Many homeowners enjoy the luxury of a nice pool, but most of them have no idea how to maintain and clean it properly. It takes a lot of responsibility to own one because the fun won’t last long if you don’t regularly check the chemistry, clean it, and maintain your engine and filter. Maintaining your pool will help you enjoy the hot summer days when you need to cool off with a nice swimming session without having to worry about compromised water quality. It’s worth it to learn all the basics of proper swimming pool care. Read on to learn more about the expert tips for pool maintenance to keep it clean and clear all year long.
Familiarize Yourself with the Chemicals
You need to familiarize yourself with the chemicals required for proper pool care. You should know that pool chemicals are the essential components necessary for the fine-tuning process that keeps the water balanced and bacteria-free. The basic ones that you need to be aware of are chlorine, bromine, and biguanide. They are the chemical elements that you can choose from to be the water’s sanitizer. A sanitizer is what helps the water stay balanced when it comes to pH levels and alkalinity. You will need a home test kit with testing strips to tell you the exact amount of chemicals needed. Try to aim for an alkalinity level between 100 – 150 ppm and a pH level between 7.2 – 7.6 for the perfect balance. Remember to choose only one chemical element as your sanitizer. Use 1 – 3 ppm for chlorine, 30 – 50 ppm for biguanide, and 3 – 5 ppm for bromine.
Remove Stains Correctly
You might randomly find stains in the future, and you should remove these stains properly to ensure that the swimming pool stays safe. The most common stains that you might find are salt stains, algae spots, calcium buildup, rust, leaf residue, and copper tints. Most Australian homeowners go for unnecessary methods to remove stains that will cost them a lot of money. Advice from the swimming pool specialists and stain removers at thepoolstainremovers.cm.au/ suggests you don’t need acid washing or water draining to remove stains entirely. This means that you can save a lot of money by just getting a stain-remover kit that has powder compounds and stain-dissolving liquids to properly get rid of any type of stain cost-effectively and efficiently. The process should take a week to be sure that the pool is safe again for swimming.
Check Your Filter Regularly
Every pool owner should check the filter regularly to ensure the water gets through the system properly. You must understand the importance of water circulation to ensure that chemicals dissolve appropriately, preventing it from getting cloudy and contaminated. You need to clean and empty the skimmer basket and the pump to ensure that your filter doesn’t get clogged. Make sure that you set the system to run for 8 to 12 hours each day. This is the optimal setting for the filtration process. You should make it a habit to backwash the filter to get rid of the buildup that can clog it. If the pressure is above 10 to 15 psi, you should backwash the filter immediately to avoid unnecessary damage.
Shock the Water Every Week
You must shock the water every week as a safety precaution and an effective cleaning method. Shocking it means dropping a concentrated dose of chlorine or any other type of sanitizer of your choice into the water. You must spread it evenly to make sure the entire pool gets sanitized. Shocking is an essential step that will keep the water algae-free, bacteria-free, and crystal clear. No one wants to swim in cloudy or murky water. Remember always to wear gloves when you’re handling chemicals and sanitizers. Some people might have allergic reactions to concentrated doses.
Skimming and Scrubbing Routine
You need to come up with a nice skimming and scrubbing routine to have the most pristine and crystal-clear pools ever. Skimming is when you use a leaf net to pick up floating leaves, flower petals, or any kind of debris on the surface of the water. Scrubbing is when you use a long brush to scrub the pool’s walls, steps, and ladders. Most homeowners ignore these two cleaning methods and just stick to vacuuming, which is not enough to keep the water clean. Make it a habit to do these two steps every day when you go for a swim. You will feel a lot happier when there isn’t any debris floating on the water’s surface or stuck to the pool’s walls.
Maintaining the Water Level
Every pool owner should maintain water levels periodically, especially after weather changes or a family visit. When you and your loved ones enjoy a day in the water, you will all dive and do cannonballs, causing the water levels to decrease. You need to get the water level back to normal for your chemical composition to work. The water also fluctuates naturally after a hot sunny day, and you might need to add some more. The key is to keep the level halfway up the opening of the skimmer. Remember to use your garden hose to fill the pool back up until the level is correct again to prevent any problems with the balance of chemical elements used.
Having a pool is great because not only is it a fun place to relax at home on a hot sunny day, but it also increases the value of your house if you ever decide to sell it in the future. Owning one means you don’t have to pay fees to enter the nearest public pool and have to share it with other people. However, enjoying a nice dip in your pool comes with a price. That price is the effort to keep it clean, properly shocked, and regularly serviced for a better experience. This is worth it to enjoy the perks of a swimming pool.
