Must-Know Tips For Pool Maintenance

If you’re a pool owner, you know that maintaining a pool requires more than just throwing chemicals in and closing the cover. Having a plan in place can save you time and money while ensuring that you enjoy the season. To help you out, we’ve rounded up some of the most important tips for maintaining your pool using the sources provided. Take a look!

1. Keep It Clean

Keeping your pool clean is one of the most important things you can do to keep it running smoothly. It can help you avoid major maintenance problems or costly repairs down the road. Algae is a common issue that can grow quickly in your pool, forming slimy green coatings on the walls and floor. This can cause the water to become cloudy and clog the filter. Luckily, there are many easy-to-use products that you can use to prevent algae from growing in your pool. These include a clarifier, bleach or muriatic acid.

2. Maintain The Water’s pH Levels

Your pool water’s pH levels are an important part of maintaining the overall chemical balance in your pool. Maintaining this balance is a complicated process that requires constant monitoring and adjustments. A low pH level can cause a number of problems, including skin and eye irritation to swimmers, corrosion on pool surfaces, etching in concrete swimming pools, and eroding pool equipment. To bring the water’s pH back into a healthy range, you can add acids, degreasers, or alkalinity increasers to raise it. Leslie’s Dry Acid (sodium bisulfate) and Muriatic Acid are common chemical options, but be sure to read the product label for dosing instructions and safety precautions.

3. Maintain The Water’s Alkalinity Levels

Maintaining the water’s alkalinity levels is one of the most important things you can do to keep your pool looking beautiful and healthy. When the alkalinity in your pool goes too low, it can cause several problems, including itchy skin and stinging eyes for swimmers, as well as corrosion of metallic surfaces like your pool ladder and liner. In addition, alkalinity also helps stabilize your pool’s pH level so that it remains balanced. This is especially important for pools with high chlorine levels. The best way to raise the alkalinity in your pool is to add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). You can purchase it in powder form and sprinkle it into the water. It will take around six hours for it to disperse. Afterward, retest your pool’s pH and alkalinity levels to ensure they are still in the proper range.

4. Maintain The Water’s Calcium Levels

Often overlooked, calcium hardness levels are a critical part of maintaining a safe pool. Low calcium levels can lead to dangerous stains on the surface of your pool and equipment, while high calcium levels can cause serious damage to metal fittings and heat exchangers. Like pH and alkalinity, calcium hardness is a chemical that needs to be in balance to protect your swimming pool surfaces from corrosion, staining or discoloration. This is why we always recommend balancing the essential chemicals before making any adjustments to calcium hardness. You can keep your water’s calcium levels from getting out of whack by testing, adjusting and then retesting to make sure the adjustment has been successful. Test your pool water twice a week to ensure it stays in the right range.

5. Maintain The Water’s Total Dissolved Solids Levels

Keeping track of your water’s Total Dissolved Solids levels is one of the most important things you can do for your pool. It allows you to see the overall quality of your water and make sure everything is working properly. TDS is a measure of the amount of organic and inorganic materials that are dissolved in water. It includes a variety of substances like minerals, salts, and ions. TDS can be found naturally in waters, but it may also come from chemicals used to treat water or runoff from roads and yards. You can keep a tab on your TDS level with an electronic TDS meter or test strip.