How To Schedule Your Pool Maintenance
Pool maintenance plays an important role in pool ownership. If you don’t maintain your pool, you won’t be able to swim in it. There are certain things you can do to ensure your pool stays clean by creating a pool maintenance schedule and sticking to it.
Maintenance for Swimming Days
Use a long-handled skimmer to get rid of any floating debris. Clean out the skimmer baskets and filtration system to ensure that they continue to work properly. You can perform these tasks before you swim, afterwards or both depending on how much debris gets into your pool. For instance, if you have trees surrounding your pool area, insects and leaves can find their way into the water easily. Be mindful of the water levels because pools lose water when we swim and splash around in them, and due to evaporation. Make sure that the water is always above the skimmer level but not spilling out of the pool.
Weekly Testing
Once a week test the pool water’s pH and chlorine levels with an at-home testing kit. You should also check the filter and clean it as to the manufacturer’s specifications. Keep the area around the pool clean too by hosing off the pool deck and ensuring that all debris has been removed. This is especially important if you have young children. You do not want them to slip on a pile of leaves and fall into the pool.
You need to also watch out for algae growth and if you notice any, remove it with an algaecide. Do not just dump algaecide into your pool. Follow the instructions on the package carefully otherwise you could damage your pool and render it unusable until it is fixed by a professional. Finally, clean the waterline with a pool brush on a weekly basis to remove any dirt and scum. If your pool gets incredibly dirty, make use of a pool vacuum to get it clean again.
Close Your Pool
Close your pool in the winter to keep snow and ice from entering it. To close your pool, do not empty the water entirely but drain the piping and make sure the filter, pumps and heater are shut down to the manufacturer’s specifications. Once everything is shut off, cover the pool so that debris is kept out. In the spring, open your pool again and repeat the aforementioned maintenance steps.
If you stick to your pool maintenance schedule you will have a beautiful pool. Plus, you can reward yourself with a refreshing dip for all your efforts.