Metals in the pool water can cause staining and discoloration of hair and nails. A brown or orange stain on the surface of the pool or steps is usually an iron stain. If your blonde hair is turning green, that is an indication of copper. Treating metals is a process. First please take a water sample to one of the three Pisces Pools and Spas locations. We can test for metals in the pool water. Sometimes, if the metals have fallen out of solution and stained the pool, they won’t show up in the water sample….this is where pictures really help out. If you think you have a metal stain, please take pictures on your phone and bring them in. The next step is to identify whether it is copper or iron, we have a metal identification kit that will tell us that. The next step is to remove the stain with a granular product, then we coat the metals that have been put back into solution with a product called Pool Magnet, after the metals are lifted and coated, they need to be removed through the filter with a product called Sparkle Up. The final step is to remove the metals and the Sparkle Up from the filter with a product called Kleen It. All of this can sound pretty confusing….just visit one of our three locations and we can walk you step by step through the process. As always, if you have any questions, please give us a call @ 618-775-6543.

Out in the field, we come across a lot of solar blankets. Some are nestled snuggly in the pool, bubble side down, doing the job that they were meant to do which is conserving pool heat….others are wadded up on the deck, laying out in the yard, or just shoved in a corner of the garage being abandoned and unused. ? Just teasing! We know that solar blankets can be a pain to take off of the pool and store properly, however, just in case you would like to know the proper way, we will tell you. Solar blankets that are not on the pool should be folded up and stored in a cool dry place, out of direct sunlight. The sunlight will break the cover down when it is not on the water. During the winter months, we recommend using Stow Away to chemically clean your cover and store your cover. You can saturate your cover with Stow Away, fold it up, and store it in a large trashcan with a lid. This keeps mice and other critters out of your cover. The Stow Away will protect the cover from dry rot and water mold. If you prefer not to mess with a solar blanket at all, we do have a liquid product called Smart Shield that creates a thin coating over the water and acts as a solar blanket. It will hold in heat when the pool is not being used. As always, if you have any questions, please give us a call! 618-775-6543. Until then, happy swimming!

Have you ever been told that your chlorine is “tied up”? Well, let me explain to you what that means. Tied up chlorine refers to chlorine that is locked up by nitrogen in the water. Nitrogen comes from natural oils, sweat, makeup, urine, and fecal matter (yuck). So basically everything that we carry on our bodies into the water is binding up our chlorine. The rainwater also contains nitrogen and can worsen the tie. The only way to get rid of the tie is to add the recommended amount of shock to oxidize or break away the nitrogen from the free chlorine. A way to prevent chlorine tie is to shower before you get in the water. Generally, pools with a tied up chlorine will be clear but just look dull, not sparkling and shiny, You will also have a total chlorine reading on your test strips but no free chlorine. If you suspect you might have tied up chlorine, please bring a water sample into Pisces Pools and Spas and we will fix you up!

We will be having another free pool school on Saturday, May 14th at 10 AM at the Pisces location in Odin. Pool school is for anyone and everyone that owns a pool or just wants to learn more about how to open and take care of a pool. If you would like to RSVP, please give us a call @ 618-775-6543. If you can’t make it to the school, check out our Facebook page, Pisces Pools & Spas, Inc., we have videos and tips on there that will help you out!

1. Hook up the pump and filter. Plugin the pump to make sure it works. Check O-rings, lubricate if needed, and make sure unions and ball valve connections are tight. Re-thread drain plugs and pressure gauge if needed. 2. Fill the Pool. 3. Clean cover and remove. First, remove water and leaves. Clean cover with Stow-Away while it’s still on the pool if possible. Clean water tubes with Stow-Away. Store cover in a big trashcan, wet, with stow-away to prevent mildew and dry rot. 4. Remove return plugs, skimmer covers, and all other plugs. 5. Vacuum debris. If there are too many leaves dip them out with a leaf rake first. Sand filter: Start pump up with valve in “waste” position and run for 30 seconds to 1 minute to remove any anti-freeze from lines. If there is a lot of debris and you have a sand filter, vacuum on WASTE. Hook up manual vacuum and vacuum to Waste. When finished, backwash filter, rinse filter and then turn the valve to filter for normal operation. D.E. Filter: Hook up manual vacuum, turn on the pump with drain valve open and return valve closed, vacuum to waste any debris. If you have the main drain with antifreeze in it and you do not need to vacuum, run the pump as above for at least 30 seconds. Next clean the filter thoroughly, close the drain valve and open the return valve, and turn on the pump. When all air is out of the system, add your required amount of D.E. 6. Brush down walls. If there is a black ring around the pool, clean it with OFF THE WALL. 7. Add start-up chemicals. Add chemicals as we have directed you. AFTER the pool has run for 24-48 hours please bring in a  Read More

After you have filled the pool and taken the cover off, before you do anything else, please vacuum your pool to waste. This will remove all of the dirt and algae that have settled out over the winter before your pump and filter get a chance to stir it up. We recommend you vacuum your pool to waste, fill the pool back up, turn to filter, and run the pool for 24hrs. After all of that is completed, please bring in a water sample so that we can get you going on your chemicals! As always, if you have any questions, please call, 618-775-6543. ?

Believe it or not, how you collect your water sample can impact the results. The proper way to collect a water sample is as follows: 1. Make sure that you have a good, clean container. Use your water sample bottle from Pisces Pool and Spas or an emptied bottle of drinking water. Really, any clean, plastic container will work. Please no pickle or salsa jars as the acid in the lid can ruin the sample. 2. Collect a small amount of water to rinse your bottle, dump this water back into the pool. 3. Take the sample bottle down elbow deep and let the bottle fill completely; if there is air in the bottle it can give us an inaccurate reading on pH. 4. Cap the bottle tightly and bring it in! It is recommended that you not leave the bottle in a hot car but if you have to, hey, we understand and it can still be tested. We recommend bringing in a sample at startup, once a month during the season, and before closing so that we can adjust balancing chemicals accordingly. You can also bring a sample in when you are unsure or have a problem such as green or cloudy water. We hope this helps! Any questions give us a call! 618-775-6543

Hello! Please make sure that you remove all water and debris off of your winter cover before you try to take it off of the pool. Every year we hear of people who thought they could lift that green, yucky water off of the pool but it always ends up dumping into the pool. This makes for a rough and expensive opening. So, remove that water, you’ll be glad you did. ?

Don’t forget about your winter covers with all of this rain we are getting. Extra water on top of the cover can displace water in your pool and add unwanted stress to your cover. We recommend no more than six inches at any time. Have a great day!