FAQ

1. The costs
Building a custom swimming pool is an investment.  It is an investment in the quality of your home, your health, your social life and the quality of life overall.  But sometimes, as you receive pool bids from different pool companies, homeowners might question the price versus the value of the product they are purchasing. While Multipool Engineering is typically not the most expensive swimming pool company, we are not the cheapest either.  There is a reason for that.  We only build swimming pools to last.  We are not building a product for the cheapest price, in order to make a quick sale.  Our passion for beautiful backyards begins with high quality standards.  Customer satisfaction is very important to us and we strive to build every single swimming pool, so our customers are happy! We want our customers to feel absolutely confident that their investment was definitely worth it!

2. Maintenance
Regular water testing and sanitizing is vital, since microorganisms thrive in pools. Even clear water could be contaminated with bacteria that can cause ear and stomach infections and skin rashes.
Don’t forget to consider the ongoing cost of maintaining your pool – electricity, chemicals, cleaning service. But, we at Multipool Engineering, provide you with sustainable solutions for this cost too.

3. The risk
Pools offer hours of fun, but they can be dangerous too.  Whether you are a family with young children or not, we can provide you with safety covers or fences solutions.

4. Municipal and other regulations to comply
Check with your municipality to learn the local bylaws and regulations governing backyard pools. Make sure you obtain any permit before beginning construction.

This is something that cannot easily be answered but the main cost of running a swimming pool will be the cost of heating the swimming pool water if needed. Therefore, it makes sense to invest in a cost effective system of heating the pool water, either a heat pump or solar water heating would be recommended. The addition of a quality cover will also make a drastic difference to the running cost of the swimming pool as most of the swimming pools water is lost from the water’s surface.

Normally for domestic pools we recommend the Free Chlorine level is maintained at about 2ppm, this can be reduced to a lower residual level should you use a correctly sized UV and/or Ozone sanitizer system. For more information on the UV and Ozone systems available please call us free at 7000 9282.

The pH level in you pool should remain between 7.2 and 7.6. If your pH is too high the chlorine becomes less effective but if it’s too low, you may find the swimming pool water starts to irritate your skin. A low pH level can also damage swimming pool liners.

As a rule, on domestic pools, we would normally recommend backwashing the sand filter every two weeks. A good thing to do is to look at the pressure on the gauge fitted to the sand filter when the filter has just been back washed, as the filter becomes more blocked from filtering out debris from the pool the pressure within the filter will increase. Once this increases by around 10psi then it is time to backwash the filter.

We recommend to help maintain clear pool water that the sand within your sand filter is replaced at least once every 4 years. Not changing the sand regularly enough will drastically effect the filter’s ability to filter the pool water adequately to maintain a crystal clear pool. We, at Multipool Engineering, have an alternative solution for sand filters which is more effective: replacing your old sand filters with glass media filters.

On average a normal swimming pool liner should last around 7 to 10 years, whereas an advance (3D) swimming pool liner should last well in excess of 10 years. We are able to carry out replacements of liners.

If a new swimming pool heating system is to be installed, we would always recommend installing a heat pump due to the high level of efficiency that they offer compared to traditional methods of heating a swimming pool.

There are several possible causes of cloudy, smoky, or hazy swimming pool water.  Here are some of them, along with the solutions:

  • Poor circulation or filtration: Backwash and clean the pool filter.  Clean the skimmer baskets and pump strainer basket.  The filter may need to be chemically cleaned.
  • Improper water balance: Test the pH, total alkalinity, and calcium hardness, and make the necessary adjustments.
  • High total dissolved solids (TDS) and/or calcium hardness: If one or both are high (TDS over 3,000 ppm or calcium hardness over 400 ppm), drain off 1/3 to 1/2 of your pool water and replace it with fresh water that is low in hardness.  Adjust the chemical balance.
  • Excess organic waste: Shock with one pound of pool super shock for every 10,000 gallons of pool water.
  • High total alkalinity: Add a pH reducer.
  • Low sanitizer level: Add chlorine to bring sanitizer into its proper range.

Your swimming pool is suffering from green algae growth. A common free-floating variety of algae imparts a cloudy green color to pool water. It’s easy to correct if treated early. Shock your pool, then use the proper dose of algaecide for the size of your pool.

Your pool may also be experiencing low total alkalinity, which can contribute to green algae growth, so you may also need to add an alkalinity increaser.

Yellow (or sometimes green) dust on the floor and walls of your swimming pool is mustard algae. Apply the correct dose of pool shock, then use an algaecide that is specially formulated to stop the growth of mustard algae.

Black spots on the floor and walls of your pool indicate black algae, which unfortunately is very hard to kill. Black algae typically appear as small black dots or blotches that are pinhead to quarter-sized. It has a tough outer coating and is very resistant to treatment, especially if it gets into the crevices of the pool.

To treat black algae, you’ll need an algaecide specially formulated to kill it. Even the most severe problems can be eliminated faster if you use a metal control product in conjunction with black algaecide. After you apply the chemicals, brush the areas of your pool with black algae growth to allow the chemicals to penetrate the outer coating of the spots.

  • Water burns eyes: Your pH may be too low or too high. Use a water test kit to determine the pH level and adjust it to a 7.4-7.6 range.  Another item to check is whether or not there is too much sanitizer in your pool.  Check the automatic chlorinator setting.
  • Water is sudsy: Pool water can turn sudsy from the overuse of algaecide.  Some types of algaecide can cause water to foam when used liberally.  To fix the problem, discontinue use of your current algaecide and switch to a high-quality, non-foaming brand.  You may also want to replace some of the pool water with fresh water.  Products that help stop foam are available from pool supply companies.

If your chlorine test turns orange, your pool water has a very high chlorine content, above 4 ppm. Stop using chlorine until the chlorine test shows a result within the normal range. If you want faster results, use a chlorine neutralizer to bring chlorine back into the proper range.

If your pH:

  • Test result looks purple or blue: This indicates that your pool water has a very high chlorine content. Discontinue use of chlorine until chlorine returns to normal, or use a chlorine neutralizer.
  • Always tests too high: Repeated test results indicating that the pH in your pool water is high indicates a high total alkalinity. Add a pH decreaser to balance the total alkalinity.
  • Always tests too low: This means that total alkalinity is too low. Add an alkalinity increaser. If you use Trichlor or other low pH disinfectants, you may need to use a pH increaser.