It is always a good idea to keep your yard clean when you have a pool. Dead leaves, flowers and loose trash [like styrofoam and plastic bags] lying on the ground will get into the pool when the wind kicks up. Debris like this will clog baskets and suction side cleaners, effectively stopping your pools ability to circulate water and keep itself clean. All debris when there is enough of it can cause problems, but flowers, like those from the Bogenvia bush, a lilac, or trumpet flowers for example, are like paper pulp when wet. Keeping Bogenvia bushes from getting too big will help a lot to control debris when it flowers. A small amount of these flowers can line a basket, clog the holes and effect water circulation. One plastic bag from a grocery store, or a sheet of newspaper can cause a loss of water circulation and shut a suction side cleaner down. 

Even if your yard is spotless, remember that your pools cleaning system can easily be effected by a neighbours tree, or a city tree adjacent to your property. You should always check the baskets after a storm if you are able, even if you pay for pool service. I visit my accounts once per week and a lot can happen in just a few hours when a wind storm comes through. Trimming trees like Palms for example when they have dead fronds hanging and seed pods dropping onto the ground should be trimmed back.  

A pump basket splitting open will allow debris to get past the basket and into the pumps impeller. When this happens, water circulation will be greatly effected and the system will lose filter pressure. Floor head systems will not have the pressure required for the pop ups to function and suction side cleaners, if not clogged themselves, will not have the water circulation required to keep them moving. Sometimes a pumps impeller can be cleaned once the basket has been removed, but, depending on the pump, the motor may have to be taken off to access the impeller.

Making the effort to keep your yard clean and check the baskets after a wind storm is important and will save you from a lot of unnecessary problems. 

If dirt and debris builds up too long and becomes compacted, it reduces water flow, basically acting like a cork. Floor heads may not 'pop up', or no longer have enough pressure to move dirt and debris toward the drain. Suction cleaners will not have the water flow required to move properly. Compacted dirt and debris can ruin cartridges prematurely and the weight of the residual DE in a DE filter, can cause the grids to collapse, breaking the skeletal plastic inside, or crack the manifold. 

Look for a tear in the cartridge filters rubber. This started as a hairline crack and got worse over time. 

Small tears in the DE filter grids, or broken plastic inside the grids are common when they get old, or have been neglected. 

Cracks in the manifold like this one, can start as hairline cracks and get worse. It can also happen if you over tighten the nuts to the rods that hold the grids together. Always inspect the manifold for signs of stress.

This cartridge filters lower collection manifold had cracked and has holes in it. The filter went too long between cleanings. The cartridges were clogged, and the water had no where else to go. 

This DE filters air breather screen has frayed and must be replaced. Once a hole has worn through the fabric, DE will get into the pool. 

Its a good idea to keep an eye out on a weekly basis for any wetness under the motor, or around the pump. The picture to the left shows a lot of calcium buildup on the under side of the motor, from a leaky shaft seal that had gone unattended for quite some time. Shaft seals can cause unintended damage to a pump, by corroding bolts that become frozen in the threads of the seal plate. What would normally be a $15.00 fix by replacing a shaft seal, can cost well over $100 if the seal plate must be replaced. The calcium build up on the motor casing will also void the manufactures warranty.

In more extreme cases, even after using 1/2 a can of WD40, or Liquid Wrench, I still could not get the seized bolt out of the pump pictured to the right. The threaded brass insert, which is moulded into the pump itself and is how the motor/seal plate attaches to the pump, popped out attempting to free the corroded bolt. This cannot be repaired.

In the case of this old Hayward Super II pump, the brass inserts are in the pump itself, not a seal plate that can be replaced like the Pentair Whisper flow pumps. With Title 44 being the law of the land here in Arizona, this neglected shaft seal will end up costing the individual about $1000, or more, with the installation of a new, two speed pump and digital time clock, capable of running the two speeds, or a variable speed pump. 

I'm often asked if I provide bi-weekly service, or if I come less in the winter for a lower rate and my answer is always no. When you have been around pools as long as I have, you know better. 

Arizona Monsoon season is July-September. However, wind storms and rain storms are not limited to these months alone. In the example illustrated on the left, there were city owned trees next to the property on the other side of a retaining wall. I had to take a picture of the amount of plant debris I pulled out of the strainer basket, because it was as full as it could possible be after a storm...in January. 

Baskets that are full of debris restrict water flow, which in turn does not cool the motor, or filter enough water from the pool. Excessive heat can cause a lot of unwanted and expensive problems, which can easily be avoided with weekly maintenance.

Through out the year, I find dead birds, rodents and even reptiles getting into the skimmer. In the image to the right, I found a small rabbit stuck in the intake of this Vac-Mate. The rabbit was starting to decay and had plugged the intake hole. The water flow was restricted, the pump was running hot and there was no filter pressure.