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We don't want to put you off owning a swimming pool, and all the health advantages from the exercise gained from swimming, but we do ask you to think carefully before you make the decision.

So, before you buy a swimming pool or take on a property with a pool, we recommend that you ask yourself how much swimming you, and your family will really do. It is also important to be honest about swimming in less than perfect weather conditions, and think carefully how much of the year you will use it. If you only take the occasional dip, you might want to look at neighborhoods with a community pool instead. Now this is not just my view, believe me this is what real-estate agents say when not at work. They have seen how, unless the owner is committed, a pool may become more of a liability than an asset.

There are quite a few chores to be considered by the pool owner. Filters have parts which must be serviced regularly. Forget these duties and for example, the failure to change a dirty filter pad or cartridge can result in costly problems like a capacitor burn-out in the swimming pool pump motor. There are AFM (Advanced Filtration Method) filters which are more robust, but they are quite expensive and not available everywhere and not many filters will not provide the same the same hurricane, dirt storm, thunderstorm and wildfire clean up capabilities.

You will need of course to pay for all water make-up and you will need to pay for chlorination chemicals for maintaining bacteria-free pool water. Ozonation is good and saves on chemical costs but is not cheap to install.

Evaporation water loss not only needs replacing in summer, it also accounts for up to 90% of heat loss from a swimming pool, so a pool cover is also an essential accessory.

Swimming pools cannot be ignored in the winter until they have been attended to each autumn. To properly winterize a swimming pool, the owner should begin by making sure that the pool water is clean of debris. Leaves, bugs, pine needles and other similar items should be vacuumed or removed from the pool by use of the filter, by using an extension pole and net to skim the water, or an automated pool cleaning robot. When the "dust" from the brushing settles, it is vacuumed off the floor of the swimming pool. The pool may need additional clarification if carrying a colloidal content and must also be vacuumed after treating with a flocculant.

Filtration rate demands vary. Normal and heavier used swimming use may require as much as eight or more hours filtration per day. Should water clarity or chemical imbalance indicate inadequate filtration, you will need to immediately operate the filter until acceptable water clarity has again been established.

The best above ground swimming pools on the market today, can provide the best price bargains, but the 52 inch and 54 inch wall heights present a hazard in themselves if not respected by the users.

Pool cleaners as the best news for a pool owner. The variety and functionality of these devices has been advancing rapidly. The best of them are truly time saving and their designs are examples of the best in modern technological invention. The pedigree of these labor saving devices is fairly recent. The first swimming pool vacuum cleaner was invented by Ferdinand Chauvier in South Africa. He was a hydraulics engineer who came to South Africa from the Belgian Congo in 1951. Chauvier quickly realized that there was a huge market for taking the hassle out of cleaning swimming pools, and he went about inventing a machine that would do the job automatically, efficiently powered by the ordinary operation of the pool's filter. The company he formed still produces leading pool cleaning equipment, but a host of others have now also entered the market he started.

The daily cycle of a pool filter pump must be such that an algae population cannot achieve sufficient size to reproduce faster than the filtering system removes it from the water. If the size of the algae population exceeds the rate at which it is removed, the pool must be shocked with a chemical agent that will kill the algae in the pool. The green particles can then be removed by installing a pool filter bag on the return line. These bags can filter particles down to one micron and will allow you to reuse water from backwashing in your pool.

There are some quite big energy demands from a swimming pool. The first is pool filter power consumption. An average pool filter system uses about 800 watts, whereas some are advertised to run on less than half of that beware of underpowered systems which may be presented as more sustainable and efficient yet simply do not circulate rapidly enough. Obviously, if you can get your users to take care and bring less dirt into the pool in the first place, you will gain the biggest savings. With careful (clean) use you won't have to run your filter system for up to half the day, lowering the cost of maintenance, cleaning chemicals and making less noise!

Diving has been replaced with floating, exercising and just plain swimming. Today's pools are more usable by more age groups at both ends.