You love your backyard landscaping, but leaves, flowers, and pollen that drift into your pool are a pain. Sound familiar? Not only does debris floating on the surface look bad, but this organic material will sink and decay, allowing bacteria and algae to grow if not removed quickly.
Leaves can be removed from the surface of the pool, or from the bottom of the pool.
Cleaning from the surface:
Solar-powered floating pool skimmer: The Solar-Breeze NX2 and new Ariel by Solar-Breeze harness energy from the sun to paddle itself around the pool gobbling up all debris resting on the surface before it has the chance to sink. The debris goes into a tray with a fine mesh filter, which allows it to capture micro particles such as pollen, dust, hair and suntain oil. The pool robot features a chlorine tray so that it’s chasing away debris with chemicals during its route. The unit operates all day and night on solar-energy stored in it’s rechargeable battery – there are no hoses, chords or attachments! Any minimal amount of debris that gets past the robot will be captured by the pool pump filter or bottom cleaner, but at a much lower energy cost and with less strain on the equipment.
Pump-driven skimmer: In-ground pools are built with one or two skimmer baskets in the wall of the pool. When the pump is running, it pulls water through the main drain on the bottom of the pool and through the skimmers in the wall, where debris is captured in baskets. We recommend reducing the amount of suction through the main drain, and increasing the flow through the wall skimmers. It’s ideal to have less debris captured by the pump so that the water flow through the pump is not blocked by a full basket. Empty wall baskets regularly to keep them functioning properly.
Manually: The age-old pool skimming method is to do it yourself with a long pole and net. This is a back and arm straining chore that is nearly impossible to keep up with. Between periodic skim sessions, debris will land on the surface and eventually sink to the bottom and fost algae growth. Most people have to skim their pool every time they want to take a swim. It’s a hassle when your pool isn’t swim ready when you are.
Cleaning from the bottom:
Pop-Ups: This system resembles lawn sprinklers that rise from the bottom of the pool to spray water that jets debris to the deep end where sucked through the drain. This method only works when the pool pump is running. The leaves are captured in a filter basket which should be emptied regularly and washed to remove the finer particles.
Vacuums: There are a variety of automatic cleaners that are attached to a long hose and operate with suction from the pump. When the pump is running and the vacuum is hooked up, it crawls along the bottom and the sides of the pool vaccuuming up debris that sank. The leaves and debris are sucked up the long hose toward the pump and captured in the filter basket. To maintain water flow and pump sunction, the basket needs to be emptied frequently. These systems only work when you are spending money to run the pump, meaning that no debris are captured in the off hours.
Thinking that it’s time for you to ditch the net and high energy bills for good? Ariel by Solar-Breeze operates all day to keep your pool healthy and swim-ready. Stop worrying about your favorite backyard bushes making a mess – add a pool robot to your toolkit today.
