lightning

We got our letter today from Perigueux, in English, restoring our rights to the CMU. It is the only time that we have got a letter in English from any French organisation and may be the last! The contents of the letter are exactly as Clair translated, although our "translation" looked like a machine translation. All the same, it was nice to be informed in our mother tongue  from the Director of our CPAM.

We are now on our third Aquasensor alarm and our pool is only 16 months old! We cannot have a roller shutter as our pool is an ovoid shape, we have also discounted a laser perimeter alarm for the time being as we have lots of rabbits who wander around at night. When we have completed our fence and installed gates we may consider that option. There are pool covers which double up as winter and summer covers and comply with the safety regs. Getting back to the original query, our third alarm is an "improved" version and we are keeping our fingers crossed this time. Like all previous alarms it does have a tendency to go off when it gets windy even though this version has an automatic sensor which puts it into standby mode when the water gets ruffled. What we did find out is that the water level in the pool is quite critical for the alarm to work properly. Our supplier was none too happy when we returned the second faulty one and intimated that they would not entertain a further replacement! Our "Gallic shrug" was quite eloquent! Best of luck Fiona Chris  

I have a pool surround of 84 sq. metres consisting of 50cm x 50cm tiles laid on a steel reinforced concrete base. The job cost 4500 euros. The work was carried out by the same builder who installed the pool, but under a separate contract as the pool installation did not include a surround, only the "margeles". Your estimate sounds a bit hefty.

I had a desjoyaux pool installed in early 2006 complete with chlorinator system. We had 6 months swimming in beautiful clear water. I winterised it by shutting it down completely after choccing it. I opened it up at beginning of April this year, chocced it and cleaned it of residual debris that had eked its way in under the winter cover. The water was clear. So far this year I have topped up with non-stabilised salt only. I clean the filters once a week, takes me 10 minutes. I ensure the pool is kept clean with the use of the supplied vacuum system and a robot only when required. Sometimes I use ph plus if the ph is too high, but very rarely. I am very happy with my desjoyaux pool with its sparkling clean water at very little cost and effort on my part.