Test And Adjust Chemical Levels
Before you clean the bottom of the pool, which you probably cant even see due to the greenish color of the water, youll need to clean the water itself. Check the pH level and adjust the chemicals until it is within the safe range.
The adjustment will likely take a few days as you would be going back and forth with the pH increaser and reducer just to get the pH level right. You may even have to add an alkalinity increaser to reach a good pH level of 7.5 to 7.8.
Keeping Your Pool Water Clean
If your pool water is dirty, the bottom of your pool will be too. The best way to keep your pool clean is by keeping the water clean.
To do this, add shock and algaecide as necessary. This stops any unpleasant algae from growing in your pool.
While you should always keep your pool healthy with these chemicals, its important to check your pools chemical balance. Too little and youll face algal growth. Too much, and your pool may be unsafe to swim in.
Using Physical Methods To Clean The Salt Cell
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Pool Cleaning : Why When And How To Clean Your Pool
Whens the last time you cleaned your pool? We mean really cleaned it. Could it be that your pool is in need of a good scrubbing right now, and youve been putting it off becauselets be honestcleaning the pool isnt nearly as fun as swimming in it?
Look, we all slack off from time to time. Were human. But heres the thing: if youre not cleaning your pool on a regular basisand the right waythere will come a day, sooner rather than later, that you simply cant swim in your pool because its too dirty. And then whats left? Running through the sprinkler?
Theres a reason cleaning is one of our 3 Cs of pool care along with circulation, and chemistry. With the right equipment and a little elbow grease, you can skim, brush, and vacuum your way to a sparkling clean pool in no time.
The Basic Components Of A Swimming Pool
Like most major home improvements, you can get as fancy as you like with your swimming pool. You can add advanced heating and lighting, install high-tech pool covers, and even enjoy music while you swim with underwater pool speakers. But whether you have a basic backyard pool or a massive inground oasis shaped like Elvis, every pool has four components that need regular care to keep the good times rollin.
These include:
- The pools interior wall or liner
- The pools filter system
- The pools system of skimmers and returns
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Pools Need Consistent Chemical Levels
Chemical levels are arguably one of the most important facets of pool maintenance. Improperly balanced water looks murky, irritates skin and eyes, and can cause your pool to become a breeding ground for bacteria.Ideally, you should test the water at least once a week. According to the Center for Disease Control , there are six chemical levels that need to be considered:
- Cyanuric Acid Protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the required Free Chlorine level. An ideal reading for outdoor pools is 30- 50.
- Free Chlorine A sanitizer which keeps your pool water safe and free of germs.
- Acidity/Alkalinity Also known as the PH level, acidity needs to be kept between 7.5 and 7.8 to prevent irritation and protect the pool equipment from eroding.
- Total Alkalinity Helps keep the PH in balance. Levels should be within range of 60-120.
- Calcium Hardness Appropriate levels help prevent plaster damage. Aim for 220-350, but lower for pools with vinyl siding.
More Pool Cleaning Tips
- Chlorine comes stabilized or unstabilized. Stabilized chlorine is coated with Cyanuric acid to prevent Cl2 from evaporating. Unstabilized chlorine, such as sodium hypochlorite, is not treated with Cyanuric acid.
- Sodium hypochlorite, also known as pool bleach, is available as a liquid and is highly concentrated compared to household bleach. Calcium hypochlorite is available as a granular powder or slow-release tablets. Both of these chemicals are used to shock the pool in order to raise the concentration of free chlorine in the water.
- Calcium hypochlorite reacts vigorously with water to release free chlorine but it dissolves slowly. To get the most free chlorine into the water, add it to your pool at night so it wont evaporate as quickly. Youll need to wait 8 hours to use the pool, anyway. The calcium acts as an alkaline buffer.
When in doubt, consult the instructions that came with your pool, or schedule an appointment with a professional to resolve any questions and ensure that your pool provides a clean, safe and relaxing environment for you and your family.
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How Often Should A Pool Be Cleaned
You need to maintain your pool weekly and monthly. Heres how:
Weekly Maintenance: You need to do it every week. For weekly maintenance, the pool owner must spend some time skimming the pool surface using a skimmer. With regular skimming, you can keep dirt from getting to the bottom of the pool.
