Five Important Salt Water Pool Care Tips
January 27, 2012 | 
Author If you have a salt water pool, caring for it is extremely important. Most commercial pool items and products are not made for pool care, so taking some time to learn what to buy and how to go about taking care of your pool is important. They can be a joy, but only if you learn proper maintenance techniques. Here are five important care tips that every owner should know:
1. Check salt levels regularly. In these, it is important to understand what your salt levels should be and how you can remedy it if there is a problem. Most companies recommend that salt concentration should be at 2,500 to 3,000 parts per million. This is where the chlorination comes from, so if you levels dip too low, the pool water will be unhealthy.
2. Never use more chlorine as needed. Occasionally, you may have to add a bit of granular chlorine to the pool. This is only necessary in your daily salt water pool care routine if you have excessive rain or a large number of swimmers. Under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t use chlorine at all.
3. Read salt instructions carefully. These products are all meant to be used a bit differently. In a normal one, you have to use salt regularly. Most manufacturers recommend that you dump this salt directly into the deep end of the pool. However, this is not how every product is used. Read the back label of the salt water pool care product before just dumping it into the pool.
4. Use products to remove salt from the bottom of the pool. As the salt settles to the bottom, it can create a brownish or yellowish look to your pool. Commercial pool care products can be used to remove these stains.
5. Seal your pool steps to prevent rusting. The salt in the water can cause rusting, especially in pools that are converted from typical water to salt. First, use commercial care product to remove the rust. Then, you can use protective and restorative products to seal off the steps so that this doesn’t happen year after year. This salt water pool care tip is best done at the end of the swimming season, when you can partially drain your pool in order to apply the sealant.
Care is extremely important if you want to ensure that your pool continues to run optimally. While there is tons of information regarding typical pool care, it can sometimes be a bit more difficult to learn about pool care. Many of the products available for pool care are not made for a salt water pool. Before using products and certain care methods on your pool, make sure you take some time to learn proper care tips like those listed above.
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Remove Permanent Marker From Carpet
How do you remove permanent marker stains from carpet? Well, the bad news is that it’s called “permanent” marker for a reason. Depending on how new and how deep the stains are, you may not be able to remove them completely.
You can almost always lighten stains, though, and sometimes make them unnoticible. There are other things you can do to hide the stain as well. Start with the method here to get out as much as you can.
First, thoroughly vacuum the area. This removes any loose dirt, dust or other substances that might give you trouble when you work on the stain.
For the carpet stain removal solvent, use rubbing alcohol or a non-oily hairspray. Use a small amount on a clean white cloth, and dab at the stain. You should see transfer of the stain to the cloth. Use another dry cloth to blot up the solution between applications.
Just apply the solution and blot it up several times. Then rinse the spot with clean water and blot that up. Finally, dry the area thoroughly.
Get Out The Remaining Stain
If you couldn’t get it all out, and if the stain isn’t too deep, it’s time to cut out some carpet – just a little. Try snipping away the stained edges with small scissors or with a razor blade or exacto knife. Use tweezers to carefully pull out severely stained fibers.
When you try the latter, you might want to remove clean carpet strands from another, hidden area in the room, and then glue them into the stained area. Then leave a heavy object on the spot for several days before walking on it. That’s how you remove permanent marker in all but the worst cases.
Infrared Sauna Review
Saunas have been perceived to be an item of luxury. And the other reason that they have gained attention is the role that they are capable of playing when it comes to weight loss. Interestingly, the new-age infrared saunas are way better compared to the classic old steam saunas when it comes to any of the above.
Let us review the key aspects you should look into while buying your sauna. Interestingly in each of these cases, an infrared sauna works way better than a conventional steam sauna. The list of aspects follows.
· Detoxification: This is the single-most important aspect of a sauna that you should look into. The better the detoxification capabilities, the better off you would be with your sauna. The detoxification aspect is related to the stress relief aspect described subsequently.
· Weight loss: According to Guyton’s textbook of Medical Physiology, 1 gram of sweat needs 0.568 kilo calories to produce. With a good infrared sauna, an average sauna user can produce 500 grams of sweat. A therapeutic session thus is capable or burning around 350 calories. This is equivalent to running a couple of miles or more. Infrared saunas also help your body to get rid of cellulite. Cellulite is a substance generated by the body fat cells, water and wastes. So sauna weight loss is not “water loss” as perceived by many, it is real weight loss if you use the right kind of infrared saunas.
· Pain relief: Infrared saunas lead to pain relief. The infrared energy can penetrate up to 1.5 inches inside our muscle tissues. Interestingly, almost 95% of this energy is absorbed through the skin. As a result, the blood circulation dynamics are positively affected, leading to reduction and even elimination of painful conditions such as Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Evidence has been found through studies that with the right kind of infrared sauna, the injury healing is quickened if the heat is applied 24-48 hours post-injury.
· Stress relief: Some top-quality saunas, especially the one mentioned at the end of this article (explore the resource link given in the last line of the article to find more), are equipped with Carbon 360 far infrared technology or its equivalent. This calls for improved blood circulation and quick stress relief. In other words, you get better refreshed in some saunas compared to others, and the best refreshment comes if your sauna has the Carbon 360 or equivalent technology incorporated.
· Safety: This is important – you would want a sauna which is shock-proof with ample guarantee, no matter what the manufacturer claims. I strongly recommend you never buy a sauna that is not certified by an authority. An ETL-certified sauna, for example, is a perfectly safe one to use and is on the top of my list of recommendations. ETL stands for Electrical Testing Laboratories.
