Bell Ringers

Winter is upon us and our Texas weather is as interesting and unpredictable as always. We continue to vacilate between sunny, warm afternoons followed by abrupt dips into the teens and twenties. To be prepared for freezing weather, it is important that you know how to prevent freeze damage if your pool has not already been prepared for the freeze. Following are our recommendations on how to prevent freeze damage. Continue the regular weekly routine of testing the water, adding chemicals as necessary, cleaning out the baskets, etc. Pay particular attention to the chlorine test, as you will not have to add as much chlorine during the winter as you have this summer (with cooler temperatures, less sanitizer is required). Backwash the filter as necessary—it…

It sure seems to have been a mild winter thus far. After our first freeze on November 22nd, it has fell to freezing or below approximately 13 times at DFW airport. We are slightly behind our average of 24.2 freezes thru January. WFAA recently reported that January daily temperatures were above normal 14 times and below normal 17 times, which was a surprise. But remember, winter is not over. Although we are unlikely to hit our average number of freezes (33), rest assured that we will have more freezes. Our average last freeze is March 13th, and our latest last freeze is April 13th (occurred in 1957 & 1997). What about snow? As of today (February 1, 2016), we have only received a trace (at…

Looks like some cold weather is on it’s way – save yourself from expensive repairs due to freeze damage.  Below are things to check before the cold weather gets here: Make sure your main pool pump is functional and is running whenever freezing weather occurs.  Most pool pump timers/controls use a freeze guard to accomplish this.  If the pump doesn’t automatically kick on, you will need to manually run it whenever the air temperature is 32 degrees or below. Drain waterfall and auxiliary pumps or make sure they are running as well when it is freezing.  If you have a booster pump for a cleaner, do not worry about running it or draining it – the main pump will keep water circulating through it. Keep…

Well, after this week’s cool weather—I would say that swim season is officially over, unless you have a heater on your pool.  Following is a brief review of winter pool care options for north Texas area pools. Depending on several variables (number of trees surrounding the pool, pool location, whether you heat the pool in the winter, etc.), there are basically four options for winter pool care, which are: Continue to operate the pool –The advantage of this option is that you get to visually enjoy the pool over the winter.  The disadvantage is you will still need to run the pump and chemically treat your pool, both of which cost money.  In addition, if you have trees which drop leaves, you will have 6-8…