You also need to clean the pools strainer basket once a week. Also, run a pool vacuum for keeping the pool floor clean. Finally, you need to keep a tab on the pH levels of the pool weekly. The pH level of a pool should be between 7.2 and 7.8.
Monthly Maintenance: While regular cleaning is important, over-cleaning can also damage your pool. So, it is best to consult professionals about specific maintenance outlines. Some pool filters may need monthly cleaning, whereas others may require cleaning every two, three, or four months. You also need to check the water level of the pool once a month.
Good Pool Maintenance Begins With Knowing Your Pool
Before you can properly enjoy or care for your pool, you might need to brush up on all the parts of your pool. You dont need to take an annex course or go for your doctorate in swimology from Harvard. But knowing the basic parts of your pool, and their functions, helps you keep everything running smoothlyand makes it easier to resolve issues when they occur.
Looking for even more pool maintenance tips? Weve got just the thing. Check out The Pool Care Handbook and Video Course and become a pool care master.
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Make Sure Your Water Level Is Correct
Many pools automatically drain excess water on their own, but if yours does not youll need to remove some water to get back to the proper level before you start rebalancing the chemicals. You can open the drain, backwash the sand filter, or follow whatever the proper procedure is for your installation to get the water back down to around the center of the skimmer float.
What Exactly Is A Pool Sweeper
It is a gadget for removing dirt and debris from your pool. Manual pool sweepers are composed of at least three components:
- The sweepers head is moved over the pool floor and walls using a long pole.
- Flexible hoses link the cleaner to the pools filter system to pull the dirt out of the pool.
- The brush head is the most significant component since it is responsible for pushing material into the hose and out of the pool.
We can clean the majority of pools with just these three components. They do not necessitate any specialized equipment.
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Degrease Or Deep Clean The Cartridge
Hosing and the other methods described above will remove large debris from the cartridge. However, these strategies are not always enough to handle stickier substances like algae, sweat, sunscreen, and body oils that seep into the cartridge materialand interfere with its efficiency.
If your pool and spa get a lot of use with swimmers bringing in these kinds of bather wastes , its a good practice to periodically perform a deeper cleaning. This extra step will provide a more thorough removal of dirt and debris and help maintain the filters effectiveness.
The most common way to achieve good results is with a commercial pool degreaser or cartridge cleaner . These are available at hardware stores, pool supply stores, and online.
To use, spray the product directly onto the cartridge. Be sure to cover all of the surface areas between the pleats. Leave the compound on for the recommended amount of time. Then, thoroughly rinse it off with a hose. If the buildup on the cartridges is particularly dense and nasty, consider soaking them overnight.
There is no hard-and-fast rule here regarding frequency. Some pool owners deep clean every other timewhich may mean only once per year when pool and spa use is high. Others will examine the filter materials to see if material seems sticky or coated, and only if it is, will they use a degreaser.
Higher Than Normal Filter Pressure
This is one of the best signs that your pool cartridge filter needs cleaning. Hopefully youve written down your filters optimal pressure somewhere. Check against that, and if the pressure of the filter is at least 8 PSI or more above the optimal pressure reading, then its a sure sign that your filter cartridge is clogged and it needs cleaning. The explanation for this is simple. When your filter is clean, the water passes through it easily, when its gunked up by dirt and debris, then the water will have a hard time passing through the filter, and in turn increasing the pressure.
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Youre A Pool Cleaning Pro
We dont have to tell you what a bummer it is to be all ready to swim only to find the pool full of leaves, and not have a skimmer net handy.
Now that you know what you need to keep your pool and its surrounding area clean, you can make sure you have the right tools and chemicals on hand so your pool is always clean, ready, and waiting for you.
Happy Swimming!
Measuring Is Knowing: Be Careful With Chlorine
To keep your Intex pool clear and clean, chlorine tablets are often indispensable. However, you should use them with caution and follow the directions for use carefully. Too much chlorine can damage your health.
