Pool season is winding down. This year, we added a Betta SE robotic skimmer to our arsenal of pool gadgets, and it has worked out pretty well, although it is definitely most useful in July and August, when it can run 24×7. It can’t quite keep up with the massive onslaught of Tulip Poplar leaves in late summer, not that I really expected it to. It also can’t run when the Polaris is in the pool, as it gets caught on the hose. Next year, I may consider adding a cordless robotic vacuum like the Aiper Scuba S1, which I’ve read extensively about on troublefreepool.com. I don’t foresee getting rid of the Polaris, but it would be great to have something that can run at the same time as the Betta for day-to-day cleaning.

Speaking of the Polaris, it wouldn’t be a proper pool season if something didn’t go wrong with it. This year’s issue was mostly our fault, as we’ve been connecting and disconnecting the hose a lot more often (because of the Betta) and instead of using the quick release, we’ve been screwing it in and out of the wall fitting. I think over time, this has worn the threads down on the fitting, and when I went to run the Polaris a week or so ago, the fitting would no longer stay screwed in to the wall. As a cheap fix, I went to Lowes and picked up a 1.5″ PVC male and 1.5″ female adapter, and cemented them together to make a short extension. I screwed the Polaris fitting into the female side, and the male side into the pool wall fitting. I’m not sure if the issue was with the Polaris fitting or the wall fitting, but either way, now the hose no longer ejects out of the wall when I turn the booster pump on. I suspect that the new fittings provide a little bit more good thread for everything to screw together securely.

We’ve got a coastal storm working its way inland just to the south of us, so it’s been kind of a dreary, breezy, rainy day. In spite of that, I managed to get in the pool for my laps. I’m not sure what the water temperature was, but it felt warm compared to the 67°F air with chilly drizzle. There’s a warm-up coming later this week, so I’m hoping for a couple more weeks of swimming this year.