Pool Cleaning Full Service for $65, is it real?

[Lito]

I seen a company in Orlando/Kissimmee that was offering pool service for $65, they said it was full service but im not sure what that means and other companies in the same area are asking 75-110 for service, how do I know that this is a real deal?

[lonestar]

Call and ask what they do while there.

Are they using trichlor tabs, chlorine gas or hydrochloric acid? Are they going to check the skimmers and brush the tile line?

In texas there used to be companies that offered $55 a month service but used chlorine gas (this in a region that has $130-160/month service.) They would drive up, blow an unknown amount of chlorine gas into the pool, throw in 3 pounds of baking soda and drive off. The low PH ate up the plaster and, during the hottest seasons, the chlorine would be zero before they came again.

With federal permitting being tighter those same companies now use hydrochloric acid. In Texas the water may be 90 degrees and weak shock wont hold for long so they just dump in about 4 gallons of it and walk away.

[chem geek]

There's a pool service in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and southern California called Pool Chlor and they use mostly chlorine gas without the problems you mention (as far as I know -- do you know which pool service it was that had the problems you have seen?), but they test the chemistry and dose known amounts. Their pools have high CYA of around 100 ppm which helps keep the chlorine from breaking down as quickly in the intense hot desert sun. They typically dose up to around 14 ppm FC and a week later the FC has dropped to around 4 ppm so this is sufficient to prevent algae growth and is a range of active chlorine that doesn't irritate. 14 ppm FC with 100 ppm CYA has the same active chlorine concentration as 4 ppm FC with 30 ppm CYA. As for pH control, they just have a higher Total Alkalinity (TA) level, usually around 120-140 ppm. Even with 120 ppm TA and 100 ppm CYA, going from 4 ppm FC to 14 ppm FC using chlorine gas lowers the pH from 7.5 to 7.2 or from 7.7 to 7.34. The pH then rises slowly over the week as carbon dioxide is outgassed (TA is a mostly a measure of the over-carbonation of the water). In 15,000 gallons, one would need to add about 5 cups (about 3 pounds) of baking soda to maintain the TA level over the week (the TA would drop by about 15 ppm over a week due to the combination of outgassing, which raises pH, and chlorine usage, which is acidic and lowers pH and TA). So using chlorine gas can work very effectively IF you know what you are doing. As with anything else, if you don't know what you are doing, serious problems can occur.

I think you meant "chlorinating liquid" or "sodium hypochlorite" instead of hydrochloric acid. The latter, usually known as Muriatic Acid, is used to lower pH and is not a source of chlorine. Chlorinating liquid is just a more concentrated form of bleach -- both are sodium hypochlorite. It's what I use in my own pool and I have very stable pH because the rise in pH from any hypochlorite source of chlorine is compensated by the pH drop as the chlorine gets used up since the latter is an acidic process. By the way, 4 gallons of 12.5% chlorinating liquid in a 15,000 gallon pool would raise the FC by 33 ppm. Hopefully they are only using that amount of chlorine in a much larger 30,000 gallon pool.

Richard

[lonestar]

Thanks for the correction. Sodium hypochlorite is the sanitizer they now use. None of these jokers in Houston/austin area have permits for chlorine gas anymore, so I wouldnt use my judgments against anyone who still has a permit as I know nothing of their practices.

And yes, Ive heard from many homeowners that they dose the pools that heavily (several gallons a week in an average size pool.) This would be the only way to do it using liquid chlorine, however, as water temperatures go above 90 degrees here in the summer.

Im not trying to be negative either. In many markets pool service is so lucrative that someone starting out could afford to charge way below the going rate and still make much more money than if they worked under someone else. I still have some pools which are way under market value, but the customers pay on time, the pools are fairly new equipment and the economy has some people worried so I'm leaving them alone.

[XtremelyTropical]

I saw an ad for $65 as well. Thanks for the tips. I'll be sure to check out their "methods" before i hire anyone.

If i asked them for a list of their happy customers as references they should be able to provide one, right? (just making sure i wouldn't be asking too much here )

[Larry]

When it comes to your health and the health of your family I think asking for details and references is not unreasonable.

If you don't get real answers there must be something wrong and you should be suspicious.

By the way I really like the look of your palms. I was surprised to see that they could stand up to such high winds.

Larry

[XtremelyTropical]

I agree. I'll try to get list from them when i meet with someone.

on the palms -Thanks! We've made them 26'. made with all steel so they are strong. that pic on our site showed them in 80+ mph winds.

[Larry]

I wouldn't have imagined that a 1.5" core would support that size structure under such high wind loads.

The mind boggles

Larry

[XtremelyTropical]

I think maybe you should call the the $65.00 company find out what "full service" is then contact one of the others and find out what their "full service" is then compare.

[Guest]

Let us know the outcome.

I'm real curious now... you have been looking into this for some time already.

[Me...]

I have had many customers ask me if I would look after their pool for them. I don't do maintenance but I can't see how I would charge people to really maintain their pool unless I made at least 2 trips there a week. Once to test, check and brush. Next to check, test, vac and backwash. Or something along those lines. At any rate each visit would take up at least 1.5 hrs. of my time, since they no doubt live a long drive apart, and I would want to be able to spend more if needed. And go if they had a problem, within a short time span. So very few customers who would get exceptional service and I would charge them for it, probably in the neighborhood of $400 a month. Not including supplies. Maybe thats why I don't do it LOL.

However being in a different part of the business I used to receive tons of requests from people to recommend a NEW service company. It seems a lot of people don't get satisfaction from their maintenance companies and in fact many used to actually check up on their guys to see what they actually did. This is what caused me to think if I ever did start, I would do more, but charge more too.

[XtremelyTropical]

I think i'm just going to take care of it myself for now. I've already spent too much time trying to find someone to do it. My main concern after reading through this forum is whether or not they are really putting the chemicals that i'm paying for in the pool. If I do it myself then i know it will be done right!

Thanks everyone for your help!

[Larry]

Or you could do the chemical maintenance and get someone out to brush, vacuum and clean the filter. There may even be a local youngster who wants to earn a bit of extra cash.

Getting a professional out only to clean the pool would probably cost proportionally more, but may be worthwhile if you don't have the time or the energy for pool chores.

Larry