Tips and advice

Introduction Installing a pool is a significant investment, but to enjoy it fully from spring to fall, effective water heating is essential. In this article, learn why a heat pump is one of the best choices for heating your pool and how to select the model best suited to your needs. Advantages of a Pool Heat Pump The heat pump is a highly popular heating solution among pool owners. Here’s why it stands out from other systems: Extended swimming season: With a heat pump, you can start swimming as early as May and enjoy your pool until late September. Energy efficiency: The heat pump uses ambient air heat to warm the water, making it an economical and environmentally-friendly choice. Durability and easy maintenance: Modern heat pumps are designed to last for many years while requiring minimal maintenance. The Importance of AHRI Certification for a Heat Pump Before purchasing your heat pump, it’s crucial to ensure that it has AHRI certification (Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute). This certification guarantees that the device delivers the indicated power in BTUs: Guaranteed performance: An AHRI-certified 50,000 BTU heat pump will actually provide that power to heat your pool water, maximizing your investment. Optimized energy use: The certification also ensures that the unit uses energy efficiently for consistent and quick water heating. Selection Criteria for a Heat Pump Pool volume: Choose a heat pump suited to the volume of your pool to ensure even and effective heating. Weather conditions: Some heat pumps are designed to work more efficiently under specific weather conditions, particularly cold-climate models. Conclusion A heat pump is a smart investment for any pool owner looking to extend the swimming season and enjoy heated water with minimal energy costs. Before buying, make sure to select an AHRI-certified model suited to your pool’s volume. This way, you’ll fully enjoy your investment and swimming pleasures from spring to fall.

On many pool installations, whether it is above-ground, in-ground or semi in-ground, the three-way valve is found on the different water lines of your piping. But many are wondering: how to use it well? We can sometimes wrongfully think that the three-way valve is defective since it may be difficult to place it in the desired position. First of all, before making any manipulations, it is always recommended to turn off the pump. You will notice a white embossed arrow on the three-way valve. This is the one that will indicate the place where the access is closed. How to properly manipulate it? Of course, there is the sleeve, but there is also a screw that allows you to change the position. When the white embossed arrow is not aligned with a water outlet, everything is open. If you wish to close the skimmer, you need to position the arrow upward. If you want to close the bottom drain, position the arrow downward. When the access is difficult, remember to unscrew the screw. The process is somewhat different if you want to close the access to the pump. Simply unscrew a little more and pull the sleeve before turning. Do not forget to put the screw back in place once you are done.

If you’ve chosen a solar pool, you might want to add lights to it so that it lights up at night. The manipulations are simple to perform, you just need to know what to do. We will also show you how to replace a light if necessary.  If you have a model like this, you will start by removing the two screws on the side.  Subsequently, to access the light, the seat seal is removed by first lifting the bottom part. Then, you release the front part by pulling down. You have to be careful because the white box that contains the light is held to the post by a small tab. Be delicate when removing it.  On this portion, we can immediately remove the cap since we will replace it with the solar collector. We are going to insert the sensor wire and we are going to fix the sensor using the retaining box.  Next, we’ll connect the light to our wire. We first insert the battery into the light box which we will then insert into our white box.  To find out which side to insert it on, locate the small button that allows you to change the color of the light. This small key is pressed when the latch is pressed. So we're going to make sure to put them face to face, to install the wire properly and put pressure on our light so that it remains stuck in the white box.  So, at this time, we can connect the solar collector and the light together. We screw it back so that the connection is made correctly.  Then position the light here just below the small anchoring legs. We are now ready to put everything back in place.  When you want to remove the box, just reverse the process, starting with the little leg at the bottom.  Then, you must push firmly enough to get the little hooks under the seat.  Once it's done. There remains only the rear portion to put back by pushing firmly and we complete the whole thing by replacing our two screws.

So it's the same process to install a new light or if you need to change one - Just repeat the same steps.    If you’ve chosen a pool model like this one, in order to access the light, you will have to remove the top portion of the seat seal. You will therefore slide your hand underneath to push it down and then lift it.  Once this is done, we will be able to remove the cap. This is where the solar collector will be installed. We will therefore slide our wire and put the sensor that we will hold in place with the retaining frame.  Next, we need to install our light. The first step is to add the battery.  The snap button to change the color of the light is right here so you can change the color even when the light is on.  Here is where you need to insert the light. It is important to get to the bottom of it.  If you have to remove it, press it to release it from the frame and you will be able to remove it very easily. I put it back in place. We must now connect the sensor to the light by simply screwing the two ends of the wires together.  Then, all that’s left to do is to reinstall our piece by positioning the solar collector upwards and positioning the wire correctly so that it doesn't prevent us from putting the cover back in place.  We insert the small retainers at the bottom of the case, making sure everything is inside and then we push. We still have access to our button to change the color of the light right here, below.  For this other model, the very first step, (we’ve already done it!), is to remove the screw which is located under the extension and which allows it to stay in place.  Once removed, you can easily lift the part and remove the cap where we will place our solar collector. It is put in place with the retaining frame.  Afterwards, we will come and install our light there with the battery that we have positioned beforehand. We insert the light right here, to give us access to the press button which will allow us to modify the color of the light as we wish.  Connect the solar collector and the light together.  All that’s left to do is to put the extension back in place and our screw to stabilize it.  You are now ready to change your burnt lights or add more to your liking to personalize your pool.   

When nicer weather comes in the springtime, warmer days are still very few and nights are still cool. It is difficult to heat your pool water and keep it warm during the night.  If you wish to start your swimming season earlier and end it later, a heat pump can be the right option to consider to increase water heat. By coupling a heat pump to a solar blanket, you could keep heat from dissipating.  To find out what type of heat pump would suit your pool, meet one of our specialists in store who can suggest the best equipment according to your needs. The type of swimmer you are, the size of your pool, your geographical location and municipal regulations are other elements to consider before buying any equipment.  Even if it is a considerable investment at first, buying a heat pump will allow you to enjoy your pool more and create moments to remember with your family and friends.

