How to Maintain Your Swimming Pool

People who use their pool all year round should invest in pool supplies that keep the water quality in good condition. Pool maintenance should not trouble you, but make s...

People who use their pool all year round should invest in pool supplies that keep the water quality in good condition. Pool maintenance should not trouble you, but make sure to invest time in it. Keeping your pools clean is important for your health. When unmaintained, the water in your pool can become favorable site for bacteria, microorganisms, parasites, and harmful chemicals, all of which will cause diseases. Make your pool safe for you and your family.

1. Check the chemistry of the pool. Weekly checking of the condition of your pool is important. One thing to check is the pH of the water. A testing kit would be available at your swimming pools supplies store. Ideally, the pH levels of your pool should be anywhere from 7.2 to 7.6. Within this range, chemicals you add to disinfect water work best. The pH should not go above 8.0, because the effectiveness of chlorine becomes affected. Chlorine is only 10% active at pH 8.5.

2. The total dissolved solids or TDS and calcium hardness should also be checked. For TDS, you may do checking twice a year, once in every six months. For calcium hardness, do checking once a month. TDS and calcium levels should be controlled to keep the water suitable.

3. Cleaning chlorine generators in salt water pools is important to prevent calcium buildup and corrosion. Unmaintained chlorine generators will tend to produce insufficient chlorine, which will affect water safety.

4. Sand and DE filters should be washed, or else, they will not clean the pool water effectively. But they should not be backwashed too often. Frequent backwashing of filters is a waste of water. When should you do backwashing? Check the pressure gauge. If it reads 8-10 PSI, that means the filters need backwashing.

5. Skimmer baskets should be cleaned to remove debris that could clog them. Clogged skimmer baskets or hair and lint pots result in insufficient circulation.

6. Do not add chemicals during the day. Chlorine is less effective during daytime. Introduce the chemical into the water at night.

7. Do not just rely on the chemicals to do the cleaning. At times, you have to manually clean your pool. You can control algae from coating the walls and tiles of your pool by brushing them. Brushing the tiles also helps eliminate calcification.

8. It is important for the water to circulate. Run the pumps long enough, depending on the temperature. How long you run the pump depends on the water volume and the speed of your pump. If you have a 5000 gallon pool and the water pump filters 25 gallons of water per minute, that means it can filter 5000 gallons of pool water in 200 minutes or 3 hours and 20 minutes. Do the math. In that case, running the pump for less than 3 hours leads to inadequate water filtration. On the other hand, running it too long means wasteful energy usage.

You will know something is wrong with your pool water if you see or experience the following:

• Burning eyes and nose

• Water smelling like bleach

• Water turning green with algae

• Cloudy water

Invest time in maintaining your pool properly and regularly. Rehabilitating a neglected pool is much more expensive and troublesome than regular maintenance.

Article Tags: Pool Water