Rainwater harvesting. How to make hosepipe bans a thing of the past

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Cox

Rainwater harvesting. Your very own water supply

Drought and hosepipe bans could be a thing of the past for you if you install a rainwater harvesting system
 The dry weather that was here and making big news is becoming less and less each day as the rain belts and low pressure systems flow over the UK from the Atlantic and no sign of any dry weather for the following weeks

But should the dry weather return, will we be back to the same pattern with the threat of droughts, hosepipe bans and problems with water shortages again?
Now that it has started to rain again, why not use the rainwater from your roof instead of letting it pour away down the drains (most of which ends up back into the sea)

Saving the free rainwater for yourself will help you do 4 things
A.    Conserve your use of mains water, thereby saving you money on your water bills
B.    Help the environment in the long run. So more water for Rivers streams and aquifer and…
C.    Best of all, (for you), no hosepipe bans will affect you…Why?
D.    Because this is “your water” that you saved for a “Rainy Day” (Or should be “ your Dry days”)

Use the stored rainwater for home and garden use:

●    Swimming pool, spas, and hot tub owners
●    Watering gardens, dry lawns and greenhouses, washing cars, watering plants and vegetables

No more hosepipe bans 4u no more concerns of how you will top up your swimming pool or water your garden
Don’t wait and relying on government and the water companies to sort the water shortage problems out
That old saying comes to mind “If you want something done correctly
Do it yourself”

So why not have a the next time it pours down with rain, think about installing a rainwater harvesting system. You could save yourself a lot of hassle every time there the threat of water shortages and save money on your water bills

John Cox Osprey Pools

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What is on-site pool lining?

Posted on April 20, 2012 by John Cox

On-site pool lining is an alternative to the “standard made to measure pool liner”.

What happens when you require new pool liner is this. A pool engineer arrives on site and takes measurements of your swimming pool for the replacement pool liner. The engineer then passes the measurements on to the maufacturers where the pool liner is assembled from different size vinyl sheets that are exactly cut and welded together to the shape of your custom built swimming pool. Once the pool liner is made It is then packed and shipped to be installed into your pool

Now the opposite happens with on-site pool lining where the pool liner is assmbled on site i.e. The vinyl material arrives and the engineers expertly welds the pool liner into the shape, position and contours of your pool. The on-site liner material is 1.5mm thick, re-inforced vinyl with an internal webbing that gives it strength and durability so it’s much more thicker and stronger than the standard pool liner material.

On-site pool lining is ideal for concrete pools that won’t stop leaking or for awkward shaped swimming pools where tiling or a standard made pool liner is difficult to do

For more information go to Osprey Pools website

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A new pool liner… What are your options?

Posted on April 19, 2012 by John Cox

With liner pools as with most things over a period time the vinyl pool liner wears, eventually the liner has to be changed for a new.

This is not entirely a bad thing even though it’s going to cost money to replace your liner. Your swimming will pool get a new lease of life, a change of pattern perhaps, new pool felt underlay and the stone coping and pool decking can repaired and/or pressure cleaned to look like brand new again.

Swimming pool felt underlay

Laying pool felt underlay

Replacing a pool liner is akin to changing your old worn out carpets or having new curtains or even buying a new cooker range for your home

A swimming pool should be viewed as part of the house and not something out there in the garden to be used for only 7 or 8 months of the year then closed and forgotten about till spring returns. thats where a pool enclosure comes in and you can comfortably use your pool for 12 months of the year. (More on pool buildings and enclosures in another article)

So back on track. What are your options regarding changing a pool liner? Well there are many more colours and patterns available, with  2 standard thicknesses 20thou and 30thou but the options I’m writing about is the removal and installation of the new pool liner

There are four options for you

Option 1.

  • A pool company comes out to you, empties your pool and removes the old liner
  • They survey and measure your pool for a replacement liner and when the liner arrives, they fit felt underlay and liner for you

Option 2.

  • You measure for a new liner
  • The pool company places the order
  • When the liner is ready They come back to fit the liner for you

Option 3. This option is if you feel capable of changing the pool liner yourself?

  • The pool company surveys and measures your pool after you have emptied it
  • They supply you with liner
  • You or someone of your choice fits the pool liner for you

Option 4. This option is similar to option 3, if you only want the pool liner and your competent enough to fit the liner yourself

  • You measure the pools dimensions
  • The pool company supplies you the pool liner only
  • You fit the pool liner

There are more options available and for more information on pool liners and even converting a leaking tiled pool to a liner pool contact John at Osprey Pools

 

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My liner swimming pool is leaking…Help!

Posted on April 8, 2012 by John Cox

My liner pool is leaking. How do I find where it’s losing water from?

