As you may have noticed, it’s a bit leafy these days. Below you will see what we commonly find when we arrive for our visits this time of year. We obviously empty bags and baskets as they fill up with leaves, but during peak leaf drop these baskets and bags can fill up VERY quickly. We care for some pools that have so much leaf coverage that these baskets or bags may fill up again completely just in the amount of time we are onsite.
We are absolutely fine if you choose to not pay attention to these items between our visits, BUT I do feel obligated to share with you that you can prevent extra expenses by paying them some attention during the week. This time of year we have LOTS of service calls for clearing out clogged lines, clogged pumps, and we sell lots of new Polaris bags.
When baskets get overfull, they can suck leaves through and around them clogging lines and pumps. In some cases they will build up enough pressure that they will crack baskets and cause extra repairs to be needed. The standard Polaris bag is made of a fine mesh that can easily be torn when filled to the brim with leaves. Emptying this bag often will not only help your Polaris pick up more leaves, but it will absolutely increase the lifespan of the bag. Polaris also makes a specialty leaf bag that you can use seasonally that is larger, more durable, and has a larger opening for easy removal of heavy leaves. These leaf bags are perfect for this time of year, but they are not ideal for the rest of the year since they do not pick up fine sediment. Ask us if you would like us to install a leaf bag on your Polaris to be used seasonally.
My final piece of advice would be this: if you do choose to empty these items between our visits, make sure to turn the system off while doing so. That will save you the frustration of making a helpful gesture turn into a harmful one. If you try to empty a bag or basket with the system running, you are more likely to suck extra leaves into the pipes or apply enough pressure to break something.
I hope this helps all of you and have a merry Christmas!
