Water Chemistry for Swimming Pools

Prepping your pool for the upcoming season takes a little more work than what in the offseason!

Now that it is May and summer is just around the corner it is time to get your pool ready for the upcoming season! With spring we can say goodbye to cold weather and hello to increased temperatures and the thought of being able to start swimming again. After many months of your pool not being used, it’s now time to start thinking about what you need to do to prep your swimming pool for the upcoming swim season. This is always a great time at Clark County Pool & Lawn because just like you, we own swimming pools and love being able to relax in them, host barbecues with friends and family and have pool parties. The biggest key at this point is having the knowledge that there is more maintenance that is required when the pool water warms up and we want this blog post to highlight all that needs to be done.

Most importantly, if you haven’t already, you will need to increase your levels of chlorine in the swimming pool. Typically during winter, you can get away with 1 part per million (ppm) chlorine but that won’t be enough when the water gets warmer. At this point, we recommend increasing your chlorine levels to at least 3 ppm to prevent algae growth. The other major change that will need to occur is your filter run times. Typically, during winter you can decrease your run times by a few hours but they will need to be at their max during the warmer months. Most residential swimming pools will need to run at least eight to twelve hours.

Chemistry will need to be managed at least once a week. Pools will need to be brushed and skimmed at least once a week too. If you are taking care of your swimming pool yourself, you will need to check your skimmer and pump baskets as well because if they get filled it can prevent flow and could cause issues to the pump/motor.

At the start of spring, we also recommend inspecting your filtration equipment for proper function and leaks. This is always the best time to do any repairs that might occur during the middle of summer. Please keep in mind to also check your pool water for Calcium Hardness, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), and Cyanuric Acid (CYA) too. If your pool water is due for a change, we recommend using our Reverse Osmosis (RO) mobile filtration trailer to have the best quality water for your swim season. If you should have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us today and if you’re looking to hire a weekly service and maintenance company to manage your pool we would love to help!