Tips and Insights on Taking Care of Your Swimming Pool

There is no better feeling than the relief of a dive in a swimming pool during the summer’s scorching heat. But did you know that the primary determinant of the lifespan of your swimming pool is the care that you will give it? Installing a swimming pool is not enough. It requires frequent maintenance to keep it in the right state. A lot of people hate pool maintenance as it appears tedious. However, it is important to understand that neglecting your swimming pool would make it lose its original properties. By failing to clean your swimming pool, you reduce its lifespan by almost half. Without a doubt, it is more fulfilling to swim in clean and healthy pool water.

Just before we delve into our main topic, here is something extremely critical you don’t want to miss. You need to fully understand what it will cost you to own a swimming pool. You become an owner by either constructing a pool yourself or buying a home with one. This was  just to capture your attention. Here are two cost factors you need to consider before deciding whether or not to construct a swimming pool at your backyard. Taking care/maintenance is one of them.

Initial Cost

According to PK data, it requires one to cough an average of $40,000 to install an in-residential swimming pool. Speculating a future increase in the price of the house on the pool may not be ideal as a lot of people do not attach much value them. Again, if you decide to install a pool, then it should be strategically positioned-not squeezed in the corner of the yard in the dark. Ensure that you have met and surpassed the local standard as every town or city has its own regulations on any structures.

Ongoing Maintenance

Here comes the main issue. You may be planning to buy home with a swimming pool already installed. It is always advisable to get the pool inspected before you close any business deals. Do not risk and trust yourself much if you are not professional on matters pool. Get a company to do it. You may not notice problems with the pool especially during the winter when the pool stays dry. It would also be ideal to enquire from the previous owner if they had a pool maintenance company. Remember if you are not keen with your checks, you may incur a lot much later trying to replace broken equipment or even buying chemicals.

That said, then back to our topic of discussion. Outlined here are tips and insights to help you take good care of your pool for maximum satisfaction and most importantly, increase the lifespan of your pool.

1. Remove Any Debris in Water

It is a simple yet a crucial task. Inside the pool, you may notice floating objects such as leaves from nearby trees, dead insects or other light objects blown by the wind into the water. Use a skimmer basket to get rid of them. Do it daily for the best results. Also, ensure that the skimmer baskets always clean during any swimming season. To prevent the materials from finding their way back into the pool, please make sure to dispose the waste away from the pool. You may also consider trimming or getting rid of the trees that have a tendency to shed leaves a lot and replacing with the ones that do not drop leaves often. Apparently, that makes your work easier and keeps the pool cleaner for long.

2. Get a Cover for Your Pool

A pool cover is a necessity when you are either on holiday (and nobody is around) or during the winter when swimming is not ideal. There is no need to leave the water open even when it not regularly used. It comes in handy in preventing foreign objects, pets or even small kids from accidentally slipping into the pool. Setting up a pool cover is a daunting task and requires a lot of effort. Nonetheless, it remains one of the fundamental ways in maintaining clean swimming pools water. The benefits of a pool cover mentioned above are enough to make you feel compelled to acquire one.

Adjust the Chemicals: Chemical are a necessity in ensuring a clean pool with clean and safe water. It is important to check and modify chemicals in the pool on a weekly basis. This point has come into two steps;

Balance Your Water: To prevent metal equipment and other accessories from corroding, keeping the pool water balanced is inevitable. Balancing only means the right pH, level of hardness from calcium, and alkalinity level. pH is simply the degree of alkalinity of basicity in the water. A pH of 7 is neutral, so strive to maintain your pH between 7.2 and 7.6. If the pH goes above 7.6, add muriatic acid whereas if it is below 7.4, you have to add soda ash. Calcium hardness prevents scaling in the equipment. When it’s too low, add calcium hardness increaser. Maintaining a balance does not only prevent scale formation that may damage pool equipment, or make water appear cloudy but also prevents irritations on the skin and in the eyes.

3. Add Chlorine to Your Pool

To keep bacteria and algae at bay, chlorinating the pool is not a choice. The chlorine level should range between 1 and 4 part per million. There are many forms of chlorine to choose from ranging from basic chlorinating tabs to liquid chlorine to chlorinating granules.

You have to shock your swimming pool whenever the chlorine level goes below 1ppm or the alkalinity 90ppm. You can just dissolve chlorine (baking soda is ideal) or alkalinity enhancer and pour into the water, Lithium based chlorine is suitable for use as it dissolves readily, hardly leaves resides behind and leaves the pH levels unaffected. Always conduct shocking weekly without fail. You will see its role in the elimination of all contaminants, chlorine order or even skin and eye irritations.

4. Filtration

Filtration is another important aspect in swimming pool maintenance. Always strive to keep the water at the pool as clean as possible. Most pools use the following 3 types of filters:

• Sand
• Diatomaceous earth (DE), and
• Cartridge

The filtration systems utilize the fundamental principle whereby water passes through tiny pathways, and hence trapping the large objects. Replacing sand with DE or Cartilage is necessary as they clean better, are more environmentally friendly and are economical on water.

Any sediment and other suspended matter settle at the bottom. This leads us to vacuuming. A swimming pool vacuum functions the same way as a home vacuum except that that of a pool draws in water through the vacuum head instead of air. There are two ways of achieving this; the First method employs the use of a water jet that from a garden hose to power up the suction. This action pulls the dirt and into the vacuums head where it gets trapped in a cloth bag. The second method uses a suction power supplied by the filter. The filter then pulls the dirt. Also, it helps in disposing any sediment from the water. Get a brush and clean up any algae stuck on all sides of the pool. A concrete pool requires a steel brush.

5. Use Algaecides in Your Pool Water

Algae are very tiny or even microscopic organisms that infest your pool as a result of rain, wind or even fill water. Not removing may wreck many problems in your pool including clogging the filters rendering them unusable, poor water circulation, and impact negatively the effectiveness of the chemical essential in the pool. Use of algaecides prevents the algae from gaining control over your pool or even treating algae growth if it already begins. Some algaecides are quite effective at eliminating algae. They provide quick results. Additionally, there are others that also serve to prevent the growth of algae in the pool. Prevention is always better. In the case of an infestation, get algaecides and your pool will remain sparkling clean.

We have discussed important measures that you should follow to ensure refreshing swimming experience and a longer lifespan of your swimming pool. As a recap, firstly ensure that you regularly use a swimmer basket to remove any floating debris. Secondly, cover your pool whenever you are on a trip, during the winter or to prevent accidental slips from children and pets. Thirdly, strive to adjust chemicals regularly in the pool (balance the pH, the alkalinity level of calcium hardness).

Filtration to remove any sediments and objects in water and algaecides prevent or eliminate algae closed the topic of discussion. A lot of people consider swimming pool maintenance to be a very involving undertaking, but that should not be the case. Doing it routinely will not only make you get used to it but also save your household repair fees for equipment that get spoiled as a result of poor or no maintenance. Doing something regularly also makes you get used, and it becomes easier as time goes. Go ahead and give it a try.

IMPORTANT: 

• Ensure that the brushes, vacuum, and cleaners you use are the ones recommended by the manufacturer
• Follow the manufacturers’ direction when using any of the chemicals mentioned above
• Seek professional advice whenever you feel like you do not understand how to go about a given issue
• Pool chemical safety
• Shock your pool
• Balance your pool Chlorination
• Skimmer Basket Algaecides