Top Tips for Thorough Maintenance of Home Pools



No comments
Category: Home Sweet Home

Whether you are fortunate enough to have your own swimming pool in your home or holiday home, or if you have been tasked with house-sitting a friend or family member’s home which includes a swimming pool, here are some top tips for thorough maintenance of both indoor and outdoor swimming pools. We have just decided to get a pool deck renovation and I’m so happy with the results. It was a fairly easy process and the pool area looks great! I now need to focus on the pool hygiene side (cleaning, germ neutralization, etc). Anyway, enough about me! Here are the tips :

The Basics

There are essentially three overarching elements to ensuring your swimming pool is functioning at its optimum capability:

  1. Proper care of pool equipment
  2. Clear water and high quality of soft water
  3. Complete germ neutralisation

The water in the pool should be as clear as possible and be as odourless as possible. If the water is too tainted with chlorine or other chemicals it will cause irritation to the skin and eyes. Pool water should always be entirely pathogen-free, and proper care and maintenance of the equipment will prolong the pool’s quality and lifespan considerably.

Pool Heaters

Whether your private swimming pool is an outdoor or an indoor structure, if you want to have access to it throughout the winter as well as during warmer months, a pool heater is an absolute necessity. Subsequently, if the pool is heated, it will require specialist maintenance and a strict cleaning schedule. An above ground pool heater can transform a cold, British dip into a relaxing, entertaining experience that the whole family can enjoy; but they come with their own fair share of maintenance responsibilities.  

If you have a pool and are looking to invest in an electric swimming pool heater, be sure to choose a heater that contains a spiral-wound, titanium heating element that makes the pool both energy efficient and quick to warm.

Saltwater and Chlorine Pools

To ensure you properly maintain your saltwater pool, the skimmer, pump and filter all need to be regularly and thoroughly dismantled and cleansed. Additionally, you must systematically inspect the salt chlorinator cell, which should be replaced every four to six months.

When maintaining the optimum chlorine levels in your private swimming pool, ensure you always wear personal protective equipment – namely extremely thick gloves and a good quality pair of goggles. Chlorine tablets are by far the best option for a long-lasting chlorine water injection, and before you add chlorine, meticulously check the current pH and chemical balance of the water.

Water Chemistry

Balancing the water chemistry in your pool water is perhaps the most important element to proper maintenance, and it is vital that you inspect and adjust accordingly and habitually. You will need a water testing kit, an alkalinity balancer, a pH balancer, a water-hardness balancer and a water conditioner.

You must calculate the volume of your pool water. The easiest way to do this is to multiply the length of the pool by the width, and the depth by the multiplier, in order to calculate the total volume in gallons. Ensure the water pump is circulating correctly before you add any chemicals and it is strongly advisable to wait a minimum of six hours between water treatments.