Yes, to make sure that you are getting the best from your sauna, it is exactly the above five aspects that you should concentrate on, though I can think of a lot of other benefits that you get from a sauna.
And I have seen such huge lists of benefits and features on a number of websites, with none really telling you what are the actual aspects you, as a user of sauna, should really care about.
If you are planning to buy a sauna, I recommend that you go for carbon-based infrared saunas. Avoid ceramic saunas and avoid steam saunas – strictly. I know it may mean a couple of hundred extra bucks, but then, if that is difficult for you then I believe not owning a sauna at all is a better option.
Getting Bonded For a Cleaning Business
It is not always necessary for you to carry any type of insurance or bonding for your cleaning business. Although, not necessary it is always a great idea to protect yourself and your potential clients by having the insurances and bonding in place. Most companies will not let you bid on their work unless you show proof of your bond or insurance, as will some residential customers.
You should shop around to all business insurance agents in your area and get quotes to find out who will be the lowest premium for you. You should look into a Fidelity Bond. The fidelity bond is in place to protect the people you are working for from theft by you or by one of your current or past workers. In order for this policy to pay there will need to be a trial and guilt found. Clients like to see this type of bond since it will protect them from you and your company stealing from them. They will have an option if this were to ever happen.
The fidelity bond is purchased in many ways. You can have a bond on just you. You can have a bond on all employees. You can purchase a bond for one job in particular. You can purchase the bond for several jobs in a row. You can have a bond for the employees you choose. There are many ways to acquire and use fidelity bond.
The fidelity bond is just a “feel good” bond for the client, since most thefts are not required to go to trial the bond becomes a waste of your money. Find the cheapest premium you can just to make your clients feel good about you having the policy. This will be proof enough for companies required you to bid on work and for the residential community as well.
The other type of bond you will need is the Surety bond or “Performance” bond. This bond does what is says. It guarantees the client you will perform the jobs you agreed to for the money you are requesting. The client will then have the option to get in touch with your insurance company and collect the funds you have bid or used and hire someone else to complete the job and the client will not be out the money. The insurance company will have to pay for these charges on your policy.
Most of the time you will not need a surety bond, but for large jobs and state, city, or federal jobs will require you to have one. You can purchase a surety bond per job. You can purchase the bond per client. You can get a bond for a set dollar amount of the job or jobs you plan to do in a years’ time.
Before you submit a bid on a job you know will require a surety bond place the cost of the bond in your estimate. If you place the cost in the bid then it will already be covered. You can do this for all your bonds. Call your agent. Find out the cost of the particular bond on that job and place the estimate in your bid. This way you know if you are awarded the job you will have the bonds paid for in advance.
Top Tips – How to Build a Lean-to Shed
If you have a small garden and want to store equipment to care for it then getting a shed that is of sufficient size to fit in it can be a problem. If so then have you considered getting a lean to shed installed? These are small structures that are placed against the side of an existing structure and can protect whatever is kept inside from the elements. In this article we offer some advice you may find useful when it comes to how to build a lean to shed.
Today when it comes to you building your own lean to shed you have a number of different materials that you can use. One can either construct it from metal, wood, plastic or a combination of these. But it is important that the materials you use will suit the outside of your home.
However, if you don’t want your lean to shed to be attached to the side of your home or garage then you can build it with four sides rather than three. But if you are looking to construct the lean to quickly then building one with only 3 sides which is then attached to another buildings external wall is far the best option. You could even if you want to build a lean to then finish the outside of it using the same kind of siding or paint that is to found on your home and this makes it look even more like it has been there for some considerable time.
It is important when building a lean to shed that the roof is mono pitched as this will ensure that the rain water that falls on to it will roll away from the structure it is attached to. So this will ensure that no water can collect which could result in either damaging the roof of the lean to shed or the walls of the structure to which it has been attached. Certainly this is one part of the how to build a lean to shed that must be carried out correctly because as long as the pitch of the roof is right then rain will have a place to go.
Before you actually start to construct the shed using the many instructions on how to build a shed online you need to ensure that the base on which it is being placed is even. If necessary it may mean you either laying down skids and then propping them up or laying a concrete foundation. If you don’t make sure that the base on which the shed is to stand is even then the wall panels won’t line up properly and so things stored inside won’t be protected.
If you are using a shed building kit or creating your own then make sure that you have all the relevant materials and equipment to hand. You don’t want to have to stop the work half way through simply because you find that you need to go out and purchase a tool to carry on with the next stage of the construction.
Another thing that is crucial to do before you even go out and purchase the materials or kit to build a lean to shed is find out if you need to permission to erect such a structure. Although this is not always the case there may be some clause that additional structures to a home need planning permission before they can be constructed.
Above we have offered you some advice in relation to how to build a lean to shed before you do so. It is worth keeping these things in mind to ensure that not only you construct the right kind of structure but that it provides you with the space you need.
50 Ideas For Increasing Profits and Cost Reduction
Do you want to know 50 great profit building ideas that you can put to immediate use in your business to increase profits and reduce costs?
If yes, read all these ideas that have been implemented by clients and have benefited them giving their businesses dramatic boost in profitability. Most ideas can be put to action immediately. Each idea has the potential to give you many %points increase in net profits.
