Low maintenance pool

[Pmagowan]

Hi all

Just wondering about your experience of pools. We are in Tuscany and thinking of creating a tiled infinity pool about medium sized. What is the best way to get it as low maintenance as possible.

Automatic pool covers?
Automatic pool cleaners?
Solar heating?
Automatic chlorine generators?

Do any of you have experience of any of the above, costs etc? We have never had a pool before and so are not really au fait with running one. Of course the right answer could be 'get a standard pool and get someone to come up and do the maintenance'!

[gardenboy]

I had a pool built & look after a few now.

My advice is keep it simple & get a few ideas from different pool builders.

The only thing I retrofitted was solar heating, everything else is original. I'd steer clear of auto stuff as it's just something else to go wrong.

Most important thing is pool location - keep it south facing & not overlooked, same level as house. Kids & oldies don't like steps.

Hope it helps

[peyre blanque]

We had a pool installed last year. UV pool system with auto dosage of chemicals (which is minimal) .
I can't claim to know much about it as it's managed for us by a TP but its absolutely brilliant as there's no maintenance apart from chucking in the robot once a week. No chlorine smells and the chemical bill is about £150 pa.
I did a lot of looking at 'ordinary' systems before going with it but they seemed awful complicated. To me its an obvious decision - but if you find a pool man you trust ask him.

[Jimbo]

Just wondering about your experience of pools. We are in Tuscany and thinking of creating a tiled infinity pool about medium sized. What is the best way to get it as low maintenance as possible.

You don't say if you're living off-site or just want to spend your time doing other things? We're on-site and I find the daily 'David Hasselhof' routine of manual pool maintenance to be a useful opportunity for guests to request information and bring our attention to small problems that they'd be unlikely to 'bother us with' by formally ringing our house bell. They often note my early-morning cleaning routine and arrive at the same time as me. And I've yet to find an automated system that will instantly remove the 'debris' when a child has an accident in the water and all the parents are in denial ("my Amber and Benjamin would never do such a terrible thing!"), remove coffee cups and beer bottles left lying around, clean the bird poo from pool furniture or mend the punctures in pool toys.

If we lived off-site, I'd want full automation but linked to a reliable and knowledgeable local person, whom the guests could contact by phone, should they spot a problem. I'd also want that person to make regular visits to check that all is well.

[Pmagowan]

Thanks guys, we are off site but have made lots of good friends locally so it should not be a problem to get a reputable person to check on things. We have always experienced a 'key under the mat' handover when staying in large villas in tuscany. We prefer this as we like our space and like to be left to our own devices. Of course this might not be the preferred choice for everyone and it is interesting to here others opinions.

I suppose we want the pool to be as simple as possible so that guests can sort everyday tasks such as cleaning (if they feel it is required). We would want guests to treat the property like it was their home. We also need it simple enough so that any gardener/cleaners could sort out at changeovers.

Thanks again, it is great to get your opinions and experiences and it will hopefully help us not to make big mistakes.

[Fraise]

[quote="Pmagowan"]Thanks guys,

I suppose we want the pool to be as simple as possible so that guests can sort everyday tasks such as cleaning (if they feel it is required). We would want guests to treat the property like it was their home. We also need it simple enough so that any gardener/cleaners could sort out at changeovers.

Think this is a bit of an oxymoron !! Pools are specialist, that's not to say any half competent can't learn but any old bod just passing will NOT do. We had some lovely neighbours who thought they'd be helpful by putting some chlor lent pastilles on our pool liner - luckily our pool guy found them and moved them, they could have made a hole in the liner. Gardeners/ cleaners can not usually sort it out at change overs unless they understand how pools tick. Our first pool was all singing/ dancing with self dosage everything, great whilst it all works , which it did for a couple of years but you still need someone to check the system and the more complicated the self dosing is the harder it is to understand ! Our second pool was far more simple with humans needed to dose it BUT knowledgeable humans, we have fab cleaners but this is beyond them, our first gardener was great but couldn't get to grips with pools. We now pay someone with the understanding of how they work, it is simple WHEN you know how ! We look after one ourselves when we are around but have to pay for times when we aren't there. They need looking at and tweeking at LEAST twice a week. Pools are fab and I would not have a place without one but they need " learning",laissez faire pool maintenance just equals green unhappy pools equals unhappy guests. Phew- sorry that ended up being so long

[French Cricket]

Fraise, I so agree with you. We don't have a pool here, but in the place we rented before we bought there was one. It had once been a gite and the owners lived next door; when they went on holiday they asked us to look after it. Well, I didn't have a clue what was what - chlor choc, backwashing, filters, cleaning .... it was a nightmare, and it took a huge amount of time and commitment.

I would never expect guests to look after their pool, even at a simple level and even with clear instructions - partly because it's so easy to do something wrong (or not do something right), and partly because a pool takes a lot of maintenance, and that's not what people come on holiday for. If you're not on site to do it yourself you're really going to need to pay someone competent - not just a friend down the road - to look after the pool on a regular basis.

[Pmagowan]

But it is not difficult to skim a few leaves off and throw a pool cleaner in. I wouldn't expect guests to do more than this. We have done this at every villa we have stayed at and never seen a 'pool guy'.
Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of people or underestimate the complexity of running a pool but I would have thought it possible for anyone with a reasonable competence to learn, especially if we take care to invest in a low maintenance system.
I saw a system that converted salt to chlorine automatically. We could also fit an electric cover and have a cleaning bot. I suppose you would still want a pool guy to check things from time to time but surely a gardener could identify faults etc?

