On a hot summer day, your pool can be a much-needed escape from the heat, but in those moments, pool care and swimming pool cleaning may not be top of mind. A pool is a huge investment, so it’s important to invest time and effort into maintaining it. Before you dive in, it’s best to ask yourself, are you doing enough to ensure your pool’s crystal-clear perfection? Or maybe you’re better off hiring a pool cleaning service to guarantee it.
How to Make Swimming Pool Cleaning and Care Easy
So, you took plunge and installed a pool. But are you doing enough to make sure it’s a healthy pool? Have you maintained the pool filters? Do you know anything about inground pool liners? Here are some things to ask yourself to ensure you’re getting the most out of your swimming pool.
- Is there any debris to take care of? The most obvious pool care step is to skim the pool surface for floating debris. Any bushes or trees on your landscape are sure to shed leaves and blossoms into the water, so you may want to consider trimming them back a bit. Maybe even consider replacing them with a different variety.
- Am I vacuuming often enough? When it comes to swimming pool cleaning and the care of inground pool liners, vacuuming is paramount. Pool cleaning service professionals say that once a week for at least 30 minutes is sufficient for most pools. Be sure to slowly move and overlap in parallel lines, much like you would mow a lawn. You can also consider the use of a robot, which takes care of the process for you. Finish up by putting a nylon brush on the vacuum pole to clear algae from the pool sides, or use a stainless-steel one on concrete.
- How often should I test and correct the chemicals? This step of pool care should be handled weekly. First, adjust the pH. If it’s higher than 7.6, use muriatic acid and use soda ash product if it’s below 7.4. Is your chlorine below 1 part per million? Is the alkalinity lower than 90 parts per million? Go ahead and shock the pool water if so. You can do this by dissolving chlorine and/or baking soda in a bucket of water and pouring it in. If this all sounds a bit complicated, you may want to hire a professional pool cleaning service to take care of it for you.
- Should I backwash the pool filter? As part of your swimming pool cleaning, it’s important to turn the filter to backwash to redirect water flow. The average pool has either a cartridge, sand or diatomaceous earth filter. Sand filters aren’t used in new construction so you may have one if you inherited the pool. Backwashing a sand filter sends dirty water to a waste line that usually leads to a storm drain or the ground. A diatomaceous earth pool filter contains claylike remains of marine organisms, and the backwash directs any dirt to a filter bag, which should be emptied every other week. If you have a cartridge filer, simply remove it, hose it off and reinsert.
- What about the pump filter? Don’t forget the pump filter when handling your pool care. Shut off the system and close the skimmer valve to hold the water in. Then simply unscrew the trap cover, remove the basket, and empty it in the garbage.
In addition to regularly adding chlorine and refilling it with water as needed, maintaining your pool can certainly be a DIY project. But the best way to ensure that you address everything correctly, including inground pool liners and filters, is to hire a pool cleaning service. After all, a small investment will only increase the overall value and enjoyment of your swimming pool.