Five Mistakes to Avoid When Handling Swimming Pool Maintenance
Your home’s swimming pool can quickly turn from an oasis to a headache when you make maintenance mistakes. It can be easy to become relaxed about pool maintenance if you’ve never had any major problems with your pool. However, the truth is that a pool requires a daily commitment to stay running in a clean, efficient manner. Skipping maintenance steps or taking shortcuts can reduce your pool’s performance in the long run. Being relaxed about caring for your pool can even make pool water unsafe. Of course, some pool maintenance mistakes happen simply because homeowners don’t know about many of the big pool mistakes to avoid.
The reality is that your pool could probably be doing better. Luckily, a little awareness and a few tweaks to your care plan can make a world of difference. Start the journey to sparkling water and endless relaxation for years to come with this list of five important pool care mistakes to avoid.
Pool Maintenance Mistake #1: Not Brushing Your Pool
There’s no doubt you already know how important it is to vacuum your pool. In fact, you may be wondering why your pool water is so murky even though you diligently use your vacuum. The answer is that you’re not brushing your pool.
Vacuuming your pool is great for removing bigger chunks of debris that can clog filters and make water appear dirty. However, vacuuming isn’t so great at getting rid of things like fibers and oils that have settled on the interior surface of your pool. Over time, these materials can build up to create a dirty film that shows up on the surface of your pool water. While small, these tiny particles and films can also begin to make their way into your pool drains and vents to cause big problems.
Brushing removes gunk and scum from your pool better than vacuuming alone. With a pool brush often costing just a few dollars, there’s no easier way to create clear, buildup-free water. Key areas of a swimming pool that need brushing include the waterline, the steps leading into the pool, all corners, and any areas behind pool ladders. Most pools only need to be brushed about once a week. However, pools in yards with lots of trees or plants that can direct pollen into the pool may need to be brushed more frequently.
Pool Maintenance Mistake #2: Being Relaxed About Pool pH and Alkalinity
Are you playing guessing games about your pool’s chemical balance? It’s easy to forget that maintaining a pool is actually an exercise in chemistry. Don’t just assume your pool is “fine” because the water looks clear. Make a habit of testing for pH levels and alkalinity regularly. Ideally, your pool’s pH is between 7.4 and 7.6. Alkalinity should be between 80 parts per million (ppm) and 120 ppm.
Pool Maintenance Mistake #3: Shocking Your Pool in the Daytime
This is one of the most common pool maintenance mistakes that most people don’t realize is wrong. Do you like to shock your pool at the start of the day to knock the chore off your list? You may be eager to wake up and add shock to your pool in anticipation of a busy day of swimming in the sun. However, the sun is the problem here.
Consider why pool shock is so important. Shocking your pool removes chlorine remnants called chloramines that will irritate your skin and eyes if not handled. Chloramines are created when chlorine byproducts merge with things like sunscreen, oils from skin, algae, or bacteria. Regular shocking is extremely important for preventing algae blooms from taking over a pool.
The problem with daytime pool shocking is that sunlight actually reduces the effectiveness of pool shock by degrading chlorine. That means you’re getting diminished results from your pool shock when you do a treatment during the day. Many pool owners who don’t know that shocking pools during the daytime doesn’t work end up spending extra money on pool shock because they constantly have to add more and more to get results. The solution is to switch to nighttime shock treatments. By producing better results much more quickly, switching to the evening ensures you don’t have to deal with the frustration of wasting so much time and money on applying more pool shock than a pool technically needs.
Pool Maintenance Mistake #4: Letting Filters Get Clogged
Don’t wait until a filter’s performance dwindles before you change it! A standard pool filter needs to be deeply cleaned at least once every three months. If you have a tinier filter, it may even be once every one to two months.
Some people go longer than is recommended between cleaning pool filters because they’re simply too busy to remember. Others avoid cleaning pool filters because they find the process difficult and tedious. For either of the two cases, the best way to avoid wrecking your filter and letting your pool get messy is scheduling routine filter servicing like clockwork with a pool company.
Pool Maintenance Mistake #5: Not Running Pool Filters Frequently Enough
It’s tempting to try to save energy by only running a pool filter for a few hours per day. However, filters can’t complete their jobs if they don’t get enough time. Pool filters aren’t just shuffling water around your pool. They essentially “screen” every single drop of water in your pool over the span of a filter cycle.
On average, pool filters need to run eight to 10 hours per day. Anything short of an eight-hour window generally won’t provide enough time for every drop of water in your pool to make its way through the filter. Pool owners who consistently don’t run their pool filters for more than a few hours a day have perpetually unfiltered water. Over time, these pools can slowly be overtaken by insects, contaminants, pollen, and byproducts from things like sunscreen and oils.