Customer Resources
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. ?
Salt water pools are wonderful in my opinion. However, like everything else that is wonderful, there is also a down side. When people ask me about salt water filters for pools, first I have to clarify. There is no such thing as a salt water filter, they are chlorine generators. Generators produce chlorine, filters do as their name states, they filter the water. I just looked and there are NO chlorine generators on the market that also filter the water. The reason I’m telling you this is because I just had a customer in my store asking about a salt filter that her sister had. The person her sister bought her pool from told her she had a salt filter and didn’t need to backwash or do anything else. Unfortunately, she will probably damage her pump or something else before she finds out she was misinformed. Sorry, but I just hate it when people lie about a product in order to sell it. Moving on, for a salt generator to work, you have to add swimming pool salt to the pool. I am stressing swimming pool salt because there are differences in the different grades of salt, which is a whole other debate too. Through the process of electrolysis, the salt molecule in the water is split apart making gas chlorine. So instead of having to add sticks or tablets to a chlorinator or skimmer, you are making the chlorine. Less maintenance, less product to buy. It’s wonderful. However, what does salt water do to anything metal? It corrodes it. I have seen in the last 2 years above ground pools that used to last 15 – 20 years only lasting 8 – 10 because of the corrosion. That is not a manufacturer’s defect. That means it is not covered under any type of warranty. I just wish I had been told this Read More