Pool Madness

Anyone who knows me knows that the relationship I have with my pool is love-hate. I love having the pool for the kids and their friends to swim in. I loved everything about the pool when someone else took care of it and we had enough financial resources to buy all the equipment parts, supplies, electricity that it needed to look it's best, and when I could afford a gardener to come and spend time cleaning up the weeds every year when spring hit.

Then when I had to start taking care of it myself, and my budget grew a lot skinnier, the "hate" part of the relationship began. Nevertheless, one thing I am very proud of is that I learned to take apart the pool filter, clean it, reassemble it, put DE in it, and get the pressure at the right level. My filter is big, so taking the filter apart and lifting the grids out for cleaning requires a lot of strength (and clothespins - for my nose!) and it's very messy work. The first few times I had to do it, I had to have a lot of help. When I was done, I used to look like the "swamp thing" - green and slimy and covered in mud and DE. It used to take me two hours to clean the filter! Now I've got it down to a science, and it takes me less than an hour from beginning to end, and though I'm still grubby, I'm not covered in slime, usually.

For the last few years, we have had an ongoing problem with my pool. First, the fiberglass siding had begun to pull away from the wall of the pool. I had to get that fixed, which meant saving for the cost of it, and not being able to keep enough water in the pool to run the filter for fear of making the problem worse. After we fixed the pool surface, then we discovered that my pool filter was broken, and by the time we got it fixed, the algae had taken over, and my neighbors had called mosquito control and asked them to treat my pool (even though there were no mosquitoes in my yard). The oil they put in the water completely ruined my pool. No amount of cleaning or chemicals seemed to get it under control. We bought a new sweep. We changed out the motor (costs less to run now!). I looked into where to buy dynamite. Multiple times. We finally managed to get it under control at the end of last season.

I let my pool lay dormant for the winter because I refuse to clean something we can't use during the winter. That money is better spent on food and clothing and heating. I started way back in February to try to find a day to clean my pool and filter, but the rains kept coming. Finally, this week, we are beginning to get a handle on things again! Hooray! Within a few days, it should be doing much better. I'm praying that all works right this season so we can make use of the pool the way we want! Now, to get the kids to weed the pool area...