How to Keep Your Swimming Pools in Good Condition

Maintaining your swimming pool ensures the safety of you and your family. If you have no idea how to keep your pool in good condition, consider asking local pool maintena...

Maintaining your swimming pool ensures the safety of you and your family. If you have no idea how to keep your pool in good condition, consider asking local pool maintenance specialists. You can hire professional pool cleaners to maintain your pool, or you can do it yourself and perhaps save cost. When maintaining swimming pools, you have to consider checking the general pool condition and inspecting for leaks. Part of pool inspection is water testing to check chlorine and pH levels. Then you have to inspect the pool covers, pumps, and filters.

Importance of Pool Covers

When you don抰 intend to use your pool for a few weeks, it is wise to put on the covers. A pool cover is one of the chief swimming pool supplies you must have. It significantly reduces evaporation of water by at least 90%. Your pool could lose more or less an inch of water per week to evaporation if you don抰 install covers. Pools left uncovered for a year could lose thousands of gallons of water.

When it comes to maintenance, pool covers keep the water clean to some extent by keeping contaminants out. Open pool invites debris, dry leaves, and dirt, which alter the water conditions. Organic matter like decaying leaves coming in contact with water causes growth of microorganisms and organic contaminants in water.

On the other hand, you should not put the covers on immediately after chlorinating your pool.

Checking for Pool Leaks

A leak in your swimming pool causes obvious problems, even if the leak itself is evasive. One problem is the presence of algae and water quality problems. Leaks cause contaminants to easily break into the pool system. Leakages negate the action of your filtration systems. All water treatment procedures will also be futile in the presence of leaks. The ground near the pool may also get soaked. Another indication is the presence of loose tiles and cracks.

Leaks cause rapid water loss in your pool. If your pool is losing more than ?inch of water level every day, it probably has a leak. You can also do the bucket test to find out if water loss is due to evaporation or leaking. Put a bucket of water on the pool step. Make sure the water level of the pool is in line with the water level inside the bucket. After 24 hours, check to see whether water levels are the same. If the water level significantly decreased, suspect the presence of a leak. These tests do not need expensive swimming pool supplies.

Ensuring Water Quality

Water quality is largely determined by the pumps and filters. The pumps, for instance, should circulate every 8 hours. But the accurate way of knowing how long your pumps should be working depends on how much water the pump can take per hour and how much water there is in your pool. Make sure you use the right pump for the size of your pool. Water circulation evens out water chemistry and temperature. There is probably no need to discuss why filters are relevant.

Aside from relying on your filters, you should also introduce chemicals to your pool every week to balance its pH and chemistry. When the pH of the water is too high or too low, skin and eye irritation may ensue.