Especially when it comes to the topic of “clean” swimming ponds and the advertising promise of “crystal clear” water and the high-gloss photos of freshly set up swimming ponds, expectations are often raised by the media that are not easy to meet.
It is too easy to forget that nature and life stand between the look of a chlorinated pool and that of a swimming pond. For many swimming pond owners, this natural bathing fun is the reason why they made a conscious decision for this type of swimming.
However, since this biological system is permanently influenced by the input of nutrients from the outside, it is necessary to counteract these influences through preventive measures and active cleaning and care.
Whether through the filling water, the entry of leaves, dust, pollen, dead insects or the bathing itself, sources of nutrients and optical sources of pollution lurk everywhere.
Prevention is better than aftercare for swimming ponds.
In order to keep the maintenance effort of a swimming pond as low as possible, a lot can be achieved by acting with foresight.
The development of algae and the entry of leaves can be significantly reduced here. While swimming ponds where there are large populations of trees in the immediate vicinity can be reliably protected with a professional foliage net and the correct installation method, algae prophylaxis is somewhat more extensive.
Since algae in swimming ponds, if they occur in problematic quantities, are almost always classified as thread-like algae, many years of experience have shown that in most cases an excessive phosphate concentration in the water leads to increased growth. That is why a reliable laboratory water analysis is an indispensable necessity for almost every pond project, if possible before the start of construction, but at the latest before filling.
The aim of the preventive measures should not be to constantly fish the algae, but to treat the cause. In this case, different options are available depending on the situation on site, a distinction being made between the treatment of the filling water or top-up water and the treatment of the water in the pond.
Essentially, two different product groups are used here.
Flocculants and precipitants are added to the water and react immediately with the phosphate in it. They “catch” the phosphate dissolved in the water and enable it to sink to the bottom of the pool so that it can then be removed from the pond by suction.
Adsorbers, however, are materials that the phosphate in the water, z. B. with an active flow, chemically bind to itself and thus withdraw from the system.
A redissolution of the phosphate is impossible with both variants under normal conditions in the pond.
The right technology saves time when
cleaning the swimming pond Even with good precautions, regular cleaning is indispensable , depending on your personal well-being and the demands on the cleanliness of the swimming pond . While swimming ponds without technical installations usually have to be completely cleaned from the outside, the scope and effort of cleaning is noticeably reduced in ponds with active water circulation through technical installations.
The technical installations include all products for pre-filtering and fine-filtering the water. This category includes surface skimmers (so-called skimmers), which constantly suck a thin film of water from the pond surface during operation. As a result, all substances floating on the surface of the water collect in the skimmer basket and can be removed there comfortably and regularly.
While a skimmer can be found in almost every swimming pond today and there are a number of different models that can be selected depending on the local conditions, this is “only” the first stage of technical cleaning.
Fine filter for the highest demands on water clarity
In many classic swimming ponds, after the water has been sucked in and pre-cleaned using the skimmer, biological cleaning takes place. Either via a mineral soil filter or a technical external filter , as is also known from the technical department for fish ponds.
In order to almost completely eliminate the entry of solids into the soil filter and thus optimize the efficiency of the entire nutrient breakdown, mechanical fine filtering is now used very often after rough cleaning by the skimmer, especially in natural pools.
Such devices included, for example, drum filters or fleece or fleece roll filters. These filters also hold back very fine suspended matter up to approx. 60 µm and thus ensure that the water is literally crystal clear.
Biofilm, algae and sludge are part of every swimming pond.Between
a natural swimming pond without technical cleaning and a natural pool with a high level of filter technology, there is a considerable difference in the speed with which organic dirt accumulates in the bank zone, on the pool floor and on the pool walls. Gradual pollution can never be completely avoided.
No matter how good the filter performance of a swimming pond may be. Even under optimal conditions, a biofilm will always form on the surfaces covered by the water. Mulm, a mixture of dead and living biomass, will also form and seasonal algae growth is to be expected.
No swimming pond without manual cleaning
A swimming pond in the garden is a source of joy and relaxation. But just like the rest of the garden, regular work is required here too. If the plucking of “weeds” on unplanted areas in the garden is actually a matter of course, we often encounter a certain astonishment that algae form in the swimming pond and that these have to be removed regularly.
In most cases, manual cleaning devices such as nets or brushes that can be attached to telescopic poles and of which there are different models depending on the purpose are suitable for this . The so-called wing or spoiler brush is particularly useful for swimming ponds with a walled swimming area valuable tool. With their help, it is only possible to clean the vertical pool walls in an effortless manner, since the brush generates a contact pressure with the help of the spoiler during the upward and downward movements and thus significantly less force has to be used for cleaning.
A lot of work is easier with a swimming pond vacuum.
So that bathing fun in the swimming pond remains undisturbed and the cleaning effort is kept within limits, there is now very high-quality and well-engineered technology that makes work on the swimming pond easier. Pond vacuums and pond robots are, in addition to cleaning with manual aids, the most important tools for every swimming pond owner.
Depending on the size of the pond to be maintained, there are various models that are ideally suited for this. Based on many years of practical experience, we recommend every pond owner to pay attention to the quality of the device when investing in a pond vacuum.
Inexpensive devices are often only suitable for small ornamental ponds and cannot be used sensibly in terms of handling or equipment for a swimming pond. With a good device, you should be able to work without interruption. Therefore, the vacuum cleaner must be able to suck in water from the pond and pump it out again at the same time.
The prices for reliable entry-level tools including basic equipment start at around € 800 and can go up to € 3,400 for tools designed for daily use in gardening and landscaping.
We would be happy to advise you in detail here in order to find the right device for you.
Cleaning
robots for high demands While a pond vacuum is part of the basic equipment of every swimming pond and can be used to clean the entire pond including bank zones, robots in swimming ponds are limited to use within the swimming area.
Since the personal tolerance limit for algae, deposits, and general pollution is very individual, you should definitely be aware that here, if you have expectations that are more oriented towards the sterile appearance of a pool than that of a garden pond a pond robot is often unavoidable.
Even if they are similar at first glance, there are big differences between robots that can be used for a chlorinated pool and those that are used in swimming ponds.
There are many automatic cleaners in the pool area, but fewer than a handful of the robots available on the market are also suitable for use in a swimming pond.
Because due to the biological activity in the swimming pond, deposits can form on the bottom and the pool walls, which cannot be dealt with with a simple pool robot. For most models, different operating modes such as floor cleaning and floor-wall cleaning as well as automatic operation or manual control can be set.
Although the help with cleaning the swimming area is of great benefit, especially due to the time saved with automatic operation, it is important to name a few points that you should consider before buying a pond robot: – The acquisition costs for a robot are not insignificant and are between approx. € 1,950 and € 2,330, depending on the model
– Depending on the external influences, the water temperature, the biofilm on the seal and the degree of soiling of the robot’s filter cartridges, cleaning the pool wall is a “can” option and not a guaranteed function.
– The operation of a robot only makes sense in swimming ponds that have a walled swimming area and where z. For example, a protruding border ensures that the robot cannot “break out” of the swimming area in automatic mode and get stuck in the bank zone.
You can also find recommended swimming pond cleaning brushes that have been tried and tested over many years in our shop .
