The Ps

http://www.procopi.com/expl/fr/index.php You will find something here and an English button to click on. Procopi are big company in France and will be able to help you.

I lost my wallet containing my UK driving licence today and now need to set about replacing it. I called the DVLA and they said that I needed to get a French one from the French authorities. I wondered if anyone else had been in this situation and if so, how they got on. I can imagine me going to the prefecture and asking for a licence because my UK one is lost and them asking how I can prove I can drive etc. I envisage being stuck between UK and French Bureaucracy going round in circles as generally I imagine if you want French licence they would take the UK one from you in exchange. Any useful advice would be gratefully received.

Hold the horses here! I always install pools with zeolite as it is a small percentage of the overall cost but I thought we were referring to existing pool owners.   Neither am I disputing the superiority of zeolite. With regard to garden zeolite and some zeolites being carcinogenic, I have only typed what I heard though that was from BZc (who are a UK company that own a mine in South Africa).   Like I said, I don't know if it true or not. With regard to confining my comments I see no issue in anything I have said and would defend the right to free speech regardless of any bullying tactics.   I have stated that where I am not sure of something I don't know what is true or not and I am entitled to offer an opinion.  With regard to stumping up evidence on anything, it really is not that important to me.   How many times throughout this forum on any subject to you get people saying they have heard this or that and then some-one normally offers guidance...........only not so aggressively. You know what Andrew, I am sick and tired of all of the ridiculous pontificating that goes on in the forums from so many people.   I have always tried to contribute to debates to help people or to find out information myself.   I will never, ever post on here again (that'll make your day; corner the market a bit more).   I am certain you will post a response but don't expect to hear from me again.  

There are hundreds of thousands of pools throughout the world that are all functioning perfectly well with sand.   It is not worthless, it is all about degrees.   Not everyone can afford to 'take the plunge' initially because of the outlay to start with.   I made the point that the zeolite option is the cheapest on lifetime costs but that doesn't take away the pain for some people in the initial outlay so sand will provide an option and it may be the worst option but it functions; as hundreds of thousands of healthy pool owners will testify.   That adds a bit of sense to it, rightly or wrongly. I would love to see everyone change to zeolite and the pools I install are all supplied with zeolite and only zeolite.   I may not quite be a 'zeolite zealot' but I sell the stuff and I also help customers with affordable solutions.   This is not to say no-one else does, merely that is spite of lifetime savings, some clients don't want to lay out the money in the first place because they are on a budget.   I will not walk away from such people when I can help them with alternatives. I also sell the best I can.   Can you believe, there are people out there whom, it is reported to me, sell garden zeolite re-branded for pools.   I don't know if that is correct or not but if so, it is not right in my opinion.   I didn't even know garden zeolite existed but there are 149 different types of zeolite out there, most of which are artificially produced with the rest being mined.   Some of these are carcinogenic and not allowed near any usage that could result in ill health.   Only two zeolites are approved for use in pools though they are available under several brand names, most of which are produced by a UK company, BZc (British Zeolite Company).   They supply 7 different brands and own label product to the French market.  

[quote user="Barbel Bob"]Hi, We recently changed the sand in our filter due to a small amount of sand at the bottom of the pool each morning after being filtered overnight. When we changed the sand we checked each lateral to ensure they were not damaged. We also refilled the filter with sand being very careful not to damage them. So my question is: Can there be any other reason for the sand at the bottom of my pool? other than damaged laterals. It is an above ground pool. Thanks again J[/quote] Did you half fill the chamber with water prior to pouring in the sand?   If not you can damage the laterals when pouring sand in. Gravel should be used first as Chrish states. Until zeolite, which is much better than sand, is cheaper than current prices, there will always be a demand for sand.   Sand does a job and I see many clean clear pools with sand filters.   However, people should consider lifetime costs and then you get a more favourable outcome for zeolite.   With sand it will have to be changed before zeolite and you will use more water and chemicals with sand than you would with zeolite.  

Always rinse after backwashing. 

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Hi Daniel It would seem your comments in your original posting are correct.   We will all go down the pan if we all start panicking and talking things down.   The unemployment rate is plunging around the globe and will settle at around 10% I think in most mature markets.   That is a terrible thing and I feel sorry for all caught up in that but there are also going to be 90% of the available workforces still in employment......that is a much more positive number. Come on guys, it is a little unfair.   It was a wet weekend and I sat on the laptop and thought I would join in some debates.   You will see from other subjects how much I contributed in forum topics I don 't normally bother with this weekend.   I also thought I was just telling it like it is, nothing more.   Would you rather I was having a bad time also?    Would that honestly make you feel better or would you prefer to hear about a success story from a Brit who has moved to a foreign country, embraced life and language here and done something that ensures he can stay here? I feel sad that innocent comments were twisted in such a way.   I will post on this forum again but only now in the pools section where sometimes I have managed to help people without any benefit for myself.   Of course, you may see my reply as cynically as you chose to read the first one as well......um, I guess that is your right and if you are so moved to add further comment than so be it but as I say, I will only stick to the one subject now.   Thanks.

