# Pool maintenance cost



## Rabbitcat

Just a quicky- was quoted €800 a year plus chemicals for maintenance on a 7x4 plunge pool- sounds bloody dear to me or am I just a tight ass? Thanks


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## CapnBilly

Rabbitcat said:


> Just a quicky- was quoted €800 a year plus chemicals for maintenance on a 7x4 plunge pool- sounds bloody dear to me or am I just a tight ass? Thanks


In our area that's about the standard price (€780) for an 8x4 pool including chemicals. It hasn't really changed in the last 7 years.


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## The Skipper

Rabbitcat said:


> Just a quicky- was quoted €800 a year plus chemicals for maintenance on a 7x4 plunge pool- sounds bloody dear to me or am I just a tight ass? Thanks


Do it yourself for under €100 a year - including chemicals. I knew nothing about pools when we bought our house but I soon discovered that it´s pretty simple and there´s loads of advice (including videos) on the internet.


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## Rabbitcat

Yeah would def look into that
The other thing that puzzled me was the owners said they kept their pool filled 12 months of year- in other places I have always emptied it off season


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## Gazeebo

All our friends who have pools in Spain keep them filled and cover them. I think it would seriously bump up the price of maintenance if you emptied and filled it every winter, as water is quite expensive.


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## The Skipper

Rabbitcat said:


> Yeah would def look into that
> The other thing that puzzled me was the owners said they kept their pool filled 12 months of year- in other places I have always emptied it off season


If the pool is sunk into the ground leaving it empty can cause problems, especially in certain soil conditions. Pressure can be exerted onto the walls of the pool and without water to counteract it structural damage can be caused. Also, if you are in an area where overnight frost is likely in the winter there is a possibility of tiles lifting in an empty pool.


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## Gazeebo

The Skipper said:


> If the pool is sunk into the ground leaving it empty can cause problems, especially in certain soil conditions. Pressure can be exerted onto the walls of the pool and without water to counteract it structural damage can be caused. Also, if you are in an area where overnight frost is likely in the winter there is a possibility of tiles lifting in an empty pool.


When looking for properties, we saw an empty pool which looked as though it had partly lifted out of the ground an the agent said then that you should never leave an empty pool. So now I know why! Thanks.


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## The Skipper

Gazeebo said:


> All our friends who have pools in Spain keep them filled and cover them. I think it would seriously bump up the price of maintenance if you emptied and filled it every winter, as water is quite expensive.


Expensive water? One of the downsides of life on the coast! Here in the mountains (inland Alicante) there is an abundance of the stuff, pumped from underground streams and wells into small storage reservoirs and supplied without any restrictions on usage (just one meter for domestic and garden/pool use!). Filling my 7 x 4 pool costs about €80 so it´s no big deal to empty it once in a while to give the tiles and grout a good scrub.


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## Rabbitcat

Would love to be able to give the maintenance a go myself
It would be a tiny plunge pool 7x4 but am not very technically minded

Will try to hunt for tips and videos online- anyone with any good pointers would be appreciated


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## mrypg9

Rabbitcat said:


> Would love to be able to give the maintenance a go myself
> It would be a tiny plunge pool 7x4 but am not very technically minded
> 
> Will try to hunt for tips and videos online- anyone with any good pointers would be appreciated


Well, now, if I, a mere female, can manage to maintain our larger but not Olympic size pool, then you, with your masculine ability and know-how will find it a piece of cake

Seriously, it's not complicated and if you run into problems you will get all the help you need from the helpful people here.

After the heavy rain of last weekend our pool is filthy, full of sand and grit borne on the wind and rain...I really should do more than think about cleaning it. One useful tip I was given was to buy chemicals from our local ferreteria and not supermarkets or DIY stores. I buy a huge container of liquid chlorine which lasts for weeks for less than 25 euros and a container of algicide for under 15 euros.


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## The Skipper

mrypg9 said:


> Well, now, if I, a mere female, can manage to maintain our larger but not Olympic size pool, then you, with your masculine ability and know-how will find it a piece of cake
> 
> Seriously, it's not complicated and if you run into problems you will get all the help you need from the helpful people here.
> 
> After the heavy rain of last weekend our pool is filthy, full of sand and grit borne on the wind and rain...I really should do more than think about cleaning it. One useful tip I was given was to buy chemicals from our local ferreteria and not supermarkets or DIY stores. I buy a huge container of liquid chlorine which lasts for weeks for less than 25 euros and a container of algicide for under 15 euros.


Actually, I find Mercadona one of the cheapest places to buy pool chemicals. A tub of pure chlorine tablets (which lasts all year) costs about €25 and I probably go through about 15 litres of PH reducer (about €12). Never had to use algicida but occasionally give the pool a chlorine shock (fast dissolving granules) and I also use flocculant tablets every couple of weeks during the summer. I test the water using the Mercadona test kits which are also pretty cheap. Other supermarkets and DIY stores are, I agree, very expensive for pool chemicals, especially Carrefour!


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## Rabbitcat

Tell me a bit about using a test kit
Is there a recommended limit to keep above/ below
How often do you need to test


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## The Skipper

Rabbitcat said:


> Tell me a bit about using a test kit
> Is there a recommended limit to keep above/ below
> How often do you need to test


In the summer when the pool is in daily use I test every couple of days. The simple test using the Mercadona kit involves putting the plastic container under water (elbow depth) and then letting it fill to the level as indicated in each side. Pop a Phenol Red tablet in the PH side and a DPD tablet in the CL side. Pop the lid back on and give it a shake. If the PH is correct (between 7.2 and 7.4) the colour should be a light orange. If the chlorine level is correct (around 1.5) the CL tube will be light purple. I have attached a PDF which you might find helpful even though it is a little technical (it sounds worse than it is!)


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## Rabbitcat

Skipper thanks a lot for that leaflet. 

If I may ask just a quicky to get me started- the leaflet tells you how to work out how many gallons capacity a pool is if it's rectangular or round- house I was looking at had a triangular pool- how the heck would I work out its capacity??? Thanks


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## snikpoh

Triangular pools are hard to calculate but are not common - thankfully.

As a mathematician I could give you the long (correct answer) but the easiest way is as follows;

Take two of the sides, multiply together and halve. Take the depth in deep end and add to depth in the shallow end. Divide this by two and multiply previous answer.

For example; If your triangular pool has sides of 5, 6 and 7 metres, multiply 5 and 6 to get 30. If the average depth is 1.5 metres then the volume of the pool is 30/2 *1.5 = 22.5

The volume in litres is therefore 22500 litres (not gallons)

This is very rough but will do for these purposes.


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## The Skipper

Rabbitcat said:


> Skipper thanks a lot for that leaflet.
> 
> If I may ask just a quicky to get me started- the leaflet tells you how to work out how many gallons capacity a pool is if it's rectangular or round- house I was looking at had a triangular pool- how the heck would I work out its capacity??? Thanks


Seek and thee shall find (Google, verse 3, line 5): Pool Volume Calculator | PENTAIR


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## Rabbitcat

Verily Reverend Skipper I thanketh thee


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## Mykap

Rabbitcat said:


> Would love to be able to give the maintenance a go myself
> It would be a tiny plunge pool 7x4 but am not very technically minded
> 
> Will try to hunt for tips and videos online- anyone with any good pointers would be appreciated


You don't need to be - go to trouble free pool dot com or google TFP Pool school.


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