Nothing will make maintenance of your pool like upgrading your pool equipment. After a few thousand weekly service visits, we have compiled a list of our favorite pool equipment that is sure to make your summer more enjoyable. 

Pump-Your pump is the lifeblood of your pool. With the unpredictable weather of Maryland, pool owners often find they have to run their pump nearly all day to counter the effects of the hot sun beating on their pool or those unexpected heavy rain showers that pass through in June and July. There isn't anything we can do to change the weather, but we can minimize the cost of running your pump by replacing a worn and inefficient pump with an Energy Star certified pool pump from Pentair. The Pentair Superflo VS or Intelliflo is our pump of choice. If you have either of these pumps installed by 4M Pools, you will receive a $400 rebate from BGE AND a $50 or $100 rebate from Pentair! Get paid to save money on your electric bill? Replace your pump today, and see your energy bills plummet! 

Filter-The pool filter is what most pool owners will find they spend the most time maintaining throughout the pool season. After extensively maintaining pools with all types of filters, we can confidently say that a quad DE filter from Pentair causes the least amount of headaches when it comes to maintaining a pool. The quad DE combines the ease of maintenance of a cartridge filter and the water clarity of a DE filter. A properly sized and installed quad DE filter should only require two to three cleanings per year. The average pool owner should be able to accomplish this task in 20 minutes with the appropriate tools. 

Salt water system-We already have a blog post dedicated entirely to our fondness of salt water systems, but we will say it again, convert your pool to a salt water pool! you will not regret it. 

Heater-There are several different options when it comes to pool heaters. From heat pumps to solar, a pool owner can easily be confused when making a choice for what type of heater they should install. We have a blog post that will help homeowners with deciding which pool heater is the right choice for them!

 

​Growing up as a swimmer, itching skin with a chemical smell to it was all too familiar to me.  My classmates and friends were not shy about pointing the smell out either. To me, that’s just the only way that it could be. Pools just made your eyes burn, your skin itch, and gave you a less than pleasant smell. But then one summer afternoon I went for a swim at a friend’s house where I was shocked to find that my eyes were not burning as he splashed me in the face and my skin didn’t itch or smell after I got out of the pool. This was because his pool was not a standard chlorine pool. He had a salt water pool.

Salt water pools are becoming more and more popular among residential pool owners, and with very good reason!  Personally, I do not enjoy swimming in pools that are not salt water pools. From a maintenance perspective, salt water pools are also a much more enjoyable work environment. If you have ever used chlorine tablets, you know the awful itching and irritation it can cause to your skin, even from the slightest contact.  A pool equipped with a salt water chlorine generator is also easier to maintain!  During the hotter months of the summer, it almost feels as if you cannot put enough chlorine in the pool to keep it sanitary, but this is not the case with salt water pools. Salt water generators are constantly converting the salt in the water into chlorine, so it is much more difficult for the sun to burn off the chlorine.
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It is true that salt water systems generally do end up costing more than using chlorine tablets, but most good things cost more money, right?  The softness the water has on your skin, the lack of smell, and ease of maintenance are well worth the cost!

If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing, then you will never be successful. Sure, you might make a lot of money, but is that really success?  Despite what others might tell you, I don’t think your bank account is the measure of success. I define success by loving what you are doing, making a positive difference in peoples lives, and going to bed at night completely satisfied with your choices.  Don’t get me wrong, it definitely takes money to accomplish these goals, and I don’t think money is evil, but if money is your first and only goal, then more times than not, you will end up with very little.

When I first started 4M Pools, I went around telling everyone about my new company, just like any new business owner would. For the most part, the responses were “Oh that’s great. Good luck!” But one person I told asked me, “Are you really interested enough in the pool business to start a company?” I was taken aback by this question, as it was the first response I heard that wasn’t 100% enthusiasm about what I was doing. But this statement was one of the best things that could have happened to me when first starting, as it really made me stop and think. Was I that interested in the pool business? If the pool business only consisted of working on a pool and then receiving monetary compensation, then no, I am not that interested in the pool business. But that is true of anything I could possibly be doing. If my life was merely performing a task and then receiving compensation, then I would not be interested or passionate about it.  When I started to peel back the layers of what I was doing, I started to answer the questions of why I was doing what I was doing.  I started a business to make my life better, to make my families life better, to make pool owners lives better, and to make the life of any employee I have, better. That is something I am extremely passionate about and will fight for every day.

There is no greater feeling than knowing other lives are better because of something I created. This is, and what will remain to be, the driving force in the success of 4M Pools. This is 4M.

I once found myself standing behind a mass of men and women, who seemed to be entranced by a voice coming from the front of the crowd. I was intrigued, so I joined them. I listened attentively to the words, as the speaker offered guidance to what he believed was the path to success and happiness. I enjoyed listening to his words, and there was great comfort in believing someone could lead me down a path that would lead to prosperity. But as time passed, the many flaws of this path began to present themselves. As the speaker lead my group down this path, we were continually promised that the end was nearing. “Just a little longer, happiness is waiting for you at the end.” This sentiment troubled me, and I could not grasp the idea that the price of admission to happiness was prolonged unhappiness.  The further along this path I traveled, the quieter the group became, as most stopped questioning and were only there to follow.  In the silence that grew, the voice calling me to find something greater became so deafening that I could no longer ignore it. And so I left…

This path I now find myself on might not end in a big house, a nice car or fancy clothes. I hope this path never ends, because this path has been far more satisfying than the satisfaction any tangible result has ever given me.  This path has made me realize that every disappointment I have ever experienced, although I may not have wanted to be there at the time, was exactly where I was supposed to be.  This is a path where I have learned that the only thing the light has ever done for me, is allow me to see what I became in the dark. This is the path where I find the only thing I should have ever been searching for: myself. This path has left my shoes covered in holes, that I refuse to get rid of, because they remind me of the miles I have traveled, and the meaningful places I have been. Although some of the fabric and rubber of my shoes have disappeared, they have been replaced with something far more valuable: happiness and knowledge of myself.  No matter how battered my shoes become, or how many judging stares they receive, I will never trade my weathered shoes and wandering spirit for a soul whose holes I fill in with dollar bills. Show me someone who doesn’t have holes in their shoes, and I will show you someone whose story is boring and lacks meaning.  If you want to hear a story that includes a character on a journey to overcome and find meaning, hold on, I’m writing it. One of the chapters in this story does include owning and operating a business. But this company is only part of the story and is not the path.  This company is named after the path. This company was built and will continue to grow based solely on doing the right and honest thing for people.  This is what satisfies and makes me, and everyone associated with 4M Pools, happy.  We aren't changing.  This is 4M.