ike beach entries, sun shelves can accumulate debris. Robot-type automatic cleaners can have a tough time climbing them.
To keep a sun shelf clean, try the following:
• Use the inlets. Position inlets over the shelf to keep water moving in the area. If the pool has dead spots, debris will want to pile up there, and dirt will settle to bottom of the shelf.
• Build a slight slope. A slight decline into the water — say, 1/2-inch drop per foot of run, says Ron Coker Jr., vice president of Master Pools by Artistic Pools Inc. in Atlanta — will help dirt and debris slide off the shelf and into the main pool, where cleaners or skimmers can take it away.
• Include the shelf in in-floor cleaner schemes. If you’re including an in-floor cleaner in the pool’s design, be sure to install some heads onto the shelf itself so that the system can sweep the shelf whenever it cleans the rest of the pool.
• Make the shelf cleaner-friendly. If you’re using a robot-type cleaner that can climb onto the shelf, design the shelf so the machine can roll off the step easily, says Blake Barnes, president of B2 Pools & Spas Inc. in The Woodlands, Texas. Taper the edges and try to avoid hard corners, so the cleaner doesn’t get stuck.
