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Texas Pool Rx

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  1. Agree with everyone. Here is what I would do step by step. 1. Backwash the filter if it's sand or DE or wash it out if it is a cartridge to get a starting pressure. 2. Lots and lots of chlorine, throw a case (4 gallons) or more of liquid chlorine in there. 3. Run filter 24/7 until it's clean. 4. Backwash the filter any time it gets 10psi higher than your starting pressure (usually around 2opsi) 5. Test the water daily (get the Taylor test kit mentioned before, it's great) if the chlorine gets to the low end of the range, add more. Keep it in the 5+ range. Balance everything else, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness isnt necessary until after if you dont want to. 6. Once the water goes from green to cloudy, get a flocculant from your nearby pool store. Add the flocculant into the skimmer at the doseage for your pool, let the pool run for 2 hours then shut it off overnight or longer. You'll want to see all the particulate in the water go to the bottom of the pool. 7. Hook the vacuum up and vacuum everything to WASTE (this is important to not clog up your filter) 8. Once the bulk of it is gone, clean it up by vacuuming on filter if there is anythign on the bottom, and backwashing afterwards. Make sure to skim everything out and BRUSH THE WALLS, this is important for keeping algae from building up. Rinse and repeat as needed. Use clarifier afterwards if the water is a little hazy. Keep up on backwashing, brushing, and chemicals and you'll be fine within a week or so. Make sure when you're vacuuming to waste the water level doesn't get below the wall skimmer, keep a garden hose in the pool while youre doing this. This is not a lost cause at all ! I have been cleaning pools for 8 years and each year come across a few pools in this condition or much worse, and it takes work but it will be done before you know it. Find a good locally owned pool store with staff knowledgeable in water chemistry if you need to bring a water sample in.
  2. I do a base price and upcharge if the pool is much larger or if they have a high number of trees, a very dusty backyard. I assume that each pool will have an attached spa, most of them do where I work. $130 a month is the price with chemicals included with an average customer paying $150 a month. Tool me about a month to figure out where I was losing money and if I needed to adjust pricing, I charged less at first and I was not making enough. Most systems are on chlorine, with 50 pools a week ($7500 total being billed), I generally go through an average of 50lbs of shock and 50lbs of tablets a week ($200). Occasional bottle of yellow treat or algecide ($16) and about $50 in other balancing chemicals. So regular chemical treatment is not where I was losing money. The problem came for me when I included algae blooms in the pricing. That would jack my price per week up another $200 if a few pools had a significant algae bloom. So now I include chemicals, but if they have an algae bloom I will charge them for additional chemicals. Also, if a pool doesnt have algae or anything, you should be able to crank out a pool every half hour. It saves alot of time, and as long as the pools are clean, people are happy, they dont usually care if youre there for half hour or an hour. I do 12 pools a day in 5 hours if everything is pristine, 6 hours on average, and 8 hours if there are a huge number of pools with algae that day. Get a routine down and keep with it, saving time lets you do more pools in a day and more money in your pocket at the end of the week. But don't skimp on anything... if you skip something one week it will catch up to you the next and really mess with your time. The best way to get your time down from what I've found is just keep a routine. I get there, clean out the baskets and check the equipment, skim the surface, vacuum, brush, backwash (if needed), then add the chemicals, and it's muscle memory now.
  3. Hey everyone, I'm wondering if someone can help me get some information on how to go about inspecting pools... does this have to be done through the town/city? Is there any type of certification required? etc. I'm the owner of a small business doing pool maintenance at the moment and am looking to branch my business out in any way possible. Thanks
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