Swimming Pool Costs-Chemicals, Maintenance, Electric?

[sjp 316]

If you think you have lots of company dropping by now , Wait until you get a pool.   1out of 5 bring there own beer and food.

[udonthani 2,027]

and you are the one that gets sued when some 3 year old kid decides to come round the pool  and go drown.

[Scruffydog 711]

Reptite Industries

130 Urgello, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines

Phone: +63(32)4187516

 

Also...Cujed Pools on the North Highway in Mandaue builds pools and can probably also get you the supplies.

 

There are other pool companies around, but those are the ones I know about so far. We won't install our pool until next year, so I'm in the same boat as you.

I wonder if you can get a chlorine generator in Cebu ? Had one here and well worth it.

[ozboy 6,594]

In Australia it is compulsary to have a secure pool fence n child proof gate...You will not get the final inspection permit if you do not comply...over here ive never seen many pools with security...A kid drowns n you are in deep trouble...

[cebubird 5,391]

Well I always took care of the maintenance myself back in the US, and I could NEVER imagine having to spend more than 45 mins one time a week doing that. Pool maintenance was a popular business, like lawn maintenance, where I lived, and the average price was $60 a month.

If we decide to do this,we will use the same engineer/builder who is building our home. He has done 3/4 pools in this area.

Lawn/garden and pool work as always been something I enjoyed doing, and I miss doing "stuff" here as it seems like we are "supposed" to hire out everything in order to help the locals.

Our little boy is another concern for me as it seems people here are so careless about children. Told my wife last night if we do it, I might be the only one who has a key to the gate to the gate in order to insure he doesn't get in pool area.

Good info coming in as usual for Headshot and me about this issue, and I appreciate it very much.

In Australia it is compulsary to have a secure pool fence n child proof gate...You will not get the final inspection permit if you do not comply...over here ive never seen many pools with security...A kid drowns n you are in deep trouble...

 

Yes it is the same in Florida, and if we build there will be a secure fence around it.

[smokey 21,911]

So guys with poools.   is it worth it?    I mean.   My friend Jim in Dallas had pool.. Never swam in it.  Niether did his kids,  but  he says he loved it  and  it was worth the $100/month maintenance  +  utilties.. just to sit out by the  pool to smoke and drink .     I think he had a point.   Conversely,   I know several pools in our neighbor hood were burried and turned into gardens and lawns.    What say you?

personal choices ... lots of things to waste money on and a pool is just one of the many 

[Monsoon 28,941]

In Australia it is compulsary to have a secure pool fence n child proof gate...You will not get the final inspection permit if you do not comply...over here ive never seen many pools with security...A kid drowns n you are in deep trouble...

 

I know someone personally who tragically had a child drown in their pool. They did not get in deep trouble.

[jtmwatchbiz 31,414]

 

Yes it is the same in Florida, and if we build there will be a secure fence around it.

 

yes it's the same in connecticut as well. while there is no such law here in cebu, my inlaws home is walled in and the guards won't let any visiting kids near the pool without supervision. their yellow labrador has been known to make running leaps into the pool at least once a week tho

[austwin 268]

So guys with poools.   is it worth it?    I mean.   My friend Jim in Dallas had pool.. Never swam in it.  Niether did his kids,  but  he says he loved it  and  it was worth the $100/month maintenance  +  utilties.. just to sit out by the  pool to smoke and drink .     I think he had a point.   Conversely,   I know several pools in our neighbor hood were burried and turned into gardens and lawns.    What say you?

 

Horses for courses I Guess..... I am looking into my backyard as I post this and there is 7 people in the pool ..... I put it in 9 years ago and it has proved to be a good decision...Downside is its not cheap to have and maintain and some years its a couple of months that its a bit nippiliy to get in... But given how much it has been used and appreciated.... I would do it again...

[cebubird 5,391]

personal choices ... lots of things to waste money on and a pool is just one of the many 

 

 

Lots of people waste large amounts of money on booze and cigarettes, and it kills them.Swimming is VERY good exercise!

