What’s your best summer survival tip?

Perhaps the most important summer survival tip for a pool pro’s hot service days — and all seasons — is to stay hydrated. Dehydration occurs when the body does not have enough water balanced with electrolytes. It is possible, and common, for anyone to become dehydrated, and you don’t necessarily need to be working hard in the heat for it to happen.

Just like a pool that evaporates daily, we evaporate water from our skin constantly and more so with perspiration while working in the sun. We also dehydrate when exhaling from our lungs, and that water loss adds up. It would be nice if our human bodies of water were equipped with an autofill, but we have to top off with water from bottles, fruits and vegetables, and maybe — like a pool — from a garden hose if necessary.

Proper hydration should come from quality water, preferably high 8.5-9.5 pH water. Electrolytes are minerals necessary for your cells, muscles and organs to work properly and help regulate the balance of fluid in the body. They include sodium, phosphate, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride and bicarbonate (it almost sounds like a list of pool chemicals.) 

Symptoms of dehydration may include thirst (duh), lightheadedness, dry mouth and skin, fatigue and weakness, headache and muscle cramps. Dehydration may lead to heat stroke when body temperatures are over 104 degrees, including the above symptoms plus confusion, agitation, irritability, deliriousness, nausea, slurred speech, seizures and a racing heart. None of these conditions are healthy and may result in a hospital visit and require weeks to recover. Consider the possible damage to not only your health but also your client and co-worker relationships if your contact with them is confused, agitated, irritable or delirious

Keep your body’s pool of water full and cool. Wear a shady hat and loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts, and start early to avoid peak afternoon sun exposure. Maybe keep a swimsuit, towel, mask and snorkel in the truck and, as needed, perform complimentary wetness tests of the pool to assure the water is not too wet and not too dry but just right. Or take an 8-foot-deep look at those bottom suction outlet cover screws once in a while.

No water means no pool, and no water could mean no pool pro.

Robert Blade
Owner
Aloha Pools & Spas
Marina, California

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