If you are lucky enough to own a home with a swimming pool or considering having a pool installed, you are on schedule for fun lifestyle changes. In addition to being great for exercise, swimming pools are a fun way to keep children off of electronics; they boost your home’s value and make backyard entertaining more enjoyable and hassle-free. Discover some of the easiest ways to keep your pool cleaned and maintained on your own for the safety of those who will be swimming in it.
Pool maintenance will keep your pool attractive and is essential for allowing those you love the comfort of knowing they are safe in your pool. Keeping your pool clean and maintained prolongs the pool life and keeps bacteria from forming in your pool. Therefore, some pool maintenance 101 tips are below.
Clean surface dirt every few days.
The surface part of your pool generally contains the dirtiest water. Dirt, debris, algae spores, and oils from the skin will collect in your pool that must be removed every few days. If you live on or near a sandy beach, you’ll have to clean surface dirt even more often. While most pool operating systems have a system to remove this dirt, automatic pool sweeping is essential for a hygienic swimming pool.
These gadgets are energy efficient, self-programmable, and sanitize swimming pools. Also known as pool robots, they are effective and cost-saving. Pool robots are also easy to operate, provide a thorough cleaning, improve water circulation by improving the chemical balance, and eliminate the need to hire a pool maintenance company for weekly service.
In addition to cleaning the surface dirt, certain other areas of your pool should be cleaned often. Those include the skimmer baskets that are on the side of the pool. It also collects debris and surface dirt also. You want to pull and empty the basket’s contents often.
There is also a pot that collects lint, hair, and the debris that has escaped the skimmer basket. It is located inside the pool pump and is stronger than the skimmer basket, and pulls in loose hairs and unseen bits of debris.
Chemicals and levels.
While water is such a large part of pools, chemicals are equally crucial to the health of your pool water and those swimming in your pool. If you have ever asked the question, “how to adjust alkalinity in pools,” this section will provide the answers. Chemicals that are necessary for a clean and safe pool are:
Sanitizers that include cyanuric acid and chlorine stabilizers to keep your pool clean and disinfected.
Oxidizers such as calcium hypochlorite and granular potassium peroxymonosulfate act as secondary sanitizers and kill algae and bacteria.
Water balancers work together to keep the pH levels of your pool safe. They contain granular soda ash, granular sodium bisulfate, dry acid, alkalinity increasers like granular sodium bicarbonate. Water balancers also include granular sodium thiosulfate.
Though it all sounds intimidating, some companies put together the proper mixtures of these chemicals based on your pool size and needs.
Closing at the right time.
It sounds like an oxymoron because most want the warm weather to last forever, however, closing your pool at the right time is essential to the health of your pool. Closing it too early can encourage algae growth. Therefore, waiting until the pool temperature is below 65 degrees is necessary. You’ll also want to pool chemical levels at a specific range before closing for the year. Closing with a pH between 7.4 and 7.6 and the alkalinity between 100 and 150 are optimal numbers.
In addition to the water, thoroughly clean the sides of your pool and then have your robot sweet the pool well before you close it for the season. Also, be sure to properly cover your pool.
Pool maintenance will keep your pool attractive and offer those who will use it the additional comfort of knowing they are safe in your pool. Keeping your pool clean and maintained prolongs the pool life and keeps bacteria from forming in your pool. These pool maintenance tips 101 benefit anyone who has a pool that they want to maintain themselves.
