Do you remember when your pool was brand new? It was a beautiful sight to behold. The crystal clear water. The clean decking. Just looking at it made you so proud and all you wanted was to be in the pool! And, if you weren’t around when the pool was built, you can imagine how it would sparkle if it were brand new. If only your pool water looked crystal clear. If only you could get your pool to look new now. Well, you can, and we can show you how.
At Prestige Pools, we are experts at cleaning pools, including the pros and cons of sand pool filters vs. cartridge pool filters. In this article, we give you a few simple steps to keep your pool in top-notch shape with that brand-new look all year long. (If you have a vinyl liner pool, refer to these two blogs for tips on keeping the vinyl liner pool clean and caring for your vinyl liner pool.)
Keeping Your Pool Clean
Keeping your pool clean is the way you can maintain a new beautiful look. It’s simple, really. But, it can be a daunting task that gets put on the back burner and finally falls into the neglected category. If you don’t keep up with pool maintenance, it can cost you thousands of dollars in damage and eventually make your pool unsafe to swim in.
Here is a list of the most important reasons to clean your swimming pool regularly:
- The pool lasts longer
- There are fewer costly repairs
- The water is sanitary and safe
- The aesthetic is improved
- The pool operates better
- It improves the value of your home
- You get more enjoyment from using it
Here’s how you know if your pool’s water is clean:
- The pool water looks blue and clear
- The pool water doesn’t feel slimy
- The water is flowing around the pool’s filter
- There is not a strong chlorine odor
Here are five tips you can do to have a safe, beautiful pool that looks new.
Tip #1: Vacuum, Skim, and Brush Regularly Each Week
When you let debris like dirt and leaves stay in your pool, it eats away at the sanitizer and makes your chemical levels unbalanced. The longer the debris is there, the cloudier the water gets. If debris lingers, the water becomes unsanitary and can cause infections to people in it. This is the reason it is so important to vacuum, skim, and brush each week. We also recommend that you brush your pool’s walls, steps, and floors to remove dirt and debris, as well as skim the water’s surface and the floor of the pool to remove leaves and other items.
Tip #2: Keep the Pool Filter Clean
Keeping the pool filter clean plays a very large part in having a clean pool. In fact, when you have a pool filter that is clean and functioning properly, your time spent skimming and vacuuming is reduced greatly because that is part of what the filter does. The filter aids in circulation, filtration, and chemistry in the pool. Look for signs that indicate the filter needs cleaning such as abnormal pool odor, a clogged drain, and an inefficient hose cleaner.
If your pool has a cartridge filter, you will need to clean it either monthly or as infrequently as every four to six months, depending on its size. Always replace your cartridge filters each year.
If your pool uses a DE filter (a filter with grids inside that are coated in DE powder), clean it once a month, add new DE powder every few months, and replace the DE grids every 1-2 years.
If you have a sand filter, replace the sand every few months.
Another tip for keeping the pool filter clean is to backwash it at least once a week. This helps prevent debris buildup.
Tip #3: Maintain the Water Levels
Don’t overlook the importance of maintaining the water levels in your pool. When the water rises or drops, it can throw off the chemical balance in the water. Additionally, if the water level isn’t maintained at the appropriate level, it could cause the water skimmers and filters to struggle in keeping the pool clean.
Tip #4: Test the Water and Balance Chemicals Every Week
Your pool water needs to be tested and the chemicals balanced every week in order to keep your pool properly sanitized. In doing so, you
- Fight off bacteria
- Protect your health
- Reduce chemical costs over time
- Lower your swimming pool bills
If your water chemistry is not properly maintained, it can cause damage to pool surfaces, pool equipment, pool decks, and bathers. We recommend having your pool water tested bi-weekly by a local pool professional like Prestige Pools of NC.
Tip #5: Shock the Pool Regularly
It’s important to shock the pool regularly–but not too much and not too little. Shocking the pool means adding chlorine or non-chlorine chemicals in order to raise the “free chlorine” level to a point where contaminates such as algae, combined chlorine (also known as chloramines), and bacteria are destroyed. If you do it too much you can get a chlorine lock. A chlorine lock is when your chlorine is rendered useless and no matter how much chlorine you add, it won’t work. When you have a chlorine lock your free chlorine levels won’t go up during testing. One of the main causes for this is having too much cyanuric acid or stabilizer in your pool. If you don’t shock enough, the effectiveness of your other pool chemicals will suffer.
So, how often should you shock your pool? On average, you should shock your pool one time each week. This frequency will keep the sanitizer levels stable and, therefore, keep your pool cleaner. Another rule of thumb is to shock the water after a lot of use, pool parties, or storms to prevent algae.
Contact Us for a Free In-Ground Swimming Pool Installation Quote
At Prestige Pools, we specialize in vinyl liner pools, but we know how to keep any kind of pool clean and look like it’s new again! If you are considering having an in-ground pool installed, contact us for a free quote. We service the greater Wake County area in Clