Best Practices For Cleaning Your Pool
Remove The Junk And Debris From Your Above Ground Pool
If you have algae, chances are there is something in your pool to encourage it to grow.
- Dead leaves
- Bugs
- Even just the fact that people have been in your pool.
all that means there is something in your pool for the algae to eat. Your job is to get rid of that meal.
You are going to need a good pool skimmer. You want something with a long handle and a fine mesh.
Start at the edge of your pool and work your way inwards. Make sure to empty the net every so often so that the dirty water flows easily into the mesh and catches all the debris.
The other thing that helps is the above ground pool vacuum. This is perfect if the debris isnt floating anymore and is at the bottom of the pool. The vacuum attaches to your water hose and pushes all the debris into the attached netting.
We relied this a lot when we had our above ground pool.
Inventory Your Pool Chemicals
Youll want to have all of your chemicals ready to go before you start opening your pool. Check the expiration dates on all of your pool chemicals, and replace any that are past their prime. . You should also replace any chemicals that werent properly sealed before they were stored.
Chemicals Checklist: Everything You Need to Open Your Pool
Need to do a pre-opening pool chemical supply run? Heres what youll need to get the job done right:
- A good test kit or test strips for checking your pools pH, calcium hardness, total alkalinity,and chlorine levels
- Chlorine granules or tablets
- Stain treatment
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Remove Your Pool Cover From The Pool
Once youve cleaned your pool cover as much as possible, carefully remove it from the pool. To be sure you dont dump what remains into the water, you might want to get some help with this step.
No matter how careful you are, it is likely that some of the winter scum is going to end up in the pool, but try not to worry youll get to that later.
Once the cover is off the pool, be sure to spend some time to carefully clean, dry, and store it.
Youll be happy to have a clean, easy to manage cover when it comes time to close your pool in the fall, and good maintenance means it will last through more winters.
Some people opt to store their covers in plastic containers, or weight them down through the summer.
Whatever your choice, be careful to store it away from sharp equipment, and remember that mice love to use pool covers to make nests.
Time To Enjoy Your Above Ground Pool
Make sure to routinely test your water chemistry throughout the season, continue to clean your skimmer and filter, brush the sides and vacuum the bottom regularly either with a manual or robotic vacuum.
If youve made it this far, then congratulations, youre done! Youve successfully opened your above ground pool DIY style!
Now its time to sit back, relax, and enjoy that above ground pool!
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Go From Green To Clean
One of the most prevalent problems that pool owners deal with is algae. This is especially true in warm, humid states like Florida and throughout the South. How does algae get in a swimming pool in the first place? Wind, rain, contaminated swimsuits or even pool cleaning tools can bring algae spores into pools. The presence of nitrates can also help contribute to algae blooms. Combine this with a lack of good circulation, filtration or sanitation and you have a recipe for algae. Algae multiplies rapidly on warm, sunny days in above or inground pools. When conditions are right, an algae bloom can occur in a matter of hours.
Whats the best way to get rid of green algae?
Suncoast All In One Algaecide is the best way to get rid of algae in your pool. It kills and prevents every type of algae, including black, green and yellow mustard algae, as well as pink bacteria. In addition, it has clarifying properties to help keep your pool clear.
This free-floating algae variety, which imparts a cloudy green color to the water, is easy to correct if treated early. Getting rid of it requires only 2 chemicals. Just follow the instructions below and you will be back to blue in no time!
1: Adjust pool water pH to normal range of 7.4-7.6 and the alkalinity to 80-120ppm. Your neighborhood Pinch A Penny offers free water tests to help you with this step.
3: Brush the pool walls and let the filter run continuously until it eliminates the algae.
6: Repeat step 2 after 48 hours.
Balancing Your Water Chemistry
Now, its time to get the rest of your water chemistry balanced.
Using a good pool test kit, test the waters chlorine level, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and cyanuric acid level .
Youll need to know the volume of your above ground pool to ensure proper chemical levels.
Its best to test and adjust alkalinity and hardness first, because the alkalinity will buffer the pH.
Then make any necessary adjustments to the pH and CYA using the chemicals in your start-up kit.
Make sure you adjust each chemical one by one, rather than adding all of them in at once. Follow the directions on each chemical carefully as they will need to be applied in different ways.
If you are diluting a chemical in a bucket before adding it to your pool remember the following rule:
Always Add Chemicals to Water, NOT Water to Chemicals.
This will help you avoid harmful splashback of full strength chemicals to your skin or eyes.
Always wear proper eyewear, gloves, and clothing when handling ANY pool chemicals as well.
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Extreme Cases Of Green Pool
If you have an extreme case, with a ton of algae and leaves on the bottom of the pool. As in cases where the pool has been closed for the winter, or for multiple seasons, or even worse, the cover has fallen into the pool. You should attempt to vacuum the pool to waste before proceeding with the above instructions.
If there is to much debris, and you cannot vacuum. You have no choice but to leaf rake the entire pool with a leaf net. Continue removing debris with leaf net until you can make a pass, and only catch a few leaves in the net. You may have to let the pool settle, and then leaf rake the entire pool again.
Fix A Green Pool In 5 Easy Steps
Maybe you lifted up your winter cover to open your pool and were surprised by bright green water. Or maybe the algae crept up on you one faithful day during swim season.
Dont worry. It happens to the best of pool owners. And luckily, theres plenty you can do to win the battle against algae and reclaim your pool.
In this post, show you how to fix a green pool in just 5 steps. If you follow these steps, you can get rid of your pool algae problem in just a few days or less.
Heres a quick summary of how to fix a green pool:
Thats the whole process right there, but you probably have a few questions now, like:
How much do I lower my pools pH?
How much shock do I need to kill pool algae?
How can I remove pool algae faster?
We answer all those questions and more in the next few paragraphs, so keep reading and lets fix your green pool once and for all.
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There Are Six Steps To Opening Your Pool:
***Please read all instructions thoroughly before opening your Pool as certain conditions or circumstances may affect the order of which you perform these procedures.Please note that these instructions are to be used as a guideline.Always refer to manufacturers instructions and owners manuals for further details
How Long Should I Run The Pool Pump Am I Filtering My Pool Enough
Always run the pump when shocking the pool and allow it to circulate for 24 hours. The water should then be a blue or cloudy blue color.
Test the water 24 hours after shocking and start adjusting pH and alkalinity levels. The chlorine will still be elevated, but over a few days, it should stabilize. You could add sodium thiosulfate to lower the chlorine level, but I do not recommend this because adding too much can cause the chlorine level to seesaw back and forth.
After the shocking process is complete and you are back to normal operation, you need to set your timer, so the pool is filtered for a long enough time each day to deal with any algae or debris. How long to run the pump depends on the turnover rate: the time it takes for the circulation system to move the entire volume of water in the pool through the filter equipment.
During the hot summer months, an average-size residential pool that is in use should be filtered for a minimum of eight hours. During the cold season , or when no one is using the pool, the filter time can be cut in half. But the pool water does need to be filtered whether it is being used or not.
This article is accurate and true to the best of the authors knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.
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Replace Pool & Deck Accessories
Stored inside your skimmer basket, should be the accessories that were removed last Fall for safe storage. Remove the winterizing plug from the pool return and thread the directional return fitting into the opening. Install the weir door inside the mouth of the skimmer and remove the Skim Saver Guard if your pool skimmer is equipped with one. Replace your ladder or steps with Protective Vinyl Floor Mat as necessary.
Hint:Store all winterizing accessories with the winter cover for safe storage.
Start Circulation And Vacuum The Pool
A) Circulation
Before filling the pool with water, ensure all hose connections are securely fastened and all drain plugs tight. Place water in the pool pump to cover the basket and re-install the pump lid. The handle on the dial valve should be placed to the filter position.
Now the pool can be filled with water to the top of the skimmer mouth opening. This will allow the extra water to be used for backwashing during or after vacuuming the pool. Once the pool has reached this level, ensure the valve at the front of the pump is open. Plug the pump in and turn on the switch. As the circulation begins, air bubbles will shoot out the return fitting for a few minutes but will subside. You should notice the pressure on the pressure gauge rising and feel good water pressure coming out of the return fitting.
