Summer is around the corner, and that means pool maintenance. Maintaining your pool is crucial to keeping it free from growth, debris, and contamination. Even then, not everyone does it correctly.
Pools are sensitive to many different types of changes. As it exposes itself to the elements, more and more chemical changes can affect a pool’s chemistry. Consistent maintenance is a must.
Here are 5 summer maintenance tips you need to do for your pool.
1. The secret to a pristine pool
To keep your pool sparkling clean, pool owners need to understand one thing. The secret to a pristine pool at home is to make sure you do constant maintenance. When owners choose to work on problems while it’s small, they can expect easy solutions.
Preventative maintenance will go a long way to reducing your pool’s lifecycle cost. Common maintenance work is neither hard nor expensive. This move will save you hundreds of dollars even before everything breaks apart.
When broken pumps or murky water that is beyond your scope of knowledge, the best move is to contact a pool services company. Calling a professional not only saves you time but shortens pool maintenance too.
2. Control your pH levels every week
It’s crucial to check your pool’s chemistry at least once a week, up to twice a week. During the winter, checking up on it two times a week is an essential maintenance task.
The pH for the pool should stay somewhere between 7.2 to 7.8. It’s best to stay on the low side of this pH range, as it assures you need less chlorine. As the pH rises, the chlorine loses its efficacy.
Control pH properly, and you will save a ton on pool maintenance.
3. Skim leaves and scrub the pool every day
Skimming leaves and scrubbing the pool’s walls are some of the most boring parts of maintenance. Even then, they’re easy enough to do again and again. It’s essential to do this light work as often as possible, even every day.
For those who are unwilling or unable to do cleaning, the next best thing is to buy a pool vacuum. Skimming off leaves reduces the chance of water contamination and change in chemistry. Scrubbing the walls of your pool cuts down algae buildup.
For areas with a stubborn buildup that heavy scrubbing cannot work, put chlorine in a bag. Let it sit on the wall for a few hours and redo the scrubbing.
4. Clean out pool filters
Cleaning out pool filters is an integral part of pool maintenance. There are three kinds of pool filters out there, and also three ways of cleaning them. These are cartridge filters, sand filters, and diatomaceous earth filters.
When working on filters, it’s best not to clean it 100%. A super clean filter takes time to be efficient because it needs to build up mild dirt. Such mild dirt helps in trapping other dirt and even particles.
Even then, owners would not want a filthy filter for their pool. A good sign that a filter needs replacement or maintenance is an increase in flow between the pressure gauge and the flow meter.
When the difference between gauge and flow meter reaches 10 to 15 psi, cleaning is urgent.
5. Clean Up Your Lint Pod
The lint pod located in front of the pool pump fills out quickly. As it strains small particulates and debris, it’s best to do maintenance for it every two weeks.
When doing pool maintenance, turn off the pool pump to let the pressure release from the system. Remove the basket installed inside the glass of the pool pump. You can also clean out the debris catcher and the leaf basket for the pump.
Remove the pain of regular cleaning by finding a 2-speed pump or variable speed pump. Multi-speed pumps are worth the initial expense in the long run.
Watch Out Your Pool’s Chemical Values
When testing the waters during pool maintenance, there are six values you need to remember. The balance of these chemicals is crucial in keeping your pool in tiptop condition.
These chemicals are cyanuric acid, free chlorine, calcium hardness, total alkalinity, and acidity.
Keep cyanuric acid low, between 30 to 50 ppm, and an upper limit of 100 ppm. Free chlorine should stay somewhere between 1.0 to 3.0 ppm.
Calcium hardness helps prevent plaster damage in the right amounts. The ideal number is from 220 to 350 ppm. If you have a vinyl pool siding, you want to stay lower than this range.
For total alkalinity, you want to stay between 60 to 120 ppm. Total alkalinity keeps the balance of your pool’s pH levels.
As for acidity, you want 7.2 to 7.8 to keep a good 33 to 66% active chlorine.
Talk to a Professional Pool Service for Better Pool Maintenance
When it comes to pool maintenance, the secret to its success is the regular work you do. Even the smallest jobs mean much more towards extending the lifecycle of your pool.
For swimming pool problems that you can’t solve, it’s best to talk to a professional.
Talk to a professional pool repair and pool cleaning service to make sure you have a pristine swimming pool for the summer.