SORRY!..................

I don't do them but know that when quoting, certain things have to be taken into account - time and cost of travel to a job, is it a full day or part day, if part, can the rest of the day be used, what fittings need to be removed or protected, current state of the pool, materials etc. Sorry I cannot give you a definitive answer now but I will ask around the people I know and see if I can get a from/to type figure for you early next week.

Can't help as we have three already but ................. how can people do that?   Good luck.

..............stand next to what you want to look at!     I'm sorry......it's Sunday, it's wet and I'm bored.

merguez - best sausages ever (spicy beef or lamb).   Great for barbecuing. 

I agree, CA are brilliant; at least here in the Languedoc.   I don't know the charges and my finance director is baking hot cross buns at the moment (and my six sisters thought they had beaten any sexism out of me long ago!)

You would need to make sure you have the right insurances in place to cover working from the place you live to protect the landlords property, especially as you are using combustible materials and you need to tell the owner you intend to do this.   You will also find that a lot of private dwellings with outbuildings will be closed to you as they will not be deemed business premises as they would need to be for such an operation.   This will be because of local concerns over machinery noise, deliveries etc but mainly because of the rights you will have in residence over such a place - 9 years I think.

Try www.seloger.com and you will find various properties listed and/or agents that can help.   You can specify geography and type to narrow the search and then arrange a series of viewings with people but be warned that some agents will tell you you are looking too soon.   Don't expect necessarily to be able to rent a place with a kitchen or bathroom in situ; it may have been taken by the previous renters and you will be expected to fit your own and then take it with you.   Some places will have kitchens and bathrooms as standard.   You will also have to jump through hoops to prove you can pay, have an income etc.   This will then be assessed by an insurance company who will decide if you are viable renters and if not then you may want to suggest a caution bancaire arrangement but you will need a French bank account for this.   A caution bancaire is an account you set you and put into it an amount agreed with your landlord (3 to 12 months rent perhaps - 4 to 6 is the norm) that you will not be able to touch and neither will your landlord unless you default on payments.   You earn interest on the money whilst it is tied up.   You would need a French account anyway to pay your utilities. Alternatively, you take a holiday let on a long term basis but the owner would want far more than you would pay by renting from the French rental market to make up for losses at peak times.   The benefits are that they would be furnished well by comparison and generally are well kept.   Bear in mind in your negotiations on such a property that the owner will not have to finance change overs with the cleaning and laundry costs involved.

From January to April this year we have had a 5 fold increase in client enquiries and business is going well.  It is not all doom and gloom in France.   Though it is tough you just have to try harder, focus on your client needs and back it up with good service. I find it hard to listen to the doom merchants but understand that there is a real recession out there and people are suffering.   I just can't help feeling though that there are many who would prefer to talk things down than up and that things become self fulfilling prophecies; especially in the media.  

Not a simple question to answer.   It depends on how much prep & repair work has to be done as well, how many and what fittings have to be removed or protected etc and only a site visit will show that.  

 You're welcome.   Excellent news! If you have the type that will not work below 7 degrees then that was the more likely cause.    If ever you come to replace it there are now models available that will work to minus 7, though of course and as with all heat pumps, the lower the ambient air temperature the lower the output -  but still more than it draws in electric.

What make is it? How old is it? Is there electricity to the heat pump (I would guess yes as you have an error message)? How was it closed down for the winter? What is the error message being indicated? Do you have a flow indicator on it? What are the valve configurations? What else happens besides the error message? Do you have single (mono) phase or three (tri) phase electricity? What is your average ambient air temperature when it is expected to be working? Any thing else you can add?    

[quote user="Gardian"] [quote user="billy10"]Hi Forum,                  I am getting earache from the ayatulah to open the pool next week in time for my daughters visit, In my case it is not a lot of work and would mean topping up , switching on the heat pump which would heat the pool in about 4-5 days to around 27-28 degrees,[/quote] Well, think of it this way: 4 - 5 days of 7kw or so.  I can't do the sums, but if you were to wrap up and smoke a €20 note every time somebody goes in for a dip, you mightn't be far wide of the mark. Someone will come in now and tell us that "With the temp at 18C at daytime and 7C overnight, it'll only be €8,45 per dip" ................. but you get my drift? [/quote] The great thing about heat pumps is that they are very efficient in that they put out more than they take in.   As an example, there are heat pumps on the market that will draw 1.7kW and put out 8.1kW at an ambient air temperature of 15 degrees; at minus 2 they would put out 4.6kW.   There are models that will draw 3.8kW and put out 18.6kW.   Ambient air temperature is important as a heat pump uses the heat in the air and compresses it up to a higher temperature.   There are heat pumps on the market that will work down to minus 7 degrees but beware that there are a lot that will not work below  plus 7 degrees.