It is now time to choose the sanitizing system you wish to use to treat your pool water. Many options are available.  Owners of salt chlorination systems must remember to turn on the system cell only when the water reaches +/- 65°F to ensure that the cell generates enough chlorine to properly treat the water. If pool water has not reached this temperature, you can use granulated chlorine as indicated on the container.  For owners of ozone generators and chlorinators, temperature restrictions do not apply. You can use these systems when starting the pool.  Finally, know that there is another simple and efficient way to treat your pool water – use our maintenance kits available in stores. Chose the option that suits you best to enjoy your pool all summer long!

You wish to buy a Futura above-ground pool and want to know how the installation is done? Follow our crew on site to find out about the different steps.

Today we are going to put our hands in the water and we’re going to learn together, step by step how to vacuum the pool. Whether it's regular maintenance or a big spring cleaning. The important thing is to keep your pool very clean without debris, without waste in the bottom of the water. It will help you have much healthier and much safer water for swimming.  So to start, you have to understand the principle of the vacuum cleaner. We need a couple of basic items: the telescopic pole, the vacuum cleaner head, a hose to connect everything and a vacuum plate which will be installed in the skimmer.  The vacuum plugs onto the skimmer. That’s where all the succion comes from, so it’s important to ensure that our filtration system operates solely from the skimmer. That's why you need to close the bottom drain.  Every time we manipulate our three-way valve, we'll turn off the engine.  So we start by turning off the engine and putting the drain in the closed position.  If you have an above-ground pool, the 3-way valve is located at the skimmer outlet.  The most imposing arrow, where it is written "close", is directed towards the bottom drain.  If you have a semi-inground or inground pool, this valve is located at the inlet of the pump, so again we will close our bottom drain to make sure our skimmer does all the work with the vacuum.  So — we open our engine in order to put everything back in fonction because we'll need our water return for the connection.  I'll clarify this for you  To connect the hose, you must first locate the tip that rotates on itself. That's the one we're going to put on the vacuum cleaner head. It gives us more flexibility for movement inside the pool. We take the pipe and slip it gently into the water.  When it is completely submerged in water, take the fixed end piece on the other side of the pipe and glue it to the water return. The water that enters the hose with pressure will push the remaining air in the hose and force it out through the vacuum head. It is important that there is no air left at all inside the hose in order to allow better suction. You may notice that the hose is completely full of water when there are no more air bubbles coming out of the vacuum head. It's time to plug it into the vacuum plate. Obviously we try to keep the pipe submerged in water as much as possible when performing this maneuver to prevent air from entering the pipe again.  The vacuum plate is then placed in the skimmer. It is very important that the skimmer basket is always in the skimmer when you go vacuuming because it will pick up large pieces to avoid clogging your filter.  If you do regular maintenance, you are now ready to vacuum. Take your time… on the other hand, if you're doing a big spring cleaning and the pool is very dirty, for example when you first open your pool in the summer, then it's time to vacuum in waste mode. We are therefore going to thwart the filtration system a little to avoid clogging it. We're going to send the dirty water directly to the street, so that means we're going to lose a lot of water in a short time. When vacuuming, make sure the level of the pool is very high. You can leave the garden hose in pools too and never let the water level drop below the skimmer. So if you need to clean for several minutes you may have to stop your work, raise the water level and start again. As we send water to the street, we will need a backwash pipe.  If you have a cartridge filter, you will connect your backwash hose to the outlet of the pump so you have on one side the piping that brings the water to the filtration system and on the other side you can connect your hose of backwash and roll it out to the street.  If you have a sand filter, the connection is made directly to the filter head. Turn off the pump motor and place the filter handle in the drain position.  If you have a cartridge filter, on the 3-way valve at the outlet of the pump, in the same place where you installed your backwash hose, point with the large arrow to the filtration system. As the large arrow indicates the side of the valve that will be closed, the water is prevented from passing through the filtration system and is sent directly to the street.  When you open the motor of the pump, the water will start to flow quite quickly to the street so don't waste time on cleaning - get this done as best and quickly as possible. Remember - it’s important to avoid letting the water go lower than the skimmer! If you don't have time to finish, stop what you are doing, let the water go back up in the pool and start again.  And that’s it for your big spring cleaning!  Once everything is finished, whether it's regular maintenance or major cleaning in waste mode, well, we turn it all off, we can unplug it and don't forget to put the handle back in filtration mode. If you weren't in waste mode when you vacuumed, it's already in filtration mode, so it's time to dive in and enjoy your pool! 

You are thinking about buying an above-ground pool for next summer. Choose among Trévi pool selection. It includes products developed by our engineers, manufactured in our Mirabel plant and specifically designed for our harsh weather conditions. Trévi above-ground pools come with our Sécur-Lock rail which provides greater ruggedness. This galvanized steel rail was designed to reinforce the wall panel installation since the greatest strength is applied to the base. Hence, the pool is stronger and safer to resist freeze/thaw cycles.  All our pools come with a cartridge filter that works three times more than a regular sand filter. So you won’t have to make any backwash and your water will be recycled.  Moreover, Trévi above-ground pools are equipped with an energy-efficient pump with a built-in timer that prevents you from having to manage your pool operating cycle on a daily basis.  Make the most of your summer and get an ozone sanitizing system. Besides being environment-friendly, it eliminates over 99% of bacteria.  To get more information on our different above-ground pool models or to obtain a quote, contact one of our sales consultants.