Most companies offer a standard level of service that includes cleaning the pool, checking the water chemistry and ensuring all the pool equipment is working properly. Generally, the number of pools signed up for this basic package is proportional to revenues, and most companies try cluster as many of them together as possible in order to optimize the use of time and maximize the revenue per hour. In this situation, an APC can be used to great advantage, says Russell Koch, Backyard Vacations Pool & Equipment in Medicine Hat, Alberta, a construction company that also offers service to customers that request their help maintaining a clean pool.

“Using an automatic pool cleaner is especially important when I’m working on several pools in the same geographic area,” Koch says. “I put the vac into the pool and return four hours later. It only takes 20 minutes to put the vac in and take it out, but I still get my full base rate for an hour of work. And it would take at least an hour of work if I were to have to remain at the pool to vacuum and clean it manually.”

Steve White of Underwater Pool Masters in West Boylston, Mass., takes advantage of an automatic pool cleaner to speed up the job of pool maintenance.