How to maintain your swimming pool

Swimming pool maintenance

Preventative maintenance can eliminate a lot of costly repairs and is something that should be carried out on a regular basis.  By making sure you carry out the necessary maintenance, you can enjoy your swimming pool stress free with few repairs later on down the line.  Swimming pool maintenance does require time and if you do not have the time to carry out maintenance on your swimming pool, weekly visits from a professional to ensure your pool runs smoothly and efficiently are advisable.

Water chemistry

It is not too uncommon to hear swimming pool owners openly admitting to neglecting to test how balanced the water in their swimming pool is.  Maintaining pool water chemistry is perhaps the most important aspect of maintaining a swimming pool.  Most of us would just assume that because it looks clear and clean then that is the case.  Unfortunately, this could not be farter from the truth.  As a general rule of thumb, if the water is inadequately balanced then not only is it unsafe for you the swimmer, but your pool’s components such as the filter, pump and heater just wont last as long, resulting in a continuous waste of money.  Even with the pH of your water being unbalanced, the sanitizers added to your swimming pool just wont work as efficiently, meaning that bacteria and pathogens stand a chance of gaining control, leaving you with some unpleasant irritations to your skin and eyes.

Sanitizers need to be added to your pool water, most commonly in the form of chlorine, although there are now other alternatives on the market such as bromine which acts in a very similar way.  Floating chlorine feeders and automatic chemical feeders are available from any pool supply distributor which can dissolve 1 inch, 3 inch and chlorine sticks into your water.  These automatic chlorine feeders are very helpful in maintaining a swimming pool.  On no occasion should chemicals simply be dumped into the water or placed in the skimmer.  By placing a large amount of chlorine in the skimmer box means that the water passing through your circulation and plumbing systems are loaded with a large amount of chlorine which can in turn eat away at them, resulting in premature failure of your pool’s components.  Once the sanitizers have been added to your water, they will in turn combine with any unwanted pathogens and bacteria’s, killing these harmful contaminants.  Once your sanitizer has combined with these contaminants, it becomes inactive and needs to be removed from your pool’s water during a weekly shock treatment and then in turn by the filter.

Maintaining a proper pH level can be just as important as having chlorine in your swimming pool in the first place, as it is the pH of your water that can often end up being the culprit in many swimming pool mishaps.  It is more common for the burning eye syndrome from swimming pools being as a result of the pH than the chlorine in the pool.  The pH level of your swimming pool water is considered an optimal anywhere between 7.2 and 7.6.  A rise above or a fall below these levels can not only result in irritation to the swimmer, but can result in chemicals working less efficiently costly you more money in the long run.  Did you know chlorine works 10 times more efficiently when the pH of your pool’s water is kept between 7.2 and 7.6?.  If you do find that the pH level of the water has risen or fallen above or below the optimal level, pH increasers and decreases can be added.  When adding pH increasers or decreasers, only add a little and then test the water again after 6 hours of continuous filtration as this will prevent ‘bouncing’.  By carrying out regular water tests which can be bought as a drop style kit or a strip style kit you can minimise changes saving yourself on maintenance costs in the future .

Circulation

Your pump is like the heart of your swimming pool, pumping millions of gallons of water through in its lifetime so it is not unfair that it requires a little TLC here and there.  If you do a good job of looking after your pump it will serve you for approximately 10 years with the proper care and maintenance.  When everything is running correctly, the pump should run smoothly with little noise.  Look out for dangerous signs such as violent shaking, more noise than normal and small leaks.  If any of these signs do become apparent then it is important to call in an expert who has relevant experience in the field.  Try to avoid fixing problems yourself unless you are totally confident in doing so.  You can however get more familiar with your pump and carry out minor maintenance jobs yourself.  There are 4 major components of your swimming pool pump that you should become familiar with, consisting of the skimmer box, skimmer basket, the pump filter and  the O-ring.  The biggest problem associated with pumps is that they can begin to suck in air.  Now you may be thinking, what harm can a little air do to my pump? Well, it can end up entirely destroying your pump if it left to continue for a long enough period of time.  So what can you do to stop this from occurring altogether? By making sure the water level is always half way up the skimmer box, you can stop the pump from sucking in air, prolonging the life of your pump.  On no occasion should the pump be turned on when no water is in it. The skimmer box should be kept clean at all times and cleaned on a regular basis, especially if  you live in an area with a large drop of debris or falling leaves.  By keeping your skimmer box clean you can keep costly problems to a minimum.  The pump filter should be kept clean and it would be advisable to clean it every 2 weeks with regular backwashing.  Any debris that gathers near the filter can cause long term damage to your pump.   When it comes to cleaning the O-ring, both surfaces should be kept clean and a little lubricant which is suitable should be added to the O-ring to ensure smooth functioning.

