For businesses

Pool maintenance for campsites and rural tourism

Eight weeks running flat out and seven months closed. The problem with these pools is not high season — it is what happens between them.

What changes on a campsite or rural-tourism pool?

Three things change at once: intermittency, where the water comes from, and distance. A pool that takes two hundred people in August and none in November cannot run on the same plan all year, and a pool abandoned from October to May arrives in June with a recovery to pay for — always more expensive than the reduced maintenance that would have prevented it. In Lisbon and on the South Bank, ManutençãoPiscinas runs these installations on a three-part year — opening prepared well in advance, high season with reinforced visits, and a closing that leaves the pool stable — so the pool is ready the day the first guest arrives. The first step is a technical visit to the installation, which sets the plan and the figure.

Content reviewed in August 2026.

Who this page is for

  • Campsites and caravan parks with a pool
  • Rural-tourism quintas and agritourism
  • Estates and country houses with lodging
  • Installations supplied from a borehole or well
  • Pools with a defined season and a long closure

Three constraints that set the plan

Intermittency. A pool that closes for seven months and reopens in June has only two paths: reduced maintenance through winter, or a recovery in May. The first costs little per month and is predictable; the second consumes product, filtration hours and several visits in a row, and it lands in exactly the week the bookings start. That choice is made in October, not in May.

The water. Many of these installations fill from a borehole or well, and borehole water is not mains water: it brings hardness, iron and manganese at concentrations the mains does not have. Treated as if it were mains water, it gives staining, coloured water and deposits in the equipment. Testing the source water is the first thing to do, not the last.

Distance. These installations are usually a long way from base, which changes what it is reasonable to promise. We would rather tell you plainly that visits fall on fixed days and that the pool is set up to hold between them, than promise an immediate response that does not survive a Saturday in August.

What your business needs, and what we do

The left-hand column here is not a legal obligation: it is what your business needs to happen for the season to work.

What your business needsWhat we do
A pool ready on the day of the first bookingOpening prepared weeks ahead, not the night before: filling, balancing and equipment checks
Water that holds through a full weekendA plan sized on the park's capacity rather than the tank volume, with reinforced visits in season
Borehole water treated as borehole waterSource water tested and hardness, iron and manganese corrected specifically before the season
No equipment surprises in AugustChecks and replacements done in the winter window, when the pool is closed and stopping costs nothing
Proof of what was doneA dated written record per visit, with measurements, products and work done
A winter that does not ruin the next seasonClosing with reduced maintenance instead of abandonment, so May is not a recovery

What the law requires of pools in public use

Which statute applies to each kind of installation, the testing and analysis cadence, the Annex II values and what the maintenance company covers — with the sources cited.

See the legal obligations

The year in three parts

It is the format that suits a seasonal installation best, and it is how we structure the contract.

PeriodWhat happens
April and May — preparationOpening, source water testing, balancing, pump, filter and safety checks, and a list of what must be fixed before opening
June to September — seasonReinforced visits according to occupancy, testing at every visit and immediate correction
October — closingSwitch to reduced maintenance: minimum filtration, pH under control, residual disinfectant and the cover on
November to March — technical windowSpaced visits and the heavy work: sand, seals, repairs — at no downtime cost, because it is already down

What stays with you

A park changes staff between seasons. What is written down is what survives that change.

  • An installation data sheet: real volume, flow rate, type of treatment, water source
  • A dated written record per visit
  • An opening report with what was corrected before the season
  • A closing report with the state of the equipment and what is left for the winter window
  • Source water analysis, where it is a borehole or well
  • A consolidated history, available at any time

What it costs

We publish no figure for these installations, and you should be wary of anyone who quotes one without seeing the pool. The price depends on volume, the park's capacity, the water source and the distance from our base — and a seasonal contract with three different phases does not reduce to a single monthly fee. What we do is look at the installation and provide a written proposal setting out the scope, phase by phase, so you can compare it with others.

Services this contract includes

Frequently asked questions

The questions operators ask us before signing. If yours is not here, call us.

Almost always yes, and the arithmetic is simple: reduced winter maintenance costs little per month and is predictable; recovering an abandoned pool consumes product, many filtration hours and several visits in a row — and it lands in May, when you already have bookings. There are cases where draining works out better, but they are the exception and they are decided with the pool in front of you.
It changes the starting point. Borehole water brings hardness, iron and manganese that mains water does not, and treated as though it were mains water it gives staining and coloured water. We test the source water before the season and correct against it — that is the difference between a clean season and a season spent correcting.
Not always, and we would rather say so. These installations are usually a long way from base, and promising an immediate response on a Saturday in August would be a promise that does not hold. What we do instead is set the pool up to hold between visits and fix visit days you can count on.
In April, not June. A pool opened the night before the first booking opens with whatever it has; a pool prepared weeks ahead meets the first guest balanced and with the equipment checked. It is also when a replacement costs only the part, rather than the part plus a pool closed in season.
It does, in a mixed arrangement that works well on parks: your team does the daily cleaning and testing through the season, we do the opening, the technical control, the closing and the equipment. What rarely works is leaving the opening and the closing to a seasonal team that changes every year.

Ask for a proposal for your season

Tell us the municipality, the park's capacity and whether the pool fills from the mains or a borehole. We reply within 24 hours and arrange a visit to the installation.

Or call us: 923 352 067 | Send WhatsApp