the wrong facts. Make sure you clear things up before jumping to a conclusion, and always go for first-grade pool filter suppliers.