Really neat. I live in Flour Bluff on the east side of Corpus Christi, and I am wanting to build a natural pond in my sandy backyard using clay and then lining the bottom with white rock and limestone. I want to make the pond look like the Comal River in New Braunfels ( a natural spring fed river) and plant it and stock it with plants and fish from the river. I live in a Zone 10A climate (nearly tropical) with an average annual low of about 31F. I have a tropically landscaped backyard, and I think having a natural spring looking pond would be awesome underneath my jungle canopy I am starting to grow in the backyard. I would like to make the pond about 10 - 12 feet long, about 8 ft. wide and about 4. 5 - 5 ft. deep. with a small waterfall and filtration for the fish and aquatic life. I would like to power this with a small solar panel attached to the fence or the roof of the house (where it can get some sunlight). Any suggestions? Thanks, John

Hi Packerfan, We are new to this, also in So Cal, and just posted our new pool build stats with some questions today; (North County San Diego pool + putting green). I'd love to see more pictures and any helpful websites you found in the process of building your beautiful pool! Nancy

You don't need to close the pool. In fact there are always days in the winter that are still warm enough to swim (with the heater on, of course). And if you have a spa, you can of course use the spa too. We use our spa almost every day, even in the winter. If you cover the pool, no need to run the pool sweep as not much will likely drop to the bottom. If you don't cover the pool, then of course still run it. We run our pool pretty much the same way in the winter as we do in the summer. The only difference is that we run it for about half the time (we do 6 hours in the summer, 3 in winter) and we turn down the SWG percentage from about 50 in the summer to about 15 in the winter. The cooler air allows us to make those changes. Warmer air requires more chlorine generation and more filter time. You should still check chemicals and brush once a week. My thinking is that if you cover the pool, your leaves will still fall on the pool cover which you've still got to remove. If you don't cover the pool, your pool sweep will get them. That sounds easier to me... Most people cover for heat retention (not necessary in winter) and/or for child safety. I don't know how leaves are gotten off a pool cover but when my pool sweep gets them, I don't have to think about it at all. If you have a Hayward you can add a leaf basket to the hose too. Hope that helps!

Hello Barrysag, Our Hydramatic hydraulic automatic pool cover system has the longest most complete warranty on the market at 20 years, including the motors and controllers. Those items on other brands are usually only warrantied for 3 years. And those are your high cost components. Aquamatic is the oldest independent automatic cover manufacturer in the world, and we hold more patents and intellectual property than ALL other covers combined! Regarding salt, the same conditions apply to ALL cover manufacturers. When the water leaves the vessel, and said water evaporates, that leaves a pure salt residue. That is very corrosive (think rust belt in the northeast, what does salt do to road and cars). While we have many, many customers that have salt pools with our cover, and have no issue, there are many that do. The key is maintenance. Meaning you need to rinse the mechanism on a frequent basis, and also clean the cover surface more often. Salt leaves a white chalky residue on the cover surface which beyond not looking nice, will also prematurely dry out the plasticizers in the vinyl. The peripheral maintenance required with salt is not worth the perceived benefits. If you would like a more in depth discussion, I can be reached at 800.262.4044 x205 Good luck with your decision making process