Pool Equipment, Heating and Repairs in Johannesburg

Higher and colder: the Johannesburg swim season

Johannesburg sits on the ridge, higher than Pretoria, and it is cooler for it. Winter nights are colder, frost is common in the low-lying suburbs, and the natural swimming season is shorter. An unheated Johannesburg pool is comfortable for a narrower window than the same pool in Pretoria.

That is why heating matters more in Johannesburg than in Pretoria. An inverter heat pump, sized properly and paired with a cover used every night, can add months to the season. Without a cover, heat pours out of the surface on cold nights and the heat pump works far harder than it should. We size units to the pool and to the months you want to swim, not to the biggest unit on the shelf.

Sandton, Bryanston and the big northern gardens

The northern suburbs — Sandton, Bryanston, Hyde Park, Inanda, Morningside, Rivonia — have many larger pools set in mature gardens. Big pools and big trees bring the usual problems: heavy leaf loads, stained plaster, pumps and filters working hard, and surfaces that have not been acid washed in years. Those are the jobs we are most useful for at this distance.

A larger pool also means a bigger filter. Sand changes are priced by the bag count on your filter; a 6-bag filter, common on larger pools, is R1,750. Changing tired sand is often the single biggest improvement to water clarity in these pools.

Randburg, Linden and the older west

West of the M1, suburbs like Linden, Greenside, Parkhurst, Northcliff and older parts of Randburg have smaller gardens and many long-established pools. Here the questions are usually about surfaces and structure rather than size: marbelite that has gone rough and grey, weirs that leak where they meet the shell, and equipment that was installed long ago and has been patched ever since.

An acid wash or a leak repair is a job worth the drive from Centurion, especially when it is planned for winter while the pool is out of use. Send us photos of the surface and the equipment and we can usually tell you what is likely to be needed before a visit.

Hail, frost and your equipment

Johannesburg storms are known for hail. Hail strips leaves and twigs into the pool, can crack exposed pump lids and damage solar heating panels on the roof. After a hailstorm, empty the baskets before running the pump, check the lid for cracks, and look at any rooftop solar panels for damage.

Frost is the winter risk. Water left standing in exposed pipes, pump housings or heat pump lines can freeze on the coldest nights. Running the pump in the early morning during cold snaps keeps water moving, and heat pumps should be set up according to the manufacturer's cold-weather guidance.

What we deliver where, and the CBD exception

Every delivery is a trip from Centurion, priced by measured road distance. The northern suburbs — Sandton, Randburg, Bryanston, Fourways — usually fall within 50 km, which is R650. Kempton Park, Edenvale, Roodepoort and Boksburg are typically in the R850 band up to 65 km.

Past 65 km, which can include parts of the south such as Glenvista, Mulbarton and Alberton, there is no published price: WhatsApp 081 577 5051 and we will quote it if we can do it. We do not deliver into the Johannesburg CBD, Marshalltown, Braamfontein or Newtown at all.

Weekly maintenance in Johannesburg

We are a Centurion business and our weekly routes are built around Centurion, Pretoria and Midrand. For a weekly service in Johannesburg, a company based closer to you may well serve you better, and we would rather say so. Where a Johannesburg address fits a route we are running, we will tell you — ask us.

What Johannesburg asks us for most

• Pool heat pumpsA cooler, higher city with a shorter natural swim season.
• Pool coversKeeping heat in on cold ridge nights, and leaves out of pools in big northern gardens.
• Pool acid washLarger, older pools in the northern suburbs with years of staining and scale.
• Pool shop CenturionPumps, filters and chlorinators delivered by road distance and fitted in one visit.

Getting to you, and shop deliveries

South on the N1 or the Ben Schoeman from Centurion, past Midrand, into the northern suburbs; the south and east of the city are a longer run.

Northern Johannesburg is usually R650; Roodepoort, Edenvale and the east R850; beyond 65 km by quote only. No deliveries into the Johannesburg CBD.

Pool questions from Johannesburg