10 Pool Maintenance Tips That You Need to Know This Summer

Summer is here, which means it’s the perfect time to make a splash in the pool! Before you do, check out these summer pool maintenance tips.

Summer is a time to enjoy the outdoors and relax under the sun. If you have a pool at home, a dip in the refreshing water is all you need.

With over 10.4 million residential swimming pools in America, you need to know how to maintain your home pool. Swimming pool maintenance is important not only to keep your household healthy but keep it safe as well.

With the right pool maintenance tips, you can enjoy your pool at home with no doubt about hygiene. How do you make everything easier?

In this list, we give you 10 pool cleaning tips you need to learn before Summer starts. These will help you get a good-looking pool for the entire family to enjoy:

1. Check Your Pool Chemistry

For starters, you want to make sure that your pool has the right specs. Pool chemistry is crucial to keep the water as neutral as possible. The devil is in the details for swimming pools.

You want to keep your pool pH between 7.2 to 7.8, as you want your chlorine to be active enough. At pH 7.0, chlorine is at 50% active. By the time you get to pH 8.0, the chlorine will be only 10% active.

If you can control your pH levels, you won’t need to add too much chlorine.

2. Keep Skimming and Scrubbing

Skimming and scrubbing the surface of your pool is the most basic among all pool cleaning tips. You want to make this simple step a part of your daily routine when you can.

If you want to keep it clean, you need to skim every day and scrub at least every other week. Sure, you can hire someone who can do daily maintenance if it’s too bothersome. You can also get gadgets like pool cleaning Roombas to handle the skimming.

3. Clean Your Filters

Another one of many easy pool maintenance tips is to clean out your filters often. In many pools, you will encounter three types that are often in use. These are:

• Diatomaceous earth
• Sand
• Cartridge

Each one has its own maintenance procedure, which is crucial for you to know. You want to, however, prevent cleaning it too much. A good way to learn the right time to clean your filter is when the difference in the flow meter and pressure gauge goes at 10+ pounds per square inch.

4. Invest in an Automatic Pool Vacuum 

As we said, cleaning and skimming is a vital part of handling your pool. If you want to make things easier for you, invest in a good, durable pool vacuum. You will see many pool cleaning tips suggesting different kinds, but you have a few choices.

Invest in an automatic pool vacuum with a timer to allow sweeping of algae buildup. It should also be able to sweep the bottom of your pool and remove debris.

Vacuuming your pool should happen once a week if you have an automatic pool vacuum.

5. Shock Your Pool and Do It At Night

Shocking your pool is a swimming pool maintenance technique that uses chlorine after you fill-up the pool. Chlorine should be active to kill off the germs and bacteria in the water. This should happen at least twice a season, or when your water is a little murky.

When you shock your pool water, it’s best to create a dilution in a small bucket to create even distribution. Once this happens, spread it as even as possible around your pool water. Do it at night, as the sun can break down chlorine fast.

6. Check Your Water Levels

You will not notice too much but during swimming pool maintenance, your water levels will suffer a lot. Summer can evaporate lots of your water, so you want to check your water levels often. All the splashing, sloshing, and exiting the pool can accumulate.

Make sure that your water level is higher than the total length of your skimmer. This should be the right water level to keep it safe for both kids and adults. Too low of a water level may also lead to damaging the water pump.

If the water is too low, use your hose to get it back up to manageable levels.

7. Don’t Keep Your Pool Empty Too Long

For those who plan on draining the pool at the end of the season, prevent from keeping it empty too long. If you can, you may want to leave your pool water in even during the winter season. This will help prevent underground water from creating uneven areas in the pool’s surface.

Among pool cleaning tips, you would want to do partial drains where you can. Doing full drains can damage your underground pool surface. The material under it can start swelling and even break.

8. Check Your Ozonator

If you are using an ozonator for your pool, proper swimming pool maintenance dictates to check it. Look if the indicator light is on and that it’s working. Ozone and UV can break apart chlorine and reduce its effectiveness.

Follow the manufacturer instructions to handle any maintenance needs. Every brand will have its own installation, usage, and break apart. Make sure to follow instructions as needed.

9. Use Baking Soda As A Cheap Alternative

If you’re having a problem handling the cost of chemicals to control pool pH, there is one quick and affordable solution. One of many expert pool cleaning tips is to use sodium bicarbonate or baking soda for your pool. You can use it to control the alkalinity of your pool water.

Make sure to check the back label of your baking soda. Calculate the concentration level of every box and take that into account of how many boxes you need.

10. Power Wash Your Pool Deck

Swimming pool maintenance does not stop at the inner parts of your pool. Prevent injuries by making sure the pool deck is shiny and slip-free. Any excess algae can cause slippage.

Where you can, use a power washer to prevent excess scrubbing. Do this around once a week or every two weeks.

Follow These Pool Maintenance Tips Today!

When it comes to pool maintenance tips, you want to make to be thorough with your cleaning. Small tasks like skimming should happen at regular intervals. Scrubbing and heavy maintenance should follow the right schedule too.

If you’re looking for more guides on taking care of your home, take a look at our other articles. We have more lists like this, so be sure to give them a good look. You might pick up a gem or two.