With the ongoing pandemic forcing people to spend more time at home, swimming pools have become more important. After all, they offer you a relaxing space as you reminisce the good old days when you could freely interact with friends. However, nothing is as disappointing as taking a plunge, only to find that the water has calcium scale and an unpleasant odour. This is the primary reason why pool cleaning is essential.
Besides making your swimming experience exciting, keeping your pool clean can help you save money. Lack of maintenance can cause your pool to crack, warp your liners, and other costly complications.
The good thing about pool maintenance is that it isn’t overly expensive. With affordable resources like brushes and baking soda, you can keep your swimming area clean, whether it is an aboveground pool or an in-ground pool.
Here are a few tips to help you keep your swimming pool in pristine condition.
Scrub and Skim Regularly
Ensure that you skim your pool at least once daily to remove leaves and other debris off the water’s surface. You can do this yourself, but you can invest in a robot vacuum cleaner if you have money to spare.
On the other hand, scrubbing helps in preventing the growth of algae and mould. Unlike skimming, scrubbing should be done once weekly. Look for any growths and scrub them using a brush to keep your swimming pool walls sparkling. If you encounter a stubborn spot, soak it using chlorine for a few hours before scrubbing again.
Check the Filter
As the name suggests, your pool’s filter function is to ensure that the water is clean. It removes dirt, leaves, and other impurities.
When cleaning, turn off the filter, remove its cap, and then remove the debris before replacing the parts. It is advisable to clear your filter basket at least once weekly. You will also want to clean the pipe to your filter system monthly.
After cleaning the filter and its pipe, run the pump until it ejects clear water. Avoid turning the filter on and off too often, as this can cause mechanical problems.
Use Baking Soda
Baking soda has several uses other than helping you prepare your favourite pastries. Heavy rains tend to affect the pH levels of your pool water, making it more acidic. You can increase alkalinity by applying baking soda. The good thing about this product is that it is readily available and cheaper than others used to balance pH levels. It also prevents algae growth and can remove grout from your pool’s walls.
Observe Chemical Levels
Chemical levels are vital to ensuring that you have a comfortable swimming experience. With imbalanced chemical levels, your eyes and skin get itchy, bacteria and mould flourish, and even worse, the water looks murky. The recommended interval for testing your pol water is once weekly.
During testing, assess the pH, chlorine, calcium, and cyanuric acid levels in the water. Cyanuric acid protects the chlorine from sunlight to ensure that your water is clear and free of germs. On its part, calcium prevents plaster damage. Maintaining pH levels between 7.5 and 7.8 ensures that the water doesn’t irritate your eyes and skin while swimming.
Checking chemical levels isn’t an intricate process. You can quickly obtain testing kits from your local pool store. After buying, fill the kit with a sample of the water, and then add the solution that comes with it. The water will change its colour, which is when you should compare it to the guide included in the kit. Next, adjust the chemicals until you achieve the right balance.
When properly balanced, your pool water should be clear, odourless, and have zero residues.
Check Water Levels
Your pool’s water levels are as crucial as its chemical composition. A pool party is likely to reduce the levels, while rainwater can increase it. Ideally, the water should be halfway up the opening of the pool’s skimmer.
Adding water is a straightforward process, as you only require a hosepipe. Reducing water is more complicated because you need a submersible pump. Moreover, pools made using fiberglass or vinyl are susceptible to damage due to the pump’s weight, meaning you might want to hire a pro.
Once you achieve the recommended water level, recheck the chemical composition. The fluctuations often result in a chemical imbalance.
Use Tennis Balls
Tennis balls can help you eliminate the oil residue that swimmers leave when they exit the pool. Think about the sunscreen, hair lotion, and even sweat that can make your pool water murky. You can remove them by throwing in tennis balls. The fibres on the ball’s surface will absorb the oils and ensure that the water remains clean.
Emphasise Bathing Suits
You might want to keep your pool sparkling, but you can’t achieve your goal if the swimmers are not clean themselves. This is why you need to ensure everybody that takes a plunge has a bathing suit.
Chlorine is an effective bleaching agent, meaning that swimming in standard outfits can discolour your pool water. Over time, your pool will appear cloudy. Make it a rule that nobody can swim without the appropriate gear.
Use Vitamin C Tablets
Metal stains tend to be most stubborn when cleaning your swimming pool. Luckily, there’s an easy way to get rid of them. You can scrub them off using vitamin C tablets wrapped in a cloth. Alternatively, you can use lemon slices.
Buy an Automated Pool Cover
Automated pool covers are gaining more popularity among homeowners. With the push of a button, you can keep debris off your above ground swimming pool, maintain consistent water temperature, prevent algae growth, and enhance the effectiveness of chlorine.
Conclusion
These are a few tips that can help you keep your pool in top shape. While you can do most of them yourself, it is advisable to schedule an appointment with experts at least once yearly. Remember that pros have the knowledge, experience, and tools needed to attend to any complications. It will cost you, but fixing a small problem now can save you from having to spend more on major repairs in the future.