Swimming Pool & Spa
Retailers, Contractors & Engineers
As well as treating the water with chemicals to maintain water quality, (ask your National Leisure member for a copy of the Official Pool Care Guide or buy our video/DVD) you will almost certainly want to cover the pool when you’re not using it.
Several different types of cover are available, but maintenance will certainly be whole lot easier if you keep dirt and debris out of the pool in the first place. A cover also helps to prevent evaporation of the pool water, keeping in vital heat, maintaining the water level and preventing your pool chemicals from literally disappearing into thin air.
The choice of cover depends on the shape of your pool, the amount of space around the pool, whether young children are likely to be in the vicinity, and whether you intend to use your pool all year round.
For some people, a simple bubble cover (like a large-scale version of bubble-wrap) will suffice, but you’ll probably have to wind it on and off the roller yourself by hand.
Solar covers use the heat from the sun to raise the water temperature, while automatic covers take the hassle away from covering and uncovering the pool (this really is a bit of a ‘boy’s toy’, though, and it may be hard to justify the cost).
For absolute peace of mind (particularly if young children will be around), you may want to opt for a safety cover, designed to take the weight of children and animals.
If you want to use your pool for as much of the year as possible, you will want to heat it in some way. You can install boilers fuelled by oil, gas, electricity or even liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Your choice is likely to be dictated by factors such as the size of your pool, whether you are on mains gas or in a remote location, and the cost of each of the fuel types from your supplier.
The obvious pool-heating solution, though, is the sun. Many people assume that the sun needs to be shining relentlessly from a cloudless blue sky in order to provide any meaningful energy at all, but solar heating technology has made rapid strides in recent years. Even on a mild day in mid-December, the sun will probably provide enough energy to get your pool up to temperature.
A pool enclosure is a glazed or traditionally built structure over your pool that enables you to extend the outdoor swimming season dramatically, perhaps starting in early March and ending in early November – and that’s without any pool heating. Installing an enclosure can raise the water temperature by as much as 8-10°C on its own. Cheaper, inflatable airdome models are available.
But a pool enclosure has other benefits too. You’ll save hundreds of pounds on pool chemicals – evaporation from the surface is dramatically reduced, ensuring your precious pool chemicals stay in the pool rather than evaporating away. And it keeps the pool a lot cleaner as well, keeping out leaves and debris, and protecting the pool from rain which can carry grit and other dirt.
Then there’s the safety aspect… a pool enclosure keeps children away from the pool when you’re not around, and under control when you are. Meanwhile, pets and wild animals are also prevented from straying near the pool edge.
Add pool heating, and your outdoor pool becomes a year-round pleasure.