Research shows profits increase by 4%-56% and costs reduce by 18%-37% within 2 years using the simple 5 step process called the Profit Maps Model. Usually a 5% reduction in cost is adequate to turnaround most loss making businesses.
Businesses can calculate the value of the savings by these 2 simple formulas
If the business made a loss
Total Costs and Expenses = sales + absolute value of net loss +/- income tax = say X
Minimum Savings you will make in 2 years = 5% of X (which was calculated above)
If the business made a profit
Total Costs and Expenses = sales + net profit +/- income tax = say Y
Minimum Savings you will make in 2 years = 5% of Y (which was calculated above)
So how much can you save? Improve your profits by?
Revenue
This category typically contains inflows of resources into the business generated through operations.
Needless to say the profit building process can be used to generate marketing and sales ideas. The following ideas were generated with the objective of increasing revenue with little or no impact on the cost structure.
Revenue Increasing Ideas
1. If your company has facilities located over a multi-geographical area you may be able to rent antenna space to cellular phone companies. Typically these companies will pay for the use of rooftops as a place to erect their antennas. Another option is for billboards as advertising if you occupy a central location with a high visibility building. This enhances your revenue without any additional cost you. The point here is to explore alternative uses for your facilities. Remember they are assets that can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are numerous opportunities available for increased revenue if you look for them. Training room and function room facilities can be rented out in the evening or weekends. How about spare land or excess slots you own for public car parking?
2. Determine whether your business can market commission and non-commissioned products as add-on sales. Look for opportunities to sell products to your existing customer base at no additional cost. Examples are catalogue sales to airline passengers and the sale of miscellaneous products to credit card customers. You may have the opportunity to do something similar. Your customers have more value than you realise.
3. Is there any additional value in your customer database? Perhaps your business could generate additional revenue by selling the data. Alternatively consider starting a telemarketing department to market another line of products or services. Depending on your business and the nature of your customer base you may have something great here.
4. Explore the advantages of an effective e-strategy including e-commerce, e-business, e- people and e-technology. There is no question that the new opportunities available through the Internet offer new and innovative ways to increase profits and reduce costs. Consult with an expert in this area including a cross-section of your employees and magic will happen.
5. Segment your customers into heavy user and light user categories and determine the difference between these two groups. What needs to be done to generate another sale from both categories? All customers are critical. What can you learn about the different types of customers to determine whether more selling occasions possible? Make the most of these customers; you already have them.
6. Develop retention strategies as well as growth strategies. In today’s markets, it is as important to hold on to your existing customer base as it to grow your business. It took you a certain amount of resources to attract your customers: you may want to explore ways to retain a high percentage. What is your cost to acquire a customer? What is your cost to retain a customer? Do your employees know?
7. Continue to look for augmented products and/or services that would add value without adding expense.
8. Explore opportunities to licence or franchise your business products or services for additional market share or penetration
9. Explore merger and acquisition scenarios where efficiencies would be gained for all businesses concerned.
10. Develop a relationship with a long-distance carrier whereby your company will distribute phone cards to your customer base in return for a fee or residual commission.
Salaries
This category typically contains charges associated with
· Management Pay
· Non-management Pay
· Hourly Wages
· Training Labour
· Overtime Pay
· All Other Pay, Wages and Salary items
Cost Saving Ideas
11. Establish a 45 to 60 hour per week work environment among the managers. Cost structures among your competitors are basically similar to your cost structure so you will obtain an advantage because your managers are working more hours. This assumes that your managers are productive. Managers who have responsibility for a workforce of hourly employees are usually at the facility, a retail outlet, restaurant or office at least this amount of time. Sometimes business volume is extremely low at early or closing hours. During the slow hours managers can save substantially by scheduling fewer employees and filling it themselves. In addition to the Labour savings, managers will become more knowledgeable about operations and will find ways to improve customer service, training and operations. I have put this procedure in place in several places. At the beginning there will always be resistance, but once managers get beyond the initial hump things will run smoothly. I also find that certain incentive programmes work well here. Get the manager’s incentives based on Labour dollar saved and they come to understand the process.
12. Effectively manage your salary administration programs. Many companies pay lip service to this principle but failed to obtain true levels of success in salary administration and management. To start, make sure you have a salary range for every position in the company. Salaries should be structured so that the midpoint is 100, the minimum is 80% and the maximum is 120%. The basic philosophy is that the candidate should be hired into a position between the minimum and the midpoint on the basis of his or her level of experience. The employees are then moved higher in the range on the basis of performance. This philosophy is based on the premise that mid-point is the amount the position is worth to the company. Employees can obtain an additional 20% through stellar performance. Few employees should be paid over the 120% range. Each job is worth a specific amount to the organisation. If a new hire needs training to become efficient in a particular job, that employee is working at a level below the worth of the position and therefore should be paid at the minimum salary range. When the employee’s performance rises at successful completion of training and can perform 100% of the job duties move the employee quickly toward the midpoint of the salary range.
13. Insist that a salary survey be done every year to ensure that you have achieved the desired community position relative to your competition. In this case the competition is those companies that would recruit your employees. You need to make sure that if you survey 10 competitors; you have a salary range higher than 75% of these companies for your key positions and higher than 50% of these companies for lower-level positions. Implementing this strategy will help you reduce turnover and will also ensure that you are not overpaying for positions.
