Sand cleanup continues for valley pools after days-long dust storm
The cleanup continued Tuesday after days of blowing dust and sand wreaked havoc in the Coachella Valley Memorial Day weekend.
Pool service companies are working pool-by-pool to remove dust, sand and debris from residential and commercial swimming oases.
"We're really facing an uphill battle for swimming pools this week," said Claropool CEO Stephen Little. His teams are canvassing the valley, servicing about 500 pools a day. The wind has made for a lot of extra work lately for his staff.
"This season has just been horrible. It's been back to back to back past three weeks," said Adam Rios, Claropool director of maintenance.
Rios and his team were at Barkingham Pet Hotel in Palm Desert Tuesday servicing a commercial swimming pool for boarded dogs. He said he's been slammed with calls this week from customers requesting immediate cleanup.
"Within one hour, we'll get 100 customers just calling us, 'I want it done, now,'" Rios said.
Servicers vacuumed the dirt and debris from the water to spare customers' pool filters, sucking out the muddy water and draining it.
And it's not just sand the wind is dumping. Little said each storm brings on added costs, too. "Every time the wind blows like that, it costs me $25,000 In overtime. So one can quickly figure out that this year alone, I've spent several $100,000 in overtime," he said.
Little said extreme wind events in the valley have been the most frequent he can remember in decades – a 70 percent increase from 2012. He attributes the increase to climate change.
"The desert is windier, and hotter and drier than ever has been," Little said. "We've had 15 historic storms in the Coachella Valley that interrupted our lifestyles between Feb. 22 and May 29."
Customers are asked to remain patient and know that the pool service industry is doing everything they can during a difficult week – with even more wind expected on the way.
"A little hard work never hurt nobody," Rios said. "But definitely, I wake up in the morning and I see the dirt already and it's like, 'Oh great, here we go. Another beautiful week in the valley.'"
