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Tips for Keeping Your Pool Clean
Owning a pool comes in handy with the Phoenix dryness and heat—you can practice your freestyle stroke, take a dip after a workout, or host a family pool party. However, the more you use it, the more pool cares you’ll need to keep it crystal clear and pristine instead of murky and green. Check out the 10 best pieces of pool maintenance advice (Pool Care Tips) from the industry expert Emerald Pools and Services below.
Pool Care Tip 1: Hands-On Maintenance
There are plenty of ways you can perform pool upkeep at home! To keep your pool in tip-top shape for swimming, use a skimmer to pick up leaves every day and scrub the siding every other week with a brush. Your pool can only feel as great as the work you put into it!
Pool Care Tip 2: Automatic Cleaning Equipment
Your automatic deck or inline chlorinator is what disinfects your pool in between and during swim sessions. You’ll want to check the chlorine tablet levels, loading, and signs of issues like clogging. Some pools have an ozone generator that sanitizes and purifies the water of contaminants. It can reduce the amount of chlorine you need too, you’ll just need to verify its light is on and it’s working.
If you want to invest in an additional automatic tool to help, you can purchase a robot vacuum cleaner to get to the bottom of the pool for you.
Pool Care Tip 3: Built-in Filtration System
Pool filters remove impurities from your pool such as dirt, leaves, and other debris. Yours will have a skimmer or filter basket installed that will require you to open up its panel, remove the basket, and dump out its contents once every week. Clean out the filter pipes monthly by setting the filter system to “backwash,” removing the basket, and running the pump until the water runs clear.
You’ll also want to empty out the hair and lint pot within your pump according to how often your friends and family are swimming in your pool. Just turn off the pump and release the system pressure to inspect the basket under the pump lid for debris or damage.
Pool Care Tip 4: Chemical Balancing
If your water’s chemical levels are imbalanced it could appear murky, breed bacteria, or irritate your skin and eyes. Test your water weekly with some pool store kits for cyanuric acid, free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity, and calcium hardness. If certain pool chemicals are too costly, you can use baking soda for its sodium bicarbonate to control your pool’s alkalinity without affecting the overall pH level too drastically. Otherwise, Emerald Pools can do this as part of our convenient, weekly pool care service.
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Pool Care Tip 5: Waterline Leveling
In addition to keeping your pool filters in good shape, you’ll want to keep an eye on your pool’s water level. It will change during rainstorms, dry spells, or a lot of people coming (or jumping!) in and out. The ideal level is at the halfway mark of the skimmer opening. You can simply fill it with a garden hose or rent a submersible pump to drain it a bit. After refilling or draining it, don’t forget to recheck the chemicals to be sure they are properly balanced!
If your pool liner is too weak to handle the pump’s weight (e.g. vinyl, fiberglass) you can contact Emerald Pools to take care of it for you.
Pool Care Tip 6: Pool Shocking
Pool “shocking” is a form of pool care that involves adding higher amounts of chlorine or similar chemicals into the water to reach “breakpoint chlorination” so bacteria and other pollutants are eliminated. Typically, you should do this twice a season to avoid eroding your pool siding, but if your friends and family are frequenting the pool often, you can start doing it weekly.
Pool Care Tip 7: Pool Structure Monitoring
Pool maintenance also involves monitoring your water feature’s infrastructure for damage such as corrosion or cracking. Be vigilant when it comes to the integrity of your pool gate(s), locks, alarms, and anything else you may employ to protect guests and pool-goers. When issues do come up, you can trust Emerald Pools and Spas to complete your pool care and repair efficiently.
Pool Care Tip 8: Power Washing
No point cleaning your pool if any gunk and grime from the surrounding deck are just going to fall into it! Stop your pool filters from working overtime and rent a power washer every once in a while. Sweep your deck of any leaves and other debris, then run your power washer over your deck with enough distance to prevent damaging the surface from the force. You’ll also want to sweep the power washer in layers by overlapping the rows so you don’t leave your deck streaky. You’ll probably see a noticeably cleaner appearance!
Pool Care Tip 9: Professional Cleaning and Maintenance
Even if you stay on top of your pool care, you should still schedule Emerald Pools and Spas to carry out a thorough, professional-grade pool inspection so we can evaluate the status of your pool and address and its needs whether it be professional cleaning, repair, or replacement services.
You’ll be glad you came to the valley-wide pool leader for the highest quality of care possible.
Pool Care Tip 10: Winter Preparation
Just as important as pool care in the summer months is that in the winter months! If you choose to shut down your pool during this time, you’ll want to ensure the pool cover is promptly fastened. You wouldn’t want to finally open your cover to a cracked or bacteria-filled inside! Before you start closing up you should test your water’s chemical levels, and get rid of any of the remaining water in your plumbing lines.
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