14. Make sure your salary administration program allows for regular salary review. Typically, this is done once a year for salaried employees and every six months for hourly employees. The review should include a performance appraisal form and the employee’s performance levels should correspond with established pay increases. In other words, establish the pay for your performance review system.
15. Establish a bell curve of salary increases. Let’s say that approximately 8% of your employees are superior performers, 12% are above average, 60% are average, 12% are fair, and 8% are poor. Create a salary increase guideline that mirrors this curve, with the better performing employees receiving higher increases. For example superior employees are given 6% to 7%, above average employees 4% to 5%, average employees 3%, fair employees 2%, and poor employees 0%. This allows the organisation to check and reward performance whilst still meeting its salary increase budget. Obviously, your goal is to continue to train and develop your workforce. Occasionally, low performing employees have to be replaced with those most suited to the position. The Bell curve is just a process to ensure that star performers are recognised and rewarded for their work.
16. Establish the salary increase guideline budget and stick to it. Plan salary increases for the coming year by using the Bell curve mentioned in the above idea. Department managers should budget salary increases for employees assuming that the next year’s performance will be at the same level as this year’s. Please be aware that some performance ratings will change. There will always be exceptions. This process will help ensure that your organisation will remain within the new salary increase budget.
17. The salary increase guideline budget should be preapproved. When a different rating is submitted during the year, treat it as an exception and make sure to justify it because performances can change- it may go up or down. A strict salary administration program will ensure that budgets are achieved.
18. Establish a training rate for all appropriate positions. This is crucial when your organisation experiences higher levels of turnover during the first and second months of employment. The training rate is lower than the standard pay rate and is applicable only during the training period. Employees are given a raise once the training has been completed satisfactorily. Determine whether the training rate could be established for other positions in the organisation.
19. Where the training rate is not appropriate, establish a probationary rate for the standard 90 day period. This rate is lower than the standard pay rate and is applicable only during the first 90 days of employment. If performance is satisfactory, the employee will receive a raise to the standard pay rate. Determine whether a probationary rate could be established for all positions in the organisation.
20. Develop a labour-management system whereby a computer predicts daily or hourly volume and the amount of labour needs on the basis of seasonality. Most businesses have a trend cycle that can be measured with 15 minute increments. First, you must find a way to get past the notion that your business cannot be tracked this way. There is a pattern to your business. Discovering your business pattern is the first step toward determining how to manage your Labour cost. Management will give you many reasons why the business cannot be tracked. Once you work through all their concerns, you and your team can identify those trend items, aspects of your customer behaviour that, in fact, can be tracked and schedule Labour accordingly.
21. Determine whether your new hires would qualify for the targeted job tax credit program whereby a percentage of training dollars is refunded by the government.
22. Determine whether your organisation would qualify for tax benefits for providing employee childcare services.
23. If your employees handle cash transactions, install software driven cash reconciliation process to save time at shift changes and at closing. This will also reduce cash shortages. This type of procedure also saves time in the cash out process.
24. Constantly look for software modifications that can reduce labour. Seconds saved could also mean dollars earned. Using technology is a natural approach to the whole effort of productivity improvement. If your business has not recently explored this area, effective tools that currently exist may surprise you.
25. Have an industrial engineer evaluate your business in terms of time and motion studies to determine whether additional efficiencies can be achieved in areas where high throughput is important. This approach can still work today. Some managers run their businesses the same way they did 10 or 20 years ago. Time and motion studies can have an impact on cost savings, productivity, customer service, and employee morale.
26. Establish a self-regulating team with the specific responsibility of improving productivity and reducing costs in a particular department or area of the organisation.
27. Develop an incentive to reduce absenteeism. This incentive should be linked to productivity improvement goals and to the availability of the workforce. It should be based on reducing absenteeism from previous period. The incentives could be a vacation bonus based on a 1% reduction in absenteeism
28. Develop a variable pay program whereby management salaries are reduced 5% to 10% across the board and these dollars are set aside into a bonus pool. When there is goal achievement, managers have the potential to earn even higher levels of compensation. However, these dollars will be at risk if managers do not achieve profit objectives. The potential to earn even higher levels of compensation will help sell this item.
29. Controlling your staff turnover is another way to reduce operating costs. Implementing strategies throughout the entire human resources cycle to ensure that all systems, procedures, policies, and practices are tight preventing employees from falling through the cracks. I refer to this as the human resources closed loop. If you think about it you will see that there is a cycle to the human resources process. It starts with recruitment, interviewing, selection and placement and continues to orientation, training, salary administration, performance appraisal, development, promotion, and finally termination. Then the cycle begins again. Make sure that all of the areas mentioned are employee friendly and are designed to retain employees. Identify any areas where improvements would reduce the number of employees leaving.
30. In order to determine where are to place additional controls, measure your labour costs in terms of cost per unit, cost per test, cost per guest check, etc. Breaking your labour costs down to the lowest unit will help you better identify cost saving ideas. It will also make it easier to affect and control.
Other Personnel Costs
This category would typically contains charges associated with
· Applied Payroll Burden
· Superannuation Employers Portion
· Vacation
· Paid Holidays
· Sick Leave
· Bonuses
· Short/Long term disability
· Group medical
Cost Saving Ideas
31. Make sure your company has a program that offers all full-time employees the opportunity to receive a higher salary in lieu of accepting certain benefits (such as medical, dental and life-insurance). Today many employees are being carried on a spouse’s plan. Why not let these employees choose a higher salary instead of benefits? As long as salary increases less than the cost of benefits, the company will save money and employees will increase their income.