Hint: If your pool is equipped with a cartridge filter and your pool is relatively clean, it is not necessary to fill your water level to the top of the skimmer mouth opening. Proper water level is half or 2/3 covering the skimmer opening.
Sand Filter Media Cleanse
Now that the pool pump and system have been primed, a filter cleanse can be performed if needed.
B) Vacuum the Pool
If your pool is equipped with a cartridge filter, ensure your cartridge is flushed well after your initial vacuum.
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What Youll Need To Open Your Pool
Gather your equipment and lets get started! Once you get everything together the whole task seems a lot less daunting. Well walk you through it and make this process as painless as possible.
- Pool cover pump or sump pump
- Soft broom or skimmer net
- Pool cover cleaner
- Start-up chemical kit
- A second set of hands
- A previously-closed above-ground pool
Fill Pool To Middle Of Waterline Tile And Do Final Debris Removal
Grab a garden hose and fill the pool until the water level reaches the midpoint of the waterline tile or middle of the skimmer weirs. Once youve got the water level where it needs to be, you can now clean leaves, twigs and debris from the pools bottom by using a wall and floor brush. This is also time to dust off your algae brush and pool vacuum. Also be sure to remove any debris from the leaf basket.
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Add Water And Prepare Equipment
Once youve finished checking the pool and equipment for leaks and made any necessary repairs, go ahead and start filling your pool from the hose. While you wait, start hooking up the hoses from skimmer to pump and filter to return, tightening all hose clamps securely. Replace any pump and filter drain plugs removed during winterization.
Once your filter hoses are connected to the pool, you can remove the freeze plugs or Gizzmo, and replace the return eyeball fittings and skimmer baskets.
Return the pump basket to its proper place and lubricate the pump lid O-ring with a Teflon-based lube. Set the filter valve to the Filter position for sand and DE filters. Once the water reaches the middle of the skimmer, open up any valves in front of the pump and allow the pump to fill with water.
Open up the filter air bleeder and start up the filter pump, watching the pressure gauge rise. You should quickly see air bubbles coming into the pool. If not, shut off the pump, and check that all valves are open and all plugs are removed from the pool returns.
If your pump doesnt catch prime and begin pumping, check that the pump lid is tight, the hose adapter coming into the pump is tight and sealed with Teflon tape, and that the incoming hose has no splits or kinks.
But Why Did I Get Algae In The First Place
This is a tough one, because again: it could just have been a microscopic piece of algae on a swimsuit or pool toy that gets your pool growing. But good sanitizer levels, proper circulation, precise chemical balance, and consistently removed debris? These are sure to do a little damage against algae. Theres also more you can do, like some specific routine maintenance measures and a tiny bit of algaecide.
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Removal Of Winter Cover
Before the winter cover can be removed, accumulated water and debris must be removed. The easiest method of removing water from the top of the cover is to use a submersible pump and a discharge hose this hose could be a garden hose or backwash hose depending on the size or attachment on your submersible pump. Fasten your discharge hose to the discharge outlet on your submersible pump and place the pump on top of the cover into the water. If there is a large amount of leaves and debris on the cover, we suggest placing the pump into a small laundry basket. This will prevent leaves and debris from plugging the bottom intake of the pump. Consider using a mesh Leaf Cover next Fall to help reduce the amount of leaves and large debris on the cover in the Spring!
Using your vacuum pole and brush, work the water on the cover towards the pump. Keep in mind that if there are any holes in the cover, water can be pulled from below the cover upwards, thus draining the water level in the pool too low. Once all of the water has been removed from the cover, use a wall brush to push the leaves to the edge of the pool so they can be removed with a leaf scoop or bucket. Ensure that all water and debris are removed before attempting to remove the cover. Loosen the covers winch and cable and proceed to slowly slide the cover across the water, carefully lifting over the toprails as not to snag it on the rails or seat caps.