The saying “Could be a hundred and one places” comes to mind when trying to find a leak (or leaks) in a swimming pool.

If your pool is losing water, the “leaks” could be anywhere.

I say “leaks” and not the soingle leak because more often than not when a pool begins to lose water the experience is it losing water from more than one place

A simple example is a pool owner says their pool is leaking and needs repair. The investigation reveals an obvious place, the pump is leaking. The pump is repairs or replaced and the pool is restarted.

The liner pool is left for a number of days to see if the water level drops. The client calls in. “The pool is still losing water, although not as much as before”. The investigation begins a second time, and this time the leak appears to be in the pipework.

The example reveals the fact no one can assume there will be a single leak in a swimming pool. There could potentially be many other place a pool could be losing from.

Why several leaks sometimes appear at the same time can be down to any cause. Frost is a good one, especially if it’s severe, over a number of days and the pool have been winterised owner has not taken extra precautions like making sure the pump has been drained or if you cannot drain the pump then cover and insulate it. That’s the problem with pools left and not cared for over the winter “Out of sight out of mind”

Anyway back on topic

Sometimes if you are able to get the services of a good swimming pool installer, they “may” be able to tell if the pool is leaking from more than one place in the system (but not “where” the leak is) by the amount of water lost over a measured period of time, but not always as this is just guesswork and still requires the use of a “process of elimination” meaning the pipes may be tested first or a visual inspection may reveal the problem and the process moves on from there eliminating sections of the pool and pool system.

Sometimes it’s nigh on impossible to find a pool leak. Another example can be where the ventilation systems are designed in such a way that the incoming air skims the water off basically the water is evaporating a t a faster than normal rate and makes it appear as though the pool is leaking when in actual fact it is not.

Finding where your liner pool is loosing water is a little different to finding a fault in a vehicle or washing machine. It takes time to find a pool leak (or leaks)

So the upshot of these examples is although you may detect a “single leak” in a pool and repair it, there is always the likelihood of another area in the pool system where the water in the pool could be leaking

Be safe swimming and conserve your water. We may be surrounded by the stuff but we can’t use it straight from the sea

 

 

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15 Reasons why using an exercise pool is sometimes better for your health and well being

Posted on April 5, 2012 by John Cox

15 Reasons why an exercise pool is good for you

What do you want a swimming pool for?

Is it just to swim in?  To play about spashing around, games,snorkleing etc.. These days you can have a much smaller swimming pool installed than the traditional medium to large size pools (one of the largest domestic pool sizes 20ft x 40ft and 8ft deep)

The good thing about smaller pools is they can be fitted with a counter current, so you can have the option of swimming against a jet of water for as long as you want, in effect turning the pool into an exercise pool.

This swimming against a counter-current is better known as “Resistance swimming” you can also do Water-Aerobics (or as it’s called by the flashy name of Aqua-Aerobics) in the pool and here is a list of 15 benefit’s that a small pool with a counter current can offer you:

  1. The enjoyment of a gentle swim or more challenging swim
  2. You feel fit.
  3. You don’t feel as tired as you use too.
  4. You have bundles of energy
  5. You are much more healthy and able to withstand the odd virus bug much better
  6. You stop aching so much and you are able to do much more tasks
  7. The exercise pool is a compact size swimming pool and is ideal if you do not have room for a larger pool
  8. The dimensions of an exercise pool need only be 3.9m Long x 2.4m Wide x 1.15m Deep (12 ft x 8 ft x 3ft 6″ in depth)
  9. There is less material to excavate and remove
  10. The build times are faster
  11. You use less water (So low costs in water bills
  12. There less chemicals to use as opposed to a traditional swimming pool
  13. Your heating costs are much lower
  14. There is less of your time in used up in cleaning and maintaining the pool
  15. If you required a pool enclosure, because of the much smaller size of the pool the enclosure would be less expensive to build

These exercise pool can be built on site to your requirements of purchase as a one piece exercise swimming pool and installed into most locations

Happy swimming
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My 2 dogs want a swimming pool…

Posted on April 5, 2012 by John Cox

Yes my 2 dogs Brook and Casey want a swimming pool

Actually that’s not true but occasionally they use my wildlife pond as a swimming pool, but I’m sure they would love a swimming pool installed, at least they wouldn’t come out full of weeds in their fur and smelling of pond.