"personal choices"

[Headshot 29,349]

If nothing else you can use it as a guideance. Wouldnt surprise me though if pool maintenance is one of the many things that are more expensive in cebu compared to Manila. In reality the guy spent about 45 mins most visits to vacuum and chlorinate or add acid. This neighborhood had a lot of pools and some homeowner sponsored him for a subdivision ID so he could come and go. My pool always needed the PH lowered, never raised.

 

My driver commented a few times about how easy his job was for the relative work vs pay. I told him to do it himself and id pay him. He never took me up on the offer. In the future I would just train a member of house staff to do it. Mainly because I like to minimize the number of people coming and going from my place. And my dog still doesn't accept people who come onto my property and pick up a big stick (ie the pool vacuum) without trying to neutralize the percived threat. Thats another story...

 

Well, I probably won't really NEED somebody to come in to maintain the pool. I will have an automatic pool chlorinator in my pump/filter system, so that should take care of most of the problem. Of course, you need to keep chlorine in the pool chrlorinator and you need to "shock" the pool once a week or so (spike the chlorine level) to keep algae out. You also need to keep the pH between 7.2 and 7.8 so the water doesn't sting your eyes (usually by adding muriatic acid). Keeping the pH level right also helps keep down algae (which likes alkaline water). The water here has a high pH level because most of the water here runs through limestone aquifers, which is alkaline and why you need to add acid. You also need to use some algaecide after the pool has been shocked (at least once every two weeks) to keep algae from getting a toehold on the pool surfaces. Shocking the pool should be done at night (say between 10 PM and midnight) for best effect. The same is true with the muriatic acid. For that reason, on nights when I do pool maintenance, the pool will close down at 10 PM.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Headshot

[dopyeyed 4]

Our home should be completed in a couple of months and am thinking to put in a small pool few months afer. Probably make it about 12'x24'x4'.

Wondering about the availability of poolsupplies, cost, etc. Also wonder with the electric here being so high, how much my bill will go up with a pump running 12-14 hours a day. In the US my pump ran 365 days a year, albeit much shorter hours in the couple of cold months

Hopefully someone on here has a pool and can address these issues for me.

Thanks in advance!!

If i were you I would not have a swimming pool installed. Even if the cost of getting the damn thing is small....finding the chemicals that balence the PH leval is low.

[dopyeyed 4]

personal choices ... lots of things to waste money on and a pool is just one of the many 

I had a pool in San Diego before I moved here to the phills. What sucks about it is if you don't monitor the ph leval than your pool will go to shit. My advice? If you come here to relax than do not get a pool.

[Headshot 29,349]

So guys with poools.   is it worth it?    I mean.   My friend Jim in Dallas had pool.. Never swam in it.  Niether did his kids,  but  he says he loved it  and  it was worth the $100/month maintenance  +  utilties.. just to sit out by the  pool to smoke and drink .     I think he had a point.   Conversely,   I know several pools in our neighbor hood were burried and turned into gardens and lawns.    What say you?

 

A pool in most parts of the US is a waste of money because you can only use it for three or four months a year. That means you have all of the expense, work and capital outlay for only being able to use it for 1/4 to 1/3 of the year. However, when you live in the tropics, where it is always pool weather, the equation is totally different. I can't think of a better investment (for a family's enjoyment) here on Cebu, A pool gives you a place to exercise, a place to cool off and a place where you can socialize with friends and family in comfort...year round.

[Headshot 29,349]

If i were you I would not have a swimming pool installed. Even if the cost of getting the damn thing is small....finding the chemicals that balence the PH leval is low.

 

That is simply not true here on Cebu. The water here is alkaline because Cebu is seafloor that has been lifted up by block faulting (limestone). The most common "chemical" used to acidify water is muriatic acid (which is dilute hydrochloric acid...what you buy in the stores here is 10 to 12% HCl but you can get it up to 38% HCl). Do you realize how common muriatic acid is here? You can find it in every supermarket and in any other store that sells cleaning supplies. And...it is very cheap too.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Headshot