Adding a swimming pool to your home makes can make such an enormous difference, both in terms of its market value, and entertainment for the family. Swimming pools can have a remarkable effect on your lifestyle. By adding a swimming pool to your home, the number of activities you can engage in dramatically increases. The swimming pool now serves as an excellent relaxation spot, an exercise facility, a place to cool off on hot days and if you have a spa, somewhere to keep you warm during the cooler months.
Take a long-term view of the upfront pool costs
Despite the benefits of having a pool, people can tend to be discouraged from having one installed, due to the sometimes-lofty upfront costs involved, along with the ongoing maintenance they require. It’s important to realise however, that the costs involved are far from unreasonable, considering the sheer number of benefits you and your family can enjoy. It should also be noted that when properly looked after, swimming pools made from hard-wearing materials such as concrete, can last for many decades.
People sometimes view pool maintenance as labour-intensive, time-consuming, expensive and challenging, but this is not the case if performed correctly. Swimming pool maintenance involves cleaning and caring for the pool to stay healthy and in top-notch condition for your use and your home’s benefit.
Get a professional to clean your pool, or DIY?
Swimming pool maintenance can be done in two ways. The first is hiring professionals to clean and perform maintenance activities on the pool, while the other is DIY pool maintenance. The first allows you to avoid the “challenges” of swimming pool maintenance but naturally incurs greater costs, as professional services are not free.
The do-it-yourself maintenance on the other hand, is the aspect that many view as challenging, but the truth is, it is only challenging if the maintenance is being done incorrectly. Thanks to the abundance of comprehensive guides available on blog posts and YouTube, DIY pool maintenance has become much easier for the average pool owner to get a grasp of.
The following tips are not only aimed at pool owners who are willing to do DIY pool maintenance, but also to those who hire professional services, as some maintenance activities can be done to cut maintenance costs. Keep your pool water in tip top condition by purchasing premium quality pool chlorinators online.
Before you learn about pool cleaning and maintenance, it’s important to first understand the tools and equipment you need.
Tools and Equipment Required for Pool Maintenance
The following is a list of tools and equipment you will require to keep your pool in tip-top condition all year round.
- Telescopic pole: A versatile tool used with other tools when cleaning. It features an adjustable length that makes your cleaning easy and convenient. Some of the tools it uses include the skimmer net, brush, and vacuum cleaners.
- Skimmer net: This functions similarly to a fishing net, which is used to remove solid deposits from the water when cleaning.
- Brush: This removes stains and algae from swimming pool walls. It is in varieties and specific to each pool type, where the stiff brush is used for cleaning concrete pools, and the soft brush is best for fiberglass or vinyl pools.
- Vacuum cleaners: This tool extracts and removes dirt from filter systems. As you know, swimming pools have filter systems that help keep the water clean and healthy; these systems also get dirty after extended periods of use. Vacuum cleaners are used to clean the filter systems when dirty. It is important to note that vacuum cleaners are specific to the different filter systems and also useful in removing debris from the pool.
- Pool cleaners and disinfectants: These are used to keep the water clean and healthy after use; where filter systems clean the water entering the pool, pool cleaners clean and disinfect the water in the pool. They are also useful when cleaning specific filter systems; more on this will be discussed later.
Pool Maintenance Tips
The following is a list of tips for maintaining your swimming pool.
- Vacuuming the pool: The consistency with which this is done reduces the number of chemicals you put in the pool to keep it clean and the amount of debris and deposits in the water. For example, daily vacuuming reduces the chances of stains occurring and chemical use. However, how vacuuming is done matters; the ideal way of vacuuming is by walking off a straight line grid like you would when mowing.
- Scrubbing the pool’s walls: Algae and calcium build-up make your pool unhealthy and dirty. You must often scrub the pool’s walls to prevent build-up. It does not need to be done daily to keep the pool clean, although if you can afford the time, daily scrubbing is okay.
- Skimming the pool’s surface: This is where the skimmer net or skimmer shovel is useful, as it is used to remove debris and dirt that appear on the water’s surface. This activity can be done on a daily or at daily intervals. The idea is for your pool to look and remain clean and ready for use every time.
- Filter maintenance: This junction is where many miss it and experience challenges. This is because they apply the wrong maintenance procedure to a filter system. The process incurs extra costs for them because of a damaged filter system.
Filter system maintenance is tricky since cleaning the filter systems too often can hinder the filtration process and not cleaning it after using it for extended periods. Yes, it needs to be clarified how filter systems work, but the truth is a squeaky-clean filter system is less efficient and productive than a mildly clean filter system. However, there is a logic that allows you to know when to clean your filter system, and it is by using the pressure gauge on the filter system.
Each filter system type has a pressure gauge that notifies you when cleaning is needed. For media filter systems like sand filters, you notice the water flow is slow or delayed, and the pressure gauges on the inlet and outlet will indicate that there is blockage. Cleaning is needed.
The ideal way to clean media filters is by backwashing (This is a complete discussion on its own). However, media filters, like sand filters use the coarseness of the filtration media (sand) to keep the water clean. When the media loses its coarseness, it should be changed, and a professional can help you do this.
Cartridge filters’ maintenance is easier because they have a higher surface area than media filters and are low-maintenance filters. The water flowing through the filters is used to know when to clean, as a clean cartridge filter allows high pressured flowing water. Cleaning the cartridge in the filter is easy, as you rinse or soak in a cartridge cleaning solution before rinsing.
Conclusion
Some other maintenance tips for an excellent swimming pool include checking the water levels, as the pool needs to continuously hold a specific volume of water, and water testing because the water should have a neutral pH to be safe for swimming. If you have second doubts about owning a swimming pool because of the maintenance involved, this article has outlined tips that make pool maintenance easy and convenient. To find out more, consult a trusted swimming pool builder, such as Ecozen.