Anyway while I was working and looking at my PC the dogs sat side by side looking at me with those puppy dog eyes… starring, fidgeting and willing me to take them for a walk to the woods… In the end I gave in…Apart from wanting to run around themselves I had the impression they wanted me to have a break. Having said that, yesterday had been busy with a meeting that morning where a good client cancelled a pool refurbishment and wanted the pool back-filled instead and more landscaping work done.  While traveling back to base a little disappointed I overheard on Radio2 about the hosepipe ban and it effects (especially for my part) on swimming pool owners and pool installers, and as much as I would like warm dry weather through the coming months, I believe much rain is needed to remove the threat of a drought order hanging over all of us, which brings me onto the an email I sent to help a gentlemen who was trying find a leak in his swimming pool. Fortunately he resides in Wales (As I do) and for the moment is not affected by the hosepipe ban. There was also an appointment made for Friday for a waterfall that needs repair in Cardiff and not forgetting after this to call in at the diving & activity centre in Chepstow for cuppa tea for their first day opening of their cafe.

It’s beginning to get busy busy for the swimming season despite the cold snap and the hosepipe ban, I just hope on top of the economic climate it does not make things worse for pool owners and pool builders alike

Happy swimming

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Replacing swimming pool liners

Posted on March 16, 2012 by John Cox

It’s an exiting time to replace your pool liner

Upgrading your tired looking pool with a new pool liner is almost like having a new pool again. Fresh and clean looking with maybe a different liner pattern or colour. While you are replacing, or better still before you work on installing your new pool liner your pool liner consider having the pool coping and pool deck pressure washed. Is there any loose or chipped pool copping stones? You may want to replace these as they can be a danger to swimmers (Especially the younger swimmers and toddlers) Also don’t forget about the pool decking. If you have paving around your pool you should chech for loose, cracked or wobbly paving this again is unsafe for pool users and should be repaired, relayed or replaced before you start using your swimming pool

It’s nice to see an old Swimming pool look revamped and new again. A good idea is to take some photo’s of your swimming pool as it is now, during and when the pool liner is replaced and the pool is finished

Be safe swimming John Cox Osprey Pools

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The pool water balancing act

Posted on August 21, 2011 by John Cox

Balancing your pool water is about getting the chemical make up of the pool water right and the pH of the water just above 7 on the pH scale

The pH scale is 1 up to 14

  • 1 is Acid
  • 14 is Alkaline
  • The pH of pool water on the scale 1 to 14, needs to be above 7 (between 7.2 and 7.6)

How to get your swimming pool water sparkling

There are three basic elements to getting and maintaining a crystal clear, sparkling pool.

Get these 3 factors under control, and you may have the perfect inviting sparkling swimming pool. However Let these 3 factors get out of control and you will have problems… Everything from green pool to cloudy water,  skin irritation, chemical stains to scale formation… and the list goes on and it can take days to get your pool back to balance

The saying “Prevention is better than cure” is so true when it comes to keeping your pool water sparkling clean and the pool water balanced

To keep your swimming pool sparkling here are the key 3 points to keep a check on

  1. First key to sparkling, crystal clear, pool water is  Total Alkalinity Level: Total Alkalinity (TA for short) is the measure of water’s resistance to change in pH of water . A higher TA acts like a buffer. Another way of looking at this is the TA is like a “shock absorber on a car It stops the car bouncing around erraticley.So the higher the Total Alkalinity, the harder it is for the pH to change. The ideal range for Total Alkalinity levels is between 80 to 120 ppm. (Parts per million) Make sure you check the total alkalinity levels once a week
  2. Second key to sparkling pool water. The pH Level: Maintaining a proper pH balance is one of the most important and basic areas of good pool care and to keeping your pool crystal clear. The ideal range is between 7.2 -7.6. You should check the pH levels once a week.
  3. Third key to a sparkling swimming pool Proper Sanitation: Whether you are using traditional chlorine or non-chlorine products, you cannot underestimate the importance of good sanitation with your pool water.

Sanitising is imperative to keeping clean the pool water, killing all bacteria and safe for swimmers to user. Sanitising furthermore kills all microorganisms, including bacteria and algae, and removes unwanted contaminants from the pool water.

Pool water that is sparkling and that’s pleasant to the eyes is most important to pool owners.

Pool owners just want a “playground” A place to have fun or exercise for them and their children, family and friends to hang out…

However. Many swimming pool owners don’t enjoy the chemistry bit of swimming pools and understanding all that jargon of what to do and why each chemical does a certain thing.

Most pool owners don’t know what’s so important with swimming pool chemicals, what’s not so important and perhaps most importantly…why are they doing what they’re doing.

Of course there are other situations that may make your pool water cloudy or when your are swimming, your eyes sting (Many believe this is the fault of too much chlorine in the pool water and this is not true)

The key 3 factors for pool water balance to remember are above and these are and the main ones to look out for that need to be kept in check

John Osprey Pools

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