PoolTalk

Put a sock in it -- or on it

Do pool filters need socks? They don't cost very much. A pack of five filter socks is under $10. As we continue to expand our knowledge of pool maintenance, we learn about the many products intended to help us do the job. Now there is a sock on our filter and it is trapping some of the debris that would have gone directly to the big DE filter at the pump.

Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean is filling our pool.

But do you want an iPod underwater?

For $40, this company is selling a waterproof holder for the iPod Shuffle II. Earbuds and iPod not included. What's the best music for lap swimming?

Pools of Las Vegas

The downtown pool that makes the list of the top five pools in Vegas is at the Golden Nugget. Watch out for sharks:

Golden Nugget: The only downtown spot to make our list, this gem’s latest attraction is the Tank, a $30 million pool that contains a 200,000-gallon shark tank. Adventure-seekers can plunge through the tank on a three-story waterslide, with sharks swimming inches away. Guests can catch their breath and wet their whistles at the pool’s new Dive Bar, which stays open into the wee hours.

The robot that climbs walls

Rick came over with a helper to power wash the deck and tackle some other odd jobs. He has a Maytronics Dolphin Deluxe that he kept running in our pool the entire day, so that debris from the power-wash project did not accumulate in the pool. Watching the Dolphin chug along leisurely throughout the day, making the water cleaner and taking some of the workload from the filter, made us think that this might be a good summer present for our pool -- and for the normal maintenance crew.

The gentle rhythms of the breath

Found on the net, from Roxie's World, a few poetic lines about the lure of swimming:

Swimming is such a primal activity, and it’s one that’s always had powerful emotional resonances for me, because I grew up with a backyard pool and spent the summers of childhood on swim teams. I love the clarity and simplicity of the body slicing quietly through water, the balanced movements of pulling and kicking, the gentle rhythms of the breath, in and out, in and out. I stepped out of the pool and felt completely myself again for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Getting the chemistry right

For about two weeks, the water has been less clear, more cloudy. Today was the day to finally take a water sample to the pool supply store. Let's just say we'll never get into a graduate program in chemistry with these results. Water pH. ideal range 7.4 - 7.5. Our pool: 6.8. Total alkalinity. Ideal range: 80 - 100 ppm. Our pool: 20 ppm. Right to the register to purchase a big tub of AlkalinityUp. Now we're pouring in 14 cups of the white powder every four hours. After the first two applications, the numbers look slightly better. Without the right alkalinity, the chlorine won't do its job. You guessed it. Our water tests results for free available chlorine: 0. (Ideal range 2.0 - 4.0 ppm.)