32. Evaluate the cost of your superannuation administration. There are competitive programs that can reduce administrative costs. A simple evaluation of three different companies will determine whether you have an opportunity to realise savings. Even if you do not want to change the current superannuation administration you may still be able to negotiate better terms by showing your evaluation.
33. Reduce workers compensation insurance by aggressively reducing accidents. Evaluate your workers compensation actual to determine your claims history. Most companies set an actual rate and never re-evaluate them even though their experiences change. Depending on your business you may be surprised at the potential savings here.
34. Using the Internet conduct benefit surveys to comply your cost with those of similar organisations.
35. Challenge third-party providers to reduce administration costs by using the Profit Maps Model and passing those savings along to you.
36. Continue to monitor workers compensation costs and develop action plans to reduce them.
37. Develop a back to work programme that puts injured employees in alternative positions. There are times when injured employees want to remain active in the organisation and appropriate positions are available.
38. Negotiate settlements when long-term workers compensation situations dictate.
39. Eliminate alcohol at all company sponsored activities. This approach can prevent accidents, cut beverage costs at functions and reduce risks.
Communications
This category typically contains charges associated with
· Long-Distance Telephone
· Cellular Phone
· Pagers
· Data lines
· Fax lines
Cost Saving Ideas
40. Authorise a telecommunications consultant to analyse all your communication costs in terms of rates charged, equipment used, and programmes offered, promotions available, usage, cellular phone options, long-distance carrier performance and pricing, fax and security line combinations, past bills, and so on. Structure the contract so that the consultant bills on the basis of percentage of cost saved or refunds received. In this way, there will be no cost to you if the consultant is not successful in improving your bottom line. Review all areas of communication to ferret out these pockets of expense that often go unnoticed. Pagers and cell phones are usually ordered and distributed without the benefit of an organised plan. There are real and meaningful discounts if you shop around.
41. Continue to renegotiate rates and terms with the vendors who provide services. Set up an ongoing procedure for constantly renegotiating rates and terms.
42. Monitor and control your communications cost on the basis of the cost per unit test (guests check, or that like) in order to determine locations for exerting any additional control.
Utilities
In this category typically charges associated are
· Gas and Electricity Usage
· Water
Cost Saving Ideas
43. Authorise a utility consultant to analyse your utility costs. Such consultants would know how to deal effectively with the local public service companies in order to discover advantages or missed opportunities associated with gas and electric services. They should be fully authorised to check existing equipment and records. They should be experienced in developing an index and analyses and creating demand graphs to spot situations where you may have been overcharged. They would also represent your issues to the public utility commission.
44. Pay your consultant on the basis of a percentage of the savings associated with his or her action steps. The typical rate is 25% to 30% of the demonstrated savings and refunds over a specific period of time. There should be no charge if savings are not demonstrated.
45. Take energy conservation action steps including setting thermostats at 72°F. Automatic controls should be put in place to control temperature during off hours.
46. Turn off lights in conference rooms, restrooms and officers when they are not in use.
47. Turn off all lights not related to security at the close of business.
Professional fees
This category typically includes charges associated with professional services such as
· Legal and Human Resources Related Fees
· Proposals (domestic and international)
· Fees for Technical Services
· Other professional fees
Cost saving ideas
48. Talk about fees. If your lawyer does not bring up the subject of fees, you should. Do not be shy. In business, lawyers are free to set their own fees. The best time to discuss is at the beginning of a new legal matter.
49. Try to settle cases rather than litigate.
50. Have lawyers design standard forms you can use in routine transactions.
Conclusion
Pink Slime in Swimming Pools
Pink Slime (and its “buddy” White water mold) is a newer problem facing swimming pool owners over the past 10 – 20 years. They are naturally occurring and are caused only by a lack of proper pool maintenance and water chemistry. In fact, even non-pool owners struggle with the pink slime in bathrooms, kitchens, and washrooms. Ever notice that pink ring around the basin? That’s pink slime.
Let’s define what pink slime is. Pink slime is a naturally occurring bacterium (of the newly formed genus Methylobacterium). Pink Lime is NOT a form of Algae, it is animal not vegetable. It is pink- or red-pigmented and forms a heavy, protective slime coating which provides the organism with an unusually high level of protection. Pink slime consumes methanol (a waste gas) and it is oftentimes found WITH White Water Mold. This organism is very resilient and resistant against halogen-based (chlorine or bromine) as well as non-halogen sanitizers or germicides and can remain a contaminant even after treatment.
Although initially found in swimming pools being treated with biguanides (Baquacil, Soft Swim, Polyclear, etc.), it is now seen in any and all swimming pool environments. This is NOT a biguanide problem ONLY nor is it CAUSED by the use of biguanides.
The pink slime bacterium has an affinity for the matrix that exists on the surface of PVC plastics; it will attach itself to & inside of the matrix, allowing it to re-contaminate long after it appears that it has been seemingly “destroyed” (includes pool toys, floats, ladders, steps, fountains, automatic pool cleaner parts, skimmer baskets, weirs, directional fittings, garden hoses, etc.). Small quantities of pink slime can lead to a re-establishment of the problem. It is caused by improper water & pool maintenance, environmental factors and poor circulation. Pink slime prefers areas that are “dark” (not exposed to direct sunlight) & with “slow moving” water. In another industry, medical technology, this bacterium occurs regularly in laboratory tubin.
