PLEASE NOTE: We are watching the weather forecasts that predict a potential significant rain event. While we intend to meet all of our commitments, our policy is to ensure our techs and trucks are safe in extreme weather conditions. If there is a chance your service must be postponed due to severe weather/power outage/closed roads, we will coordinate with you to get your visit rescheduled as soon as possible. Here are some steps pool owners can take to help protect their equipment, and ease recovery, should it be necessary.
Preparation
PUMPS: If you are comfortable with operating your filter system, it may be advantageous to turn off your pump if exceptionally heavy rain is imminent. While having the pump off means the skimmers will not be skimming the surface, it mitigates the potential that the plastic baskets will become overloaded and burst.
More importantly, mulch and mud tends to move to new places if any flooding occurs, and it is best if the motor is not running should the equipment area flood. Motors need to be clear of debris to cool properly, and should be checked to ensure they have an air gap of several inches both below and to the sides of the motor after a significant rainfall.
AUTO COVERS: It may seem counterintuitive, but we recommend auto covers remain open for significant rainfall. Our reasoning is that the cover pump will not be able to keep up with heavy rain. An inordinate amount of water will gather on the cover, putting stress on the fabric as the cover sags down. Water on top of the cover will displace the water underneath it, which will be expelled via the cover trench or the skimmers. This will stretch the cover, potentially to the point of cover failure, rail failure or even structural coping failure. It is less costly to clean up post-storm debris than to repair an auto cover.
WATER LEVEL: Although it looks disconcerting to see the pool full to the top, the pool will not "overflow" in the sense of a bathtub overflowing - it will simply stop absorbing water, just as your yard has stopped absorbing water at that point. If full to the top edge the water will be too high for the skimmer weirs to do their job, but the volume itself will not damage the pool.
Rather than worrying about the pool water flowing out, keep an eye on the drainage from your yard or your neighbor's yard from flowing IN!
Overwhelmed drains and culverts can backup, resulting in overflows that go into your pool.
Recovery
AFTER THE STORM: Depending on the storm track and resulting winds or rain, we could be seeing pools filled high with water at the very least, or with sticks, branches, leaves, mulch, glass, furniture or pure mud at the worst. If we do experience heavy and unusual weather, these pools will need to be recovered before they can be closed for the winter. Many will require work above and beyond a typical visit.
BEFORE OUR ARRIVAL: You can help your pool recover (and prevent water quality problems) by emptying your skimmer baskets and your hair/lint basket at the pump (if you are comfortable with that). Clogged baskets can easily break, which will slow down filtration right when your pool needs it most. If broken they can allow debris into the pump thereby necessitating disassembly of the pump. Next, cleaning out your Polaris bag if applicable, clearing the pump motor of any mulch, mud or dirt, and turning on the pump should get the pool functioning once again.
ADDITIONAL TIME AND LABOR: Additional time spent to recover the pool from a natural event will be billed as appropriate and separately from a routine weekly stop with normal conditions . If you are scheduled for a cleaning after the storm, please know that we can only perform the tasks outlined in our weekly service tasks, which includes a typical vacuum load. Your pool may warrant additional service visits to get it fully recovered. If you are scheduled for a winterization and the pool requires cleaning, please let us know so that we can adjust our schedule and billing appropriately. In terms of cost, that will be a case by case situation depending on the severity of recovery needed.
The minimum price for a separate recovery visit is $225 for up to an hour. Any additional time over an hour will be billed at a rate of $56.25/per quarter hour. If cleaning for storm recovery during a winterization is necessary, it will also will be billed at $56.25/quarter hour.
We thank you for your business, and are happy to be working with you! Let's hope storms such as this are a rare occurrence!