[wallypott]

I would love to have a pool here - and despite the fact that I am usually on site, I do still go away a couple of times a year. I don't think that would be possible if we had a pool - even a simple (expensive) system has such a cock up (or much worse) potential. I'm afraid if you looked into it in detail you would see what the others mean. People pay a premium for a pool and therefore it has to be in pristine condition - not just good enough.

The place in spain we go to, has a pool that is unheated, but has a poolman who comes 6 days a week to clean it and keep an eye on it.

[Fraise]

But it is not difficult to skim a few leaves off and throw a pool cleaner in. I wouldn't expect guests to do more than this. We have done this at every villa we have stayed at and never seen a 'pool guy'.
Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of people or underestimate the complexity of running a pool but I would have thought it possible for anyone with a reasonable competence to learn, especially if we take care to invest in a low maintenance system.
I saw a system that converted salt to chlorine automatically. We could also fit an electric cover and have a cleaning bot. I suppose you would still want a pool guy to check things from time to time but surely a gardener could identify faults etc?

We had the very system you mention, automatic salt converter. It was state of the art- no expense spared in fact ! Still needs someone to monitor it , not an easy job ! We also have 2 different types of pool robot and we STILL need someone who knows what they are doing to monitor, tweak etc quite apart from clearing leaves and there is ALWAYS the unexpected ! I once got completely sprayed with acid in our pool house when our all new singing and dancing system had a malfunction, it was just a simple component that came apart, could have been a disaster if it had been anyone else ! Not too good for me either, clothes ripped to shreds- it shouldn't have happened of course but the point is it did.

[la vache!]

I agree with Fraise. Although there are systems available which make your life easier, I don't think you can replace the need for someone to look after it properly to keep it clean and make sure it doesn't go green. I look after my pool and in the summer can maybe leave it for a day, but no longer than 48 hours to put the robot in and check the chlorine and pH. If you are offering a luxury property I don't think you should expect your guests to do anything and the pool should be pristine every day for them.

[Tizfata]

We are in Tuscany

If you want to do things "legally" and in the best way possible, I suggest that you get information about the notorius new law.
I suggest that you google the following:
REQUISITI IGIENICO-SANITARI DELLE PISCINE AD USO NATOTARIO L.R. 9 marzo 2006
Be sure you have some kleenex, some anti headache medicine and some good wine...
It will be law from March 2013, and it also applies to private rentals AFAIK.
Before you splash some serious money into a pool, try to understand what are the new requirements. If you find this law (that compel you to (among other stupid things):
- change the water every year
- put aluminium handles (yes, also to the infinity pool! If I put handles, it will be impossible to shut my pool)
- impose all of your guests to have shower before entering the pool (maybe they only wanted to soak their feet!)
- in a few word, EQUALS your pool to the communal pool with thousands of people going there every day...
VERY STUPID, welcome to the club.
I suggest that you try to get a lot of information from one pr two geometra, from Confesercenti (I am not associated but they have good info) and any other local source..

[CarolineH]

It will be law from March 2013, and it also applies to private rentals AFAIK.
Before you splash some serious money into a pool, try to understand what are the new requirements. If you find this law (that compel you to (among other stupid things):
- change the water every year
- put aluminium handles (yes, also to the infinity pool! If I put handles, it will be impossible to shut my pool)
- impose all of your guests to have shower before entering the pool (maybe they only wanted to soak their feet!)
- in a few word, EQUALS your pool to the communal pool with thousands of people going there every day...
VERY STUPID, welcome to the club.

These laws (apart from the aluminium handles exist in France too, but who adheres to them? It might be different in Italy, but in France they are simply not capable of checking up on all pools that should be declared as public (definition of a private pool is that it is only available to friends and families) I have declared my pool to the authorities, yet they have never been to check since it was opened two years ago.

I have all the automatic devices - but it doesn't stop it from needing constant monitoring (as LV says, at least every two days) and cleaning needs to be done every other day, even though the pool is covered with an abri (perspex dome). The machines are pretty accurate for Ph values, but use a millivolt reading for chlorine that can be affected by lots of other factors apart from the chorine level - therefore needs to be double checked with another testing device. Like Fraise, I got sprayed with neat liquid chlorine when one of my feeder nipples got blocked - not something that you want to happen to a guest!

[Titti]

We are in Umbria and have decided not to have a pool but we have friends who have 3 of them. They live near their holiday rentals and each morning they go to clean them all. One person one pool. It's a lot of work I would not expect clients to do.

Indeed the rules for pools are very strict in Italy. All holiday accommodation owners always have problems with the "pool laws". Pool mantainance is also way more expensive than in other countries, so it might be worth to ask what will be the annual cost of all the products, mantainance and obligatory chemical analises (I believe around 1500 € per year). This is besides the 50 thousand plus Euro you will need to have one made of course!

Last but not least, if you have often observed significant numbers of wasps in your property, do take in account that the pool is a magnet to them.

Still many properties have pools, do try to talk to other owners near you and figure out what they think. May be they are more postive about pools than myself

[pepsipuss]

I would never have a salt chlorinator again. We had one for our first pool - at great expense of course. They sell them as being friendlier to skin but it is a load of rubbish - chlorine is chlorine regardless of how it is made. But the worst thing about them is that they require the pump to be run almost 24/7 in peak season so what you save on conventional chemicals you more than lose in power costs. Plus the chlorinators are unstable, nozzles block up and have to be replaced. They certainly are not suitable for pools which you can't regularly monitor. We binned it and went back to conventional chemicals which we quickly learned to use - it's not rocket science but you need to learn to do it and not skimp on the time involved and the time is not insignificant. We reckon an hour every other day when it is in use by a houseful of people. I don't think you can reasonably expect guests to spend that sort of time on their holidays. Other friends who went the same route have also binned theirs.

Like Jimbo, we see pool cleaning at the rental as a good opportunity for contact on both sides.