When adding chlorine, you must always measure carefully to achieve a sufficient level of chlorine. The normal chlorine value is between 1 and 2 ppm / litre. If there are algae in the swimming pool, the chlorine level may be increased to 3 ppm / litre. This can also be measured with test strips. Excessive chlorine can be counterproductive. Bound chlorine is chlorine that has been used up. It is still in the water, but it is no longer available for disinfection. This chlorine smells and causes irritation to eyes and mucous membranes. So be cautious with chlorine, too high a concentration can have unpleasant consequences. Therefore, always follow the guidelines, as supplied with the chlorine products.
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Give The Pool A Shock
If the pool is still very cloudy or green, you may need to shock it to make it safe to swim in again.
Maintain the higher shock levels to kill off all the algae. This can take several days and involve multiple treatments to get combined Chloramines and FC levels to the right levels that clear the water. While performing the treatment, brush and clean the pool thoroughly every day to remove dead algae and other dirt.
Why Your Pool Turns Green And Cloudy
While the rain itself doesnt generally harm your pool, it can dilute the carefully balanced chemistry in the water. This can alter your pH levels and dilute the chlorine or other sanitizers, allowing algae or other contaminants to gain a foothold. Once the algae spores have the proper conditions to grow, they multiply very quickly, which is why your clear pool can turn green overnight. A pool full of algae isnt just unsightly it presents potential health problems for bathers in the form of skin irritation, ear and eye infections, and gastrointestinal illness. Its also possible for run-off from the storm to bring unwanted chemicals like nitrates and phosphates into the pool, further clouding the water.
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Think Of The Filter As Your Pools Kidneys
Just as your kidneys are constantly working to remove impurities from your body, your pools filter is responsible for removing impurities from the water think dirt, leaves, and even small toys.Most of the time, the pool can be cleaned by turning off the filter, removing the filter cap located on the pool deck, lifting out the filter basket, and removing any debris before replacing everything. Its best to clean out your filter basket at least once a week.Once a month youll also want to clean out the pipes utilized by your filter system, which you can do by backwashing. To do so, simply set your filter to backwash, remove the leaf basket and clean it out. Then turn on your pump and let it run until the waste pipe ejects clear water.A final note on turning the filter on and off: Doing so too often can cause the filters mechanics to crack. Set your filter on a timer and allow it to run for at least six hours a day.
How Often Should I Clean My Pool Filter Cartridge
This is a question that we get a lot through our social media channels as well as our email channels and we usually tell people that as a rule of thumb, its best to give your pool filter cartridge a good rinsing once a month to ensure longevity of the cartridge. Again, this is just an estimate as the actual cleaning interval will depend on a lot of factors which we will be talking about today. But before that, heres Tom to give you a quick overview of your pool filter cartridges.
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Brush Around The Pool
Once the surface is clear of debris, its time to clean the sides, floors, stairs, and ladders with your pool brush. Extend your telescopic pole as needed in order for you to brush hard-to-reach areas and use some force to remove grime. You can do this once a week, so make the most of it and cover all surfaces.
Get A Pool Pump Timer
Hopefully, your pump already has a timer. If not, I would invest in one. They are a crucial part of proper pool care.
Set the timer to run the pool at least 8 to 12 hours a day. If you can split up the times, great! If not, it wont be a problem for it to run 24 hours a day. Running your pump and filter is very important to keep your pool clear and its better to leave a timer in charge rather than a human.
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Why Is Swimming Pool Water Cleaning Necessary
First, you need to know about the importance of keeping your pool clean. Well, maintaining a pool with clear water is not a horrible chore.
But you have to take out some time from your schedule for keeping it clean every day or every alternate day. If you are keeping up with regular swimming pool cleaning, you wont face any problems associated with a dirty pool.
Another good reason to keep your pool well maintained is that it makes your pool last for many years with just minor pool renovations or repairs. So, if you wish to enhance the longevity of your pool, you must not skip the maintenance at all.
Whats So Bad About Algae
While not toxic to swimmers in and of itself, algae can cause other problems such as hosting bad bacteria like E-coli. They can also reduce visibility for divers who are attempting to rescue a person or pet. It can clog up pores in pool filters which can render them useless. It can eat into pool surfaces and stain them.
Since theyre microscopic, they can easily hide out in crevices, behind pool ladders, under pool liners, etc. So basically, you have to be vigilant to prevent it in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth 15 thousand gallons in the case of keeping algae out of pools.
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