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Posts Tagged ‘swimming’

If you live in a tropical area, or just want to have something to relieve the heat of hot summer days, building a pool right in your own backyard is the best option.

While building our own pool might be expensive, we can accumulate a few savings in the long run as we can forego a couple of trips to the beach once we have our own pool in place.

Building a pool is not difficult, but it does require a few necessary steps in order to build one that’s right and safe for the entire household.

Before We Start The Pool Consturction

Prior to building our pool at home, there are a few things we need to understand first. What kind of pool do we want to build? Is it above or inground pool?

Also, please also think about where the pool will be built. How big the area tha we have? By determining the actual measurements of our allotted space, we can then look for the appropriate Pool Dimensions that will fit into the space.

Normally, an aboveground oval pool of 12ft x 24ft would need an area of approx 240 square feet, while smaller aboveground pool would need about one hundred and thirteen square feet of surface area.

Pool Dimensions of an inground pool will require a bigger surface area. For instance, a twelve by twenty-four feet swimming pool size requires a surface area of at least two hundred and eighty-eight square feet.

Once we have determined the exact dimensions of our pool and the surface area; we can then look at the other details needed to build a pool.

About Pool Contractors

The next thing to consider is whether we will need the services of a professional pool contractor or if we would like to handle everything by ourself. If we decide to be the General Contractor of our pool project, we can have full control and a complete view of the entire building process, and simply hire subcontractors to do the actual pool construction.

By using our own man power (not using General Contractor), we can save a lot of money. However, it’s a good idea to know some basic details of how-to-build-a-pool knowledge, so we can keep track of the actual construction precess.

As there are very specific jobs where we will be needing the help of professionals such as excavating, plumbing (read more: PVC Pipe Dimensions), electrical connections, landscaping if we want one, paving and putting safety measures in place; we can ask for referrals as to the perfect contractors for these kinds of jobs.

We can also find some helpful info about building a pool and where we can find subcontractors and suppliers within our area so we can start on our pool construction project the soonest time possible.

Tip:To make efficient use of your swimming pool chemicals, managing good water balance is the main factor

Make sure that you understand the workings of your swimming pool or spa before adding any pool chemicals Having free flowing water circulation and good filtration is important to maintaining a clean and healthy pool or spa

Water balance is the first thing to establish when treating your pool or spa. This helps make sure the later stps like sanitation are effective and use the minimum chemicals required There are three major factors affecting water balance, they are pH, total alkalinity and calcium hardness

Calcium hardness

Hardness is the measurement of calcium salts in the swimming pool or spa water and this will vary depending where you live. Low calcium hardness can cause damage to your pool materials. Hard water (water high in calcium) can lead to limescale foriming in your pipes and equipment
these are guideline levels
•    Calcium Hardness should be between 100 – 200 ppm (mg/l).
•    If the level is below 75 ppm (mg/l), apply Hardness Plus
•    If the measurement is above 200 ppm (mg/l), use Scale Inhibitor.

pH Measures

pH can range from 1 to 14 where 1 is very acid and 14 very alkaline Make sure you keep your water within the 7.2-7.6 range which, because it is mildly alkaline, will protect equipment from corrosion and give the perfect environment for bather comfort
•    Ideal pH level for spas is between 7.2 – 7.6.
•    When the measurement drops below apply pH Plus
•    If the level is above 7.6 use pH Minus
Note
These things] will cause the pH to fluctuate.

This can lead to rises in pH which reduces the performance of chlorine sanitisers like chlorine shock. Much higher doses of chlorine sanitisers such as will then be required. avoid this problem by using Bromine. Bromine works effectively over a wider pH range than chlorine Bromine also remains in the spa for longer than chlorine so it reduces the quantity of spa chemicals you use.

Total Alkalinity

Total alkalinity works to buffer pH changes If TA levels are too low the pH will fluctuate widely.

•    optimum Total Alkalinity is 100 ppm (mg/l) When it is below 80mg/l use Alkalinity Plus
•    When Total Alkalinity exceeds 140mg/l remedy it with pH Minus to reduce it
You should definitely check your water balance on a regular basis as it is the basis for your other chemical treatments

Testing your water is easy, you just use test strips which are available online

My family and I love swimming. It’s such a fantastic way to not only get some much needed exercise but to unwind and relax.

Although we like to visit our local, open air pool, we can only do so in th summer months when it is open. During the winter months we need to travel into the city to take a dip in the busy municipal pool. Some lucky neighbours recently bought themselves a pool of their own and we are currently considering doing the same.

They chose an elliptical Doughboy pool for their back garden. I’d never heard of Doughboy before (except the Pillsbury Doughboy) but I was immensely impressed with the quality of their pool. Doughboy have been in the pool business since 1945 and they have really perfected the quality of their versatile and affordable swimming pools.

Doughboy pools, made from steel and resin, are one of the most popular swimming pools in the UK today. They are very tough, durable and well priced. Our neighbours told us that it had taken them less than a weekend to build their pool.  They included a heat pump pool heating system which makes the water so comfortable that the children never want to get out.

The Doughboy pools have a number of really neat feature like the facility to expand the depth so that, as the children grow, you can increase the depth of the water up to a maximum of 7 feet. They come with a top quality pool liner, a sand filter, power pump and even a skimmer. All you need to add is a pool heater to take the chill off the water.

It’s easy to see why the Doughboy pool is the UKs most popular form of above ground pool. So I think the time has come. I think I shall contact the suppliers and order one for our back garden then brace myself for the hoard of children who will, no doubt, descend on our house.