Proper swimming pool maintenance in the summer is extremely vital to help keep your swimming pool water blue and clear. This is not to say that it isn’t important other times of the year but when the weather warms up it can be extremely challenging to keep your water free of algae unless you are far more diligent about taking care of your pool. In the winter time you can get away with shorter filter run times, less chlorine and frankly less cleaning but that will never work when the water warms up. Algae love warm water which makes taking care of your swimming pool during the summer extremely important. At Clark County Pool & Lawn we can help you with your residential swimming pool and we hope this blog post gives you some insight on what needs to be done on a weekly basis to keep your water looking great and ready to swim in at all times.
Proper swimming pool maintenance includes:
First and foremost, your filter run times should be at a minimum of 10 hours each day. If you have a larger deep end pool this will probably need to increase by a few hours. Proper filtration is extremely important to keeping the water clear and constantly turning the water over. This also helps to mix the chlorine too. If your pool isn’t running long enough you might notice it getting cloudy which is the onset of algae growth. If this happens, make sure you increase your chlorine and run times.
Next, you will definitely need to increase the amount of chlorine that you use. During the winter time, you can get away with as little as 1 part per million (ppm) but that won’t be nearly enough during the summer time. You will need to increase your chlorine to at least 3ppm and maybe up to 5ppm during heavy swim times or if storms are expected. Chlorine will kill and prevent algae from blooming. As stated above, algae love warm water that’s why you will need to have at least 3ppm at all times.
As for pH, this doesn’t change much as it should always be between 7.2 and 7.8. This is the perfect range to prevent scaling or causing the water to become cloudy or even potential chlorine loss.
The next key element that needs to be discussed is Cyanuric Acid (CYA). You will want to make sure you have between 30-50ppm CYA at all times. CYA prevents chlorine loss due to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. If you have too much (over 100ppm) it can make managing your chemistry challenging and if you have too little it can cause rapid loss of chlorine.
Please keep in mind you will want to check your chemistry at least once a week, brush the steps, tile, benches and net the pool of all debris. If you have a pool vacuum this can make your job a lot easier too. Don’t forget to empty the skimmer basket and remove debris from the pool as soon as possible. Any obstruction of water into the pump can cause burn out so removing debris from the skimmer should occur as much as possible.
In the end, having a swimming pool is fun but most people don’t like taking care of it because of the maintenance. Please note, Clark County Pool & Lawn has 35 plus years of experience and would love to take care of your swimming pool. Please contact us today if you would like us to make sure you have proper swimming pool maintenance all year round!
Recent Comments