The Five Most Important Tips For Swimming Pool Maintenance
If you maintain your own pool, you know it takes a decent amount of work to keep it looking clean and the water bright and clear. But like a lot of maintenance chores, if you know a few tricks it'll go easier. Here are the five most important tips for swimming pool maintenance from the pros who clean pools for their living.
Regular surface skimming and cleaning out filter baskets is a quick, simple way to keep your pool looking good. Use a specially designed pool skimmer with a long pole and a wide net to remove surface debris like leaves, twigs and bugs. After you skim, clean out the filter baskets. This keeps the pool circulation system going strong so the surface stays clean and keeps chemicals balanced so the water is clear.
Give the pool a quick brush. With the same pole you use for skimming and the brush attachment, gently scrub the dirt from stairs, walls and shallow end. Brush easily so as not to stir up dirt too much. Angle your brushing toward the deep end and the main drain. A good brush down will keep algae growth at bay and prevent staining in the most visible areas.
Clean your filter to maintain good circulation. When you see a 4 to 7 kilogram difference between the pressure gauge and the flow gauge it time to clean. This means pressure is building behind the filter and so it is overly clogged and dirty. The type of filter you have (cartridge, sand or DE) determines how to clean it.
Maintaining the proper water height is important to keep the skimming and filter system running properly. During swimming season a good amount of water is lost to splashing and jumping out of the pool, as well as to evaporation. If the water is too low the skimmer system will not work optimally so you'll end up with more surface debris. If the water gets drops below the skimmer you can damage equipment if it begins sucking air into the system.
Test water weekly and add chemicals as needed. Maintaining the correct balance is important for both the short and long term. Properly balanced water is clear and bright, and won't hurt your eyes. When pool water is imbalanced it can become murky, but more importantly it can become caustic. This can cause eye and skin irritation as well as corrode metal fittings and equipment. Keep up with the chemicals!
The most important tip is keep up with the maintenance. Letting the pool get too dirty or letting the water chemistry get out of balance just means more work in the long run and can lead to long term problems. Try and keep a three day a week schedule. A quick service - skim, skimmer basket clean out, brush, water test - twice a week, then a vacuum and tile scrub for the other service.
Maintaining your own pool can save you a good amount of money, but it does take a bit of effort on your part. There's nothing worse than swimming in a dirty, cloudy pool covered in leaves. So keep to a regular schedule. You'll save time in the long run and you'll have lovely sparkling water.