As Teapot suggests, this is a very easy repair to make and the secret to making it good is how clean it is, hence the tidying up of the inside of the female part.   I would also advise cleaning up the inside of the female part and the ouside of the male part (the flexi hose) using decapant.   Put some on a cloth and wipe around the surfaces to be glued after using the abbrasives to clear off dust, grease etc.   Be aware that the glue will go off very quickly.   In seconds you will not be able to pull the two parts apart so again, as is suggested, mark the depth to make sure you push all the way in as you wont be able to push again. Flexible to rigid joints are everywhere and are so commonplace you would be more surprised to not find one.    In spas for example, there are almost 100 such joints in each model and the benefit, as with pools, is that you are not causing pressure issues and you are maximising flow that would otherwise be affected by the need for rigid elbows etc. I cannot remember exactly the figure but if you put a 90 degree elbow in a pipe it is like adding roughly another 80 cm's to the pipe run.  

There is another Tim just outside of Beziers, fully trained and already offering and excellent service who I would not hesitate in recommending. Rest assured though that there is enough business available here as there are some bad providers also (not called Tim; maybe that's the secret) and if you know what you are doing then I wish you good luck.

Having had the opportunity to respond to Savoirflair, I thought it may helps others too if I posted the things to think about here: -   There are two types of swim spas available – one with the spa end separated from the swim end and one where the water volume is combined; and then you will find different levels of specification.   Swim spas with separate ends are better and more expensive because they will have two separate sets of controls, filters, heaters etc.   The benefit is that you can have your spa end at 38 to 40 degrees, for example, which is great for lounging in but too hot for swimming in, so by having separate controls you can have your swim water at 28 degrees.   When you have a swim spa with one combined/total volume of water you lose this benefit and it is difficult to manage the heating up and cooling down process to make it comfortable for use.   There are also two types of build on the market – one where the cabinet is fully foam filled apart from a small compartment where the equipment is located and the other will have a fully open cabinet with the equipment and pipes exposed.   Fully foamed offer great insulation qualities but the difference between the two types in terms of energy efficiency is small.   California has the most stringent controls on energy saving and environmental impact on all consumer products in the world and spas and swim spas of both types are sold there, meeting the regulations as required.   Fully foamed use the foam as a support for the shell and the cabinet but this breaks down over time (3 years and onwards) and you will have 8 to 10 tonnes of unsupported water at some point in time.   You always intend to sell products without leaks but sometimes it can occur.   When you can find the leak and repair it with ease it is cheaper but sadly, with foam filled you have to find the leak by finding a damp patch of foam (sponge like), hacking through it not knowing where the pipes are and risking further issues, repair the leak and then use your spa with part of the shell and cabinet support hacked away.    Typically, a leak should be about an hour to repair but with foam filled it will be a day - and there is a cost for that.   Fully foamed products will also harbour insects, rodents, snakes etc that burrow in for warmth to nest.   Additionally, if you have an air blower, the foamed products have to have an air grill to the outside to feed the blower and this will be cold air, whereas the fully open will draw on air heated within the confines of the spa from the motors and heater elements.   The air grill is where insects etc will get in.   As far as working parts go, most spas regardless of construction and type will be robust enough to do the job they are asked to do and there is little to choose between them.   Things can go wrong of course and I have known of a spa company that has bought a batch of pumps that have failed because their regular supplier has had a glitch in production.   Generally though, product from the US/Canada and Europe is tried and tested.   If you buy from the former eastern bloc where components are bought in and assembled or China where they develop their own way of things, research what you are buying – don’t just assume for example, that if you buy a Czech made spa that it is European; it may be built with Chinese parts.   This is not to deride product from these sources but you need to know what you are getting.   Electrical requirements need to be thought about and the minimum for a swim spa is that they are hard wired into the fuse board/tableau with their own trip switch protected by an RCD and that they should have an isolator about two metres from the spa but no closer.   Depending on the model it will be between 20 and 32 amps – the higher the spec the higher the demand, so check with your supplier.   Swim spas are not plug and play.   Cable sizing depends on the length of the cable run and demand so you will need a qualified electrician to help with the installation (qualified to protect your warranty and more important, you).   Fill and drain – fill with a standard garden hose (run for 20 seconds to get rid of standing water).   Drainage is through a valve located near the base of a swim spa generally and is gravity fed making it a slow process.    Sometimes it is better to use a submersible pump.   If you are putting a swim spa in a pit you need to think about where this gravity fed water or other water ingress (rain etc) is going to go, so unless you provide a means of drainage to the pit you will need a sump with a pump to extract the water.   If you do not drain the pit water will build up and potentially damage equipment, not to mention the water borne infestation issues.   Decking from the ground up and around is a better solution.    You also need to think about where water is going to drain to; it will contain chemicals as with pool water.