Filtration

As a filter collects dirt its efficiency increases meaning that it starts to collect more and more dirt.  It is therefore important that you do not clean or backwash your system too frequently as the filter will never be able to reach its full cleaning potential.  By backwashing on a regular basis you are also wasting a large amount of water so try to keep this duty to a minimal or when the gauge rises 8-10 PSI from clean.  The maintenance your filter needs depends on what type of filter you have.  There are 3 main types of swimming pool filter; the Diatomaceous Earth Filter (D.E), the sand filter and the cartridge filter.

Sand Filters

The most common form of maintenance you will need to carry out on your sand filter should be a monthly backwash.  When your pressure gauge starts to display a reading of 8-10 PSI from clean it is time to backwash the captured dirt out of the filter.  This process involves turning a valve so that the water will flow through the filter backwards, pushing out the dirt.  A sand filter should be able to go for a period of approximately 4 weeks without needing a backwash and if it does require one on a more frequent basis then you might be experiencing a sand problem, depending on conditions of the pool and how frequently it is being used.  Now you may be wondering if there is ever going to come a time when you need to change the sand in your filter.  A properly sized filter could go 10 years without a change, others may require them sooner.  A good guide to follow is to check how often you are required to backwash your system.  If you are being pushed to backwash your filter every week or every two weeks and your water chemistry is good then you may be facing a problem with the sand.  Yearly treatments are now available that clean the sand in your filter and prevent it from sticking together.  If you suspect that you have a problem with your sand filter, find sand in your pool or require a sand bed replacement it is advisable to call in an expert to take a look to assess the problem at hand.

Diatomaceous Earth Filter

When it comes to maintaining a D.E filter, things differ slightly.  As with the sand filter, when the pressure gauge reads 8-10 PSI from clean a backwash is required.  After backwashing however you will need to add a new application of Diatomaceous Earth filter powder into the skimmer.  This powder will then coat the grids inside the filter tank.  An annual breakdown of the filter is then necessary to thoroughly clean the D.E filter grids. To thoroughly clean your D.E filter, start by turning off the filter and draining the water.  Remove the grid and hose it down thoroughly, giving it a thorough clean before placing it back.  As with the sand filters, backwashing should be limited to every 4 weeks and if it is required more frequently, you may be facing a problem with the grid.  Once again, if you find D.E powder in the pool or you suspect the grid may need replacing, call in an expert before taking further action.

Cartridge Filter

Cartridge filters require the least maintenance as it is not possible to carry out a backwash on a cartridge filter.  Instead, when the filter is turned off and the cartridge is removed, you can simply hose it down from top to bottom and then replace it.  The only downfall with this method is that every time you take the cartridge out to clean, its filtering ability reduces.  Depending on the conditions, a cartridge should need replacing every 2 to 5 years and can be done without the help of a professional.

When it comes to maintaining your swimming pool and your filter, always make sure you have the right sized filter for your pool size.  More often than not we see people who have been wrongfully advised to purchase filters which are way too big for their small pools, which in turn uses up more energy and puts more pressure on all of your swimming pool’s components.  If you are unsure of what sized filter to choose for your pool size or you are experiencing unusual noises or leaks coming from your filter, please do not hesitate to contact PSP today through our contacts page, as a well installed filter of a suitable size for your pool should last you anyway between 25 to 30 years.

Once the major components of your swimming pool are working efficiently and the water chemistry, circulation and filtration have found their happy equilibrium, you are almost there.  All that is required of you now is the simpler maintenance work.  Despite being less technical than everything listed above, it is still important these jobs are carried out.

Cleaning your swimming pool

Brushing down walls and tiles on a regular basis will help to eliminate algae problems and will save you money in the long term.  Once a tile gets calcified it becomes a little like plaque and will take a specialist to get it off.  The same refers to swimming pool covers which should be scrubbed down once a week to keep algae at bay.  An algae preventive or inhibitor can be used to keep all 15,000 different types of algae from taking over your swimming pool.  Simply pour the desired amount into the water near the skimmer and the pump will distribute it evenly around the pool.  On outdoor swimming pools it is inevitable that you are going to get a larger amount of debris finding its way into your swimming pool so a good swimming pool cover and net for collecting fallen debris becomes a necessity.  If you do not have an automatic cleaner, you will need to vacuum the bottom of your pool approximately twice a week.  All debris should be   removed from your pool’s skimmer twice a week as this helps you keep on top of bacteria and pathogens from invading your water.

There is no reason why you should experience any problems with your swimming pool if you keep it properly maintained.  A swimming pool that has the correct filtration and circulation and is sanitized correctly will be one happy environment to be splashing around in.  It makes no sense to neglect weekly maintenance on your swimming pool in the hope that ’it will all be ok’ because this will not remain the case.  If you keep up the weekly maintenance and test your water chemistry on a regular basis (every 2 to 3 days is preferable) you will be saving yourself a very large sum of money on component replacements and labour when problems do arise.  By identifying problems early on you can prevent costly repairs.

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