After a long winter with lots of cold weather, snow, and short days, spring finally breaks and pool season is here… almost. The first step in getting ready to swim and having those backyard parties all your friends have grown to enjoy is getting your swimming pool open
Most likely, you’ll have a pool company booked to get your pool operational for the year, but what’s included with that service (and after completion) is usually vague, or not communicated at all. We have a list for you to read what we include. This often leaves you, the pool owner, disappointed or sometimes even upset and questioning the value of the service you paid for. At PoolZenia, we have multiple touch points with you to ensure you know what to expect with our service and more importantly, what’s still needed after the open. Below is a list of things a professional company typically includes and a couple more things you need to know.
1. What’s included in a pool open?
Remove debris from pool cover (**safety covers will typically be fairly debris free already**)
Remove cover from pool
Clean pool cover and fold it up
Remove all plugs in the pool skimmers and return jets
Install jet fittings and skimmer baskets
Hook up all pool equipment
Start pool and make sure all equipment and features are working properly
Add start up treatment (pool chemicals)
Brush entire pool
Leave it on to circulate
2. What’s not (generally) included in a pool open and why not??
Vacuuming the pool
Why? Typically, we want to open and circulate the pool first to get the added chemicals circulating and killing any bacteria and clear up the water. The pool gets brushed to stir up all the possible debris to get captured by the pool filter and if the pool is not clear in the spring, it’s hard to see what you’re vacuuming. A few days of circulating the water will get it clear enough to see the bottom. The other reason is we typically schedule multiple openings per day with a crew of 2-3 people while a simple pool cleaning will only require one person.
Balancing the pool water
Why? The biggest reason is we cannot get an accurate reading on the water quality because it has been stagnant for months over the winter. As with vacuuming, a few days of circulation, allowing the water to clear and heat up, will give us a much better idea on what needs to be added. Typically, we will book a follow up appointment 3-5 days after the pool is opened to come and clean and balance the pool. Depending on the water quality, you may be swim ready after the second appointment!
3. What should be included by a professional company?
The two points above are the bare minimum you should expect when hiring a company to open your pool but what else would make the experience feel professional and more enjoyable?
Scheduling a dedicated appointment date and following up to ensure you are aware when we are coming.Inspecting the pool and equipment and providing a report and pictures of the state of the pool (with recommendations).
Briefing you and Debriefing with you while onsite so you can get to know the technician (and vice versa) and have expectations set.
Showing you possible problems so you can proactively avoid missing precious swimmable days if the pool shuts down.
Proper invoicing and communication from a Client Care Team.
4. How will the pool look right after it is opened?
How the water looks is largely dependant on multiple factors including:
What type of cover is on the pool
Water quality when the pool was closed
Time of year the pool was closed
Time of year when the pool was opened
What weather conditions were present when the pool was closed and opened
We have a saying at PoolZenia: How the pool closes, is how the pool opens. If the water is balanced and clean when the pool is shut down, it’s more likely to be clear and clean when we open it up.
Often, if your pool was closed and the weather was still warm for weeks after or the weather turns warm in the spring and you dont open it for a few weeks, there is a good chance the pool will be green when we open it. That's normal and quite easy to fix with a few water treatments, brushing, vacuuming and letting the pool circulate. If it’s really bad, we have a Pool Rehab Program where we will service the pool daily until it is ready to swim in.
So, whether your pool is clear right away or not, we can make sure you’re ready for pool season as fast and worry free as possible.
As always, if you have any questions, reach out to our Client Care Team or check us out on our social media for updates, info and more!
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