Pool help in Los Angeles

Last updated November 2, 2026 · Reviewed by the Pool Helpline tech team

Power out? Electric utilities in the Los Angeles area

• LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power): Power outage map and outage reporting
• Southern California Edison: Outage center

LADWP serves the City of Los Angeles. Southern California Edison serves much of the rest of Los Angeles County, and a few cities (such as Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank) run their own electric utility. Use the outage page for the utility on your bill.

How Pool Helpline works in the Los Angeles area

We're a video service, not a local pool company, and we don't have an office in the Los Angeles area. You book a call, point your phone at the equipment pad (pump, filter, heater, salt cell and any display codes) and a real pool tech guides you by voice. Many problems can be diagnosed, and often fixed, in one call. If yours needs hands-on work, we'll help you find a local pro.

Flat prices, shown before you book: Quick Fix $49 · Full Diagnostic $89 · Priority Fix $139.

Power outage or a tripped breaker?

When the pump and the rest of the equipment go quiet in the Los Angeles area, first work out whether it's the pool or the grid. If the neighbors and streetlights are out too, it's an outage: report it to your utility (links above). If everyone else has power, the problem is on your side, usually a tripped breaker or GFCI for the pool equipment. Reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call a licensed electrician (see pool light or electrical problem).

Anyone in the water who feels tingling, or a pool light flickering or on when it shouldn't be, is an emergency sign, not a repair to try: the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says to get out of the water, turn off all power, and call 911 if someone may have been shocked. During an outage, SRP suggests turning off appliances so there's no surge when power returns; when it does, check that the pump primes and that the timer or automation clock didn't reset (see pump not priming).

A year-round pool: evaporation and water rules

In a climate where the pool stays open most of the year, evaporation adds up. The U.S. EPA estimates that an uncovered 500-square-foot pool can lose 12,000 to 31,000 gallons a year to evaporation depending on climate, more if it's heated, and that a solid cover in use cuts evaporation by more than 90 percent. LADWP recommends a pool cover to reduce water loss under the City of Los Angeles's current water restrictions.

Because the water level drops on its own, a real leak is easy to miss. If you're topping off more than you'd expect, or you see wet spots near the equipment or air bubbles in the pump basket, see pool losing water. Running the pump year-round also means the CDC's home pool targets apply all year: a pH of 7.0 to 7.8 with at least 1 ppm free chlorine (at least 2 ppm with stabilized chlorine such as trichlor tablets). If the water turns cloudy or green, a tech can walk you through it by video.

Smoke and ash from wildfires

After the 2025 Palisades fire, the City of Los Angeles shared Los Angeles County Department of Public Health guidance: don't use a pool hit by smoke and ash until it's cleaned. Clean the skimmer baskets and net out floating debris, brush the walls and floor and vacuum, bring the pH to 7.2 to 8.0 and free chlorine to at least 2.0 ppm, and make sure the circulation system is working by checking the filter pressure or flow meter. Draining isn't advised if the pool can be cleaned, and pool water must never go to the driveway, gutter or storm drain.

Ash loads up a filter fast, so watch the pressure gauge (see filter pressure high). A pool tech can look at your water and equipment by video and help you decide whether it needs a professional cleaning.

Pool barrier rules in Los Angeles

California's Swimming Pool Safety Act requires a new or remodeled pool at a single-family home to have at least two of seven drowning prevention features, such as an enclosure, removable mesh fencing, a safety cover, exit alarms or self-closing door latches, or an in-pool alarm. Los Angeles County's Building and Safety Division says that in the areas it covers, every new or altered pool needs an enclosure that completely surrounds the pool, at least 60 inches high on the side away from the pool, with no more than 2 inches of clearance at the bottom, and self-closing, self-latching gates that open away from the pool. Cities in the county, including Los Angeles, issue their own pool permits, so check with yours before changing a fence, gate or cover.

Los Angeles pool not working? Start here

• Pump not priming: Pump runs but the basket won't fill. Almost always air or water level.
• Heater won't fire: No heat, a flow or pressure code, or an ignition lockout. Flow comes first.
• Salt cell / chlorinator codes: No Flow, Check Salt, Inspect Cell and what the IntelliChlor LEDs mean.
• Green pool water: Green means chlorine ran out. Find out why so it doesn't come back.
• Electrical safety & pool lights: Tingling, flickering lights or a GFCI that won't reset. Treat it as an emergency.
• Need a replacement part? Send us your model and the old part's label, and a tech matches the exact part.
• Need someone on site? Tell us your ZIP code and we'll help you find a local pro.

Common questions

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