It’s good practice to check your pool on a regular basis throughout the winter. At Puglia Pools we visit all our clients pools every three or four weeks (and after heavy storms) to ensure the cover is still in place, water bags are full, pool level is not too high and to test the water chemistry. Prevention is better than cure and helps to guarantee a perfect pool as soon as it is opened in the spring.

In general pool lamps are very simple to replace when they blow and the pool water level does not need to lowered. The light units are attached to the housing in the pool wall by a length of cable that allows the unit to be lifted out of the water and placed on the side of the pool while the bulb is being changed.
A replacement 300 watt bulb is normally priced at around €30 to €45 and fitting is less than an hour per bulb.
All pool bulbs are 12volt so there is a transformer that reduces the mains supply usually found in the pool room. On occasions these may need replacing but again this is a very simple job. Prices start at around €70 depending on the make of transformer and replacement is again less than an hours work.
​When building a pool make sure this type of lamp is installed as we have seen types used that really should not be in a swimming pool.
Modern LED lights run on around 20watts rather than 200 or 300watts of the tungsten versions so even though they are more expensive to buy the cost of running them is much less.

​Maintaining the correct level of PH in your pool is very important as it directly affects the ability of chlorine to sanitise the pool water.
When chlorine products are added to water they react with it to produce two different compounds. One of these compounds is very efficient at killing bacteria while the second is around 100 times less efficient. The higher the PH of the water the larger the amount of the second, less useful product is produced and therefore the less effective the chlorine is.
The PH level must not be reduced to far as an acidic water is not good for bathers, liners or pool equipment in general even though it produces much more of the useful chlorine compound. Therefore, a PH level of 7.2 to 7.4 is considered to be the best at producing the most amount of useful chlorine from water that is pleasant to bathe in and doesn’t damage pool equipment.
PH should be tested every time your maintenance company visits as it can constantly change. The total alkalinity of the water dictates how stable it is and how much the PH will fluctuate. We have come across many pools where the PH is far below acceptable levels which leads us to believe that quite a few maintenance operatives simply chuck in a couple of litres on every visit in the assumption that the PH has risen. If the water is stable then the PH will remain stable and adding litre after litre of acid will just keep on dropping the PH to unacceptable levels.