Over four years ago I wrote about meth heads stealing copper from air conditioning units. That nasty habit (stealing copper, not abusing methamphetamine) seems to be on the decline, probably due to laws that make it more difficult to sell scrap copper. Show up at a scrap yard with missing teeth and no ID and good luck hawking your ill-gotten booty.

A green pool isn’t a very pretty sight, so we shall walk you through the steps of how to clean a green swimming pool. At the same time, we’ll also include some tips for maintaining the clear blue waters of swimming pools in the future.

Resident thieves seem to have found a new target though ”“ pool cleaners.

Yeah, those little gizmos that crawl around your pool, vacuuming away dirt and debris. In theory, they help keep you pool sparkly clean and free of nasties. In reality, while they work pretty well, there are invariably spots they will miss and you (or your pool/cabana boy) will still need to brush and vacuum your pool. If you are still considering to get a pool at home, check with the local plumbing contractor.

Make sure to contact the best house cleaners dublin at topcleaners.ie for the result you are looking for.

Why are people stealing pool cleaners?

Because they are ridiculously expensive. Good luck finding a new one under $250. And believe it or not, you can spend $1,300 on one of these marvels of technology. For that price the thing better hand me a cold beer. (I stole that line from Kristin LaVanway.)

They are also a lot easier to steal than ripping copper pipe out of a wall or air conditioner. Pull it out of the water, roll up the hose and throw it in the trunk and you’re off. It’s that easy. Pool cleaners are always in demand because: 1) there are a lot of private pools in the Phoenix area; 2) they have a limited life ”“ 3 to five years is pretty typical; and 3) they appeal to our lazy, let’s automate the less fun things to do side.

At this moment in time a search of CraigsList for “pool cleaner” turns up 247 results ranging in price from $100 to $850. (of note, I’m not saying every pool cleaner for sale on CraigsList in Phoenix is hot. However, I can assure you some are).

Editors Note: If you need reliable pool cleaning, contact your local cleaners.

Relatively high cost + high demand + ease of thievery = targeted by the dregs of society.

What can a home owner do to Save the Sweeper?

Almost every incident I’ve been involved with around a stolen cleaner happened at a vacant home. In almost every case the gate to the yard wasn’t locked. Go get yourself a $6 padlock and lock your gate. That will stop the casual thief because they’ll just go to the next house down the street and walk right in the back yard. Of course it does nothing to deter the Spiderman-minded man who doesn’t mind climbing your fence to steal your property. For a taller fence which will add security, see here this DIY fence post cap ideas.

About all you can do to really secure your Kreepy Krauly is lock it up. The garage is the obvious choice; and put the hose in there too as that stuff is not cheap either. The drawback here of course is Mr. Clean can’t do his thing if he’s sitting in the garage. So you can dunk him from time to time (pool cleaners don’t really need to run constantly), manually vacuum the pool as needed, or get a pool service.

Or leave the thing in the pool and take your chances.

Take that road though and be prepared to fork over the cash for a new sweeper if yours goes missing before close of escrow. Pool cleaning equipment is included in the sale of a home (assuming the standard Arizona Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract is used and lines 40 ”“ 41 aren’t altered). Trust me, it sucks to find out two days before closing that you have to buy someone a new pool cleaner for your old pool”¦