With all the rain at the moment, going for a swim is probably the last thing you feel like doing. But come summer it will be a different story. 

Perfect way of finishing a long, hot day of work.

Let’s face it there is nothing quite like finishing a long hot day of work and jumping into your own pool for a cooling dip. But before you take the plunge – so to speak – you need to do your homework.

What kind of pool do you want-  Above ground, on ground, or in ground?  What do you want to do- Swim laps?  Cool off? Entertain?  Are you on town supply or tank water? 

What about maintenance – who is going to take care of it and when?  You need to allocate around five or six hours a week for vacuuming your pool, skimming leaves off the surface, testing water and maintaining the correct chemical balance – and the person who is enthusiastic about that NOW may not be come summer.  

Of course you may decide to let an expert take care of all of that for you, in which case you need to budget that cost into your plans.

Pools can take around three weeks to build – so be prepared and don’t expect to be swimming laps the day after you make the call to the builders.  Unless you are very experienced this is one area you might want to find a good professional to take care of things. 

Remember you have to excavate and grade and build and mix – given the cost and the scope of the project, do not cut corners.

How much your swimming pool is used will help determine the amount of cleaning needed. For instance, murky or coloured water may mean you have chemical imbalances, pollutants such as microorganisms, or a clogged filter.

Clogged filters can mean money down the drain. Literally.  Algae needs to be attacked two ways — through chemical treatment, and a lot of filtering, backwashing, scrubbing, and skimming. 

Whether it is green, brown, or little black spots of algae, it will take over your pool if it is not dealt with immediately.  Remember you want a swimming pool for you – not a pond for the local ducks and frogs.

Pool covers, while often used to keep kids, cats and dogs out of the water if they slip on the edge, can also lower your heating and chemical use, not to mention keeping bugs and leaves at bay.

Most important are the rules about fencing. It is a legal requirement that all pools, spa pools and ponds more than 400mm deep be fenced, to stop small children getting in unsupervised and drowning. Since the law was passed in 1987 the number of pre-school children drowned in home swimming pools has halved.   Arguments over where the responsibility lays for keeping children safe around water are immaterial – you don’t want to be the owner of a pool a child has drowned in.