Pool Maintenance and Care Tips From the Experts
There probably aren’t many people who wouldn’t like having a pool in their backyard. Whether it is because they would like to swim every day, chill after work, or host weekend parties. But like with any other extra things around your house, lots of pool maintenance is needed.
Without proper maintenance, your pool can become anything but a fun party place. If you don’t clean it often enough, you can end up with broken filters, green water, algae, and so on. To help you keep your pool as glamorous as possible we have prepared a few tips that will help you for sure. No matter if you just got your first pool, or you have had one for years, check out our tips to get a great start to the summer season.
Put cleaning into your schedule
A recipe for the perfect pool lies in regular cleaning. If you tend to forget to clean it, put it in your schedule. You can even hang up reminders on your fridge, or in your bedroom. This way, you will have a constant reminder that you should do it, and after a while, it will become a part of your daily, or weekly routine.
Skim and scrub
It is important to skim leaves and debris off the surface of the water. This process is something you should do every day. If you are willing to splurge, you can always get a robot vacuum that can clean the bottom of the pool.
Also, make sure you scrub the sides of the pool at least once a week to prevent algae from building up. If you don’t do it less often, you will probably end up with black spot algae which are hard to remove. Most people don’t know how to remove black spot algae, and they end up not using the pool at all. The best way is to treat them with quality algaecides. If you don’t get rid of them in 2-3 years, they could end up penetrating the concrete pool interior.
Clean your filters
All the impurities that appear in the water go through the pool filters. Unfortunately, the filters are not resistant to clogging. This means that a lot of the dirt and leaves end up resting on the filters. So, to make sure that your filters are working as they should, clean them once a week. Another thing that can happen to filters is that their mechanics can crack. This can happen if you turn on and off the filters too often. To avoid this, set a timer that will allow them to run at least six hours per day.
Besides cleaning the filters, it is important to clean the pipes that they use as well. You can do this once a month by backwashing to be sure they are nice and clean. To do this, you just need to set your filter on the backwash, remove the leaf basket and clean it out.
Balanced chemicals
As you probably already know, having a pool without chemicals in it is near to impossible. If you didn’t use any treatments, you would have to change the water every day. Even then you would most likely end up with a dirty pool interior. This is why it is so important to chemically balance your swimming pool
The water in the pool should have a healthy pH level, i.e. between 7.2 and 7.8. The pH levels represent the balance between the acidity and the alkalinity of the chemicals you are using. And don’t worry, you don’t need any fancy equipment to measure this. There are plenty of testing kits out there.
Of course, no swimming pool can be clean without free chlorine. This substance is the main sanitizer that keeps your pool water free of germs. You must use it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you put too much, your skin will not like that.
Maintain water levels
To keep your chemical composition at the right level, you have to maintain the water levels. If you dive, or if it is a really hot day, the pool’s water level is probably going to decrease. So if you notice this, use your garden hose to fill the pool back up until the level of water is correct again.
Keep in mind the need for pool closing supplies, so when it’s time to shut down for the winter you will be well prepared.
Having a pool can be a wonderful source of fun, it can be a great place to relax and enjoy. But, to be able to enjoy it properly, you have to make sure that your blue oasis is well-maintained. If you follow all the things we talked about, you will surely spend more time sunbathing than doing chores.