Look for pink slime under ladder treads, behind the skimmer weir, on the undersides skimmer baskets, pool directional returns, underwater pool light niches and light housings. If you find that the pool just isn’t holding chlorine, bromine, or even hydrogen peroxide used in biguanide treated pools, look for pink slime.
After regular tracking of homeowners swimming pools affected by pink slime, here are some commonalities:
Many, but not all, affected pools have “smaller (under) sized” cartridge filters. (i.e. using a 75 sq ft filter on a 24 ft Rnd aboveground pool or a 90 sq ft filter on a 15 x 30 inground pool).
Affected pools get 6 hours or less of direct sunlight on the pool surfaces.
Pool owners always leave the solar blanket on AND don’t chemically clean the blanket the recommended 2 times per year to remove the accumulated biofilm.
“Shocking” or oxidizing of the pool water is not done with the recommended label instructions. For example, rather than shocking the pool every week or two, that task is neglected because the water “looks fine.”
Rainy pool seasons see a dramatic rise in the cases of pink slime.
Customers regularly add fresh water from their tap without letting the hose-water run for a couple of minutes (the pink slime is already present in the garden hose and is transferred to the pool).
Pools with sand filters are not changing the sand every 2 to 3 years AND not chemically cleaning the filter sand 3 times a season (once every 6 to 8 weeks).
Newer observation: Most of the affected seem to use publicly treated drinking water. Pools filled with well water appear to be not as severely affected.
Affected pools are not as fastidiously maintained chemically (water balance, use of borate additives such as BioGuard Optimizer Plus or Proteam Supreme, regular shocking), as clean pools.
Another observation is that many water companies across the country, in partial response to “consumer calls” to “get rid of chlorine in the drinking water” are now using mono-chloramines to treat the water (over the past 15 to 20 years). Mono-chloramines do an essentially good job at treating pathogens in the drinking water, however, some of the non-pathogenic organisms may indeed be getting by. Unfortunately, there is only experiential or anecdotal evidence.
Prevention of “pink slime” is preferred over treatment. Follow these steps to help prevent pink slime:
Physically brush & clean ALL Pool surfaces weekly, including ladder steps (especially underneath each step) & rails
Expose ALL pool surfaces to as much sunlight as possible (sunlight & UV are natural oxidizers)
Remove the lid from the skimmer to allow sunlight into the basket for several hours each day ** INGROUND POOLS MUST USE EXTREME CAUTION in doing this in order to avoid a person falling into or otherwise injuring themselves due to an open skimmer.
Regularly add oxidizing chemicals into the skimmer to purge & clean the filtration lines of any bio-film (use extreme caution if doing this. Add chemicals slowly and remove ANY and ALL objects, including slow dissolving chlorine tablets or sticks, to avoid a potential chemical reaction such as explosion.
When adding make-up water from the garden hose, allow the water to run for 2 to 3 minutes before putting the hose into the pool.
Regularly clean pool toys & floats (use BioGuard Stow Away acting as a mildewcide)
Regularly clean pool solar blanket (use BioGuard Stow Away)
Chemically clean the pool filter every 4 to 6 weeks (use Strip Kwik, Kleen It or Soft Swim® Filter Cleaner). This is a very important step regardless of the filter type; sand, DE or Cartridge.
Add regular Maintenance dosages of “Shock” & Algicide every 1 to 2 weeks as prescribed (3 to 4 weeks in bguanide pools).
Use borate products such as BioGuard Optimizer Plus as a preventative measure (borates, when used properly at a rate of 50 – 80 ppm, allow the sanitizer to sanitize rather than sanitize and prevent algae growth).
Run the filter a minimum of 12 hours daily to prevent “dead spots” in the pool.
Remember to clean & rinse the brushes, hoses & vacuums that you use to clean the pool
Leave as much of your pool equipment exposed to the sun (sunlight is a natural oxidizer)
Keep the water balanced at all times. Recheck after heavy usage or rain or large “top-offs” of new water. Water balance refers to Free Available Sanitizer level, pH, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness.
Treatment of “pink slime” MUST BE QUICK AND TOTAL! DON’T SKIMP!
Clean all pool & affected surfaces as prescribed above.
Physically clean & remove all visible “pink slime”
Add an initial dosage of algicide to the pool
“Shock” the pool with a triple or quadruple dose
Run filter 24 hours daily until water is clear & halogen or peroxide levels are maintained at a “higher” level
Chemically clean the filter. Simple rinsing or backwashing of the filter will not remove the greases, oils & other accumulated contaminant from the filter and filter tank.
Have the pool water professionally tested & analyzed. Look for a pool company that knows what they are talking about and isn’t afraid to tell you the truth about problem.
Maintain Optimizer Plus (or other borate product) levels
Maintain good water balance of pH, Total Alkalinity & Calcium Hardness
The longer that you allow the pink slime to remain, the more difficult it will be to cure.
Cloudy Pool Water – Causes & Cures
Cloudy pool water is caused by many factors. These factors may be chemical (water balance, pH, improper methods), mechanical (pool filter system) or environmental (source water, excessive rain, heavy use). Often times, pool owners attempt to treat the symptoms but not the cause of the cloudy water, so we have to look at all of the things that may contribute to the problem. Let’s look at the causes of cloudy swimming pool water, then we can look at treatments and cures.
Before we dive in let’s first put cloudy water to the test. Cloudy pool water is in the eyes of the beholder. Cloudy can mean: Dull – the pool water just doesn’t sparkle. Hazy – it just isn’t as clear as it normally is. Cloudy – you can make out the bottom of the pool if you look hard. Opaque – the term says it all!
Chemical Reasons
Many pool owners quickly blame “bad chemicals” so let’s start there. Here are some of the factors and their contribution to the cloudy water problem. Water chemistry can contribute to cloudy or hazy water – if the pH is HIGH (over 7.8) and or the Total Alkalinity (TA) is HIGH (over 200 ppm) and or the Calcium Hardness (CH) is HIGH (over 400 ppm). With pH & TA being high the water will become dull or flat and the chlorine reacts more slowly loses its ability to kill and control bacteria and algae. Now you have early algae growth – another cause of cloudy pool water. High CH doesn’t become a problem until the water warms up to over 85 degrees F; then you have a “cloudy” condition that won’t go away. Maintain good pool water balance with these parameters: pH – 7.2 – 7.6 (all pools); Total Alkalinity – 80 – 120 ppm (concrete) or 120 – 150 ppm (vinyl liner); Calcium Hardness 200 – 300 ppm (concrete) or 175 – 250 ppm (vinyl).
Other chemical or chemistry based reasons for cloudy pool water would be lack of regular shocking, periodic chemical cleaning of the filter, poorly maintained sanitizer levels, lack of a chemical maintenance routine. Regular weekly or biweekly shocking of the pool aids in oxidizing un-filterable swimmer waste such as body oils, lotions, urine, hair gel, perspiration, etc. We find that the single biggest mistake customers make in their normal care is not shocking the pool often enough or insufficiently (not using the proper amount of pool shock). Proper shocking also helps to “rejuvenate” the chlorine level and knock out early algae growth. Whenever you have a pool party with lots of expected bathers, consider shocking the pool the day before (helps build up the chlorine level providing a buffer for an eventual chlorine demand) as well as immediately following the party (shocks & oxidizes everything that was brought into the pool during the party — if your guests weren’t using the bathroom, the beer & soda had to go somewhere). Using a calcium hypochlorite shock such as BioGuard Burn Out Extreme is preferred since the product will get in, do its work, then get out. Potassium monopersulfate shocks like Oxysheen work well to help break up chloramines (combined chlorines), but shouldn’t be used exclusively.
Mechanical Reasons
If the chemistry is good and the pool is being properly shocked and algaecide added every 1 to 2 weeks, then it is necessary to look at the mechanical reasons. The mechanical components contributing to cloudy pool water would be improper filter size (too small), improper pump and motor size (too small or too large a horsepower pump), insufficient filtering time, poor circulation, improper maintenance (vacuuming & brushing). I can recount story after story when I’ve walked into a customer’s backyard to help them troubleshoot a problem pool only to find the filter shut off or improperly connected. When simple corrections are made, the pool water is clear in as little as 24 hours. Let’s examine some basics.
Your swimming pool‘s filtering system should be operating a minimum of 8 to 10 hours per day, every day from opening to closing. If the pool water becomes cloudy or other problems become evident, then constant running of the filter until the problem is solved is required. If the filter was properly sized (even slightly bigger is better) then 8 to 10 hours daily is good. On the other hand, too large of a pump may be “harmful” to the filtration. If the horsepower is too great, you may be blowing dirt and everything else you want filtered right through the filter (especially sand filters). When it comes to 2 speed pumps, make sure the “high” speed run time is set for a minimum of 6 hours daily PLUS and additional 12 to 18 hours at “low” speed).
Consider using an automatic pool cleaner. You’ll end up with better circulation, cleaner pool surfaces and less work.
The other mechanical reasons are also important. Regular vacuuming and brushing help with the overall circulation by moving water around. Keep directional “eyeballs” pointed DOWN to force filtered water down to the bottom of the pool and therefore aid in water movement by breaking up dead spots. Too frequent backwashing of the filter doesn’t give the filter media enough time to do its best cleaning — a dirty filter filters a finer particle. One final mechanical reason for cloudy pool water, lack of use. Actively used pools are always better circulated and filtered. So even if the water is cloudy (as long as the water is in good chemical balance), use the pool!
Environmental Reasons
Remember that whatever is out in the world, will eventually get in the pool and detract from water clarity. Pollen, dust, dirt, leaves, make-up water, bird droppings (forgot about those, right?), rain, local construction sites, etc. can all affect your swimming pool. Each of these culprits needs to treated differently. Pollen, dust and other fine particulate can be treated using a water clarifier like BioGuard Polysheen Blue. Flocculants work well in severe situations by settling the particles to pool bottom and vacuuming it all out on Waste. Use a skimmer sock inside of the skimmer to remove fine pollen or dust that may be too fine for your sand filter.
Leaves, swimmers, makeup water, droppings will create a chlorine demand. Shocking the pool is necessary. Make-up water can change the water chemistry affecting the pH, TA and CH not to mention the possible addition of heavy metals, all of which can cause or add to water cloudiness.
Final Notes
As you can see there’s no 1 or 2 reasons for cloudy pool water. It’s usually a combination of factors. Some of them not even coming from the pool itself. The best solution to cloudy pool water is prevention utilizing a good, regular chemical and cleaning maintenance program. About 30 to 60 minutes per week is all that it takes. If or when your pool water turns cloudy, don’t start adding clarifiers or flocs. Get down to the real cause. Look at all of the contributing factors.
How To Get Ripped Fast With Bodyweight Exercises
You spend most of your life with clothes on, so it’s pretty easy to hide your less-than-impressive physique from the world. But what happens when beach season is coming up? Or when you’re invited to a pool party? Are you comfortable taking off your shirt in public?
If not, don’t fret. You can get ripped – fast – by going on the right kind of exercise program and cleaning up your diet. What Does It Mean to Be Ripped?
When someone is called “ripped,” you can generally expect him to have very low body-fat levels and a decent amount of muscle. In other words, he should exhibit what old-timers call “muscularity.” An elite marathon runner might have very low amounts of body fat, but since he carries only a teaspoon of muscle, no one would consider him ripped. Likewise, a super-heavyweight powerlifter might have a lot of lean muscle, but since it’s covered up with layers of adipose tissue, no one would consider him ripped either.
Those are extreme examples, two ends of a spectrum. In the middle, the classification becomes hazier. Bruce Lee, for example, is the pinnacle of being ripped to some people, but way too puny in the eyes of hardcore bodybuilders.
Some trainees are looking for a magic formula that tells them what kind of numbers they should achieve if they want be considered “cut up” or “ripped.”
“What body fat percentage do I need to reach?” “Should I lose 15 pounds of fat and gain five pounds of muscle?”
The reality is that there is no answer. Some guys will have six-pack abs and muscular definition at 10% bodyfat, and some might have to go down to 7% to achieve the same thing.
The bottom line is, you’ll know you’re ripped once the mirror says so.
3 Steps to Getting Ripped with Bodyweight Exercises
Can you get ripped with bodyweight exercises alone? In a word, yes. Just follow the three steps below:
1. Work Your Entire Body
When people do bodyweight exercises, they often concentrate on pushups, sit-ups and maybe bodyweight squats. Their chest, abs and quads get plenty of work, but their backs, biceps, shoulders and hamstrings get ignored.
This is a mistake for three reasons. First, muscular imbalances lead to injury. Second, developing only parts of your body will make your overall physique look awkward and asymmetrical. And third, working all of your body, preferably in the same workout, encourages your body to release muscle-building and fat-burning hormones, such as testosterone and growth hormone.
2. Add Resistance
Naturally, the first way that people make progress with bodyweight exercises is by adding repetitions. But after a while, that becomes counterproductive. If your primary goal is muscularity, you need to keep your sets under 20 reps. Anything higher may actually compromise your muscle gains.
Adding resistance to a barbell is easy. Just slap on a couple plates. Adding resistance to, say, pushups isn’t as easy. There are several things you can do, though:
Change the exercise leverage (e.g., going from pushups to feet-elevated pushups)
Shift weight to one limb (e.g., going from two-armed pushups to medicine ball pushups to 1-armed pushups)
Take away contact points to put more stress on remaining contact points (e.g., lifting one foot off the ground during pushups)
3. Make It Burn
Workouts that induce the body to release lactic acid are believed to release growth hormone. Some scientists think that lactic acid doesn’t cause the burning sensation in your muscles, as people had previously believed, but even if it doesn’t cause the burn, it’s definitely associated with it.
Experiment with tactics that make your muscles burn, such as high-intensity circuits, supersets, drop-sets, low rest periods, and alternating sets.
Wrapping It Up
Getting ripped isn’t easy, but it is possible. Combine the three steps above with a sensible diet, and you’ll be on your way to an impressive physique, one worthy of any beach or public pool.
Automatic Pool Cleaner Review
First off, if you don’t use the appropriate pool cleaners for your swimming pool you might perhaps end up wrecking the pool; and the money of repairing a destroyed pool can be very expensive.
It’s certainly vital to know that the add-ons that one makes use of for his or her pool cleaners can sincerely deepen the swimming pool cleansing experience and make it a lot easier; do you certainly know the appropriate add-ons to use?
You can visit the various Internet discussion forums out there where pool lovers gather to talk; you’ll be stunned at the very helpful info you’ll uncover there about cleaning equipment.
The reality that you could purchase a pool has to convince you of the necessity to also invest in a swimming pool cleaner that will safeguard the bigger investment you have made in having it in the first place. Remember there exists a lot of types of pool cleaners for residential pools and commercial pools; don’t expect to use the exact same swimming pool cleaner for residential pools as well as for commercial pools.
Don’t be confounded if the last time your good-looking little kid fell unwell was simply because of the germs in your pool; I recall that one of my friends kid was constantly falling sick until the health worker blamed it on the germs from his swimming pool ; the particular disease ceased as soon as he started using swimming pool cleaners, especially those which got rid of the germs when cleaning. If you are having setbacks then ascertaining the right swimming pool cleaner you need, with the input from the Internet, it’s easy to find the right swimming pool cleaner info you are looking for, with ease.
Certainly there exists various budget models of robot pool cleaners out there to select from, but before you purchase one, don’t forget that you should view permanence over price when buying your swimming pool cleaner.
I don’t know about anyone else, but why would I expend hours to cleanse my pool the hard way when I can automate the system with a robotic pool cleaner that does a certainly better job of cleansing the swimming pool ?
To close up, don’t forget that the form of swimming pool will dictate and be dependent on the Spa pool you want to use the cleaner for; not every pool cleaner can be used for a pool it often depends on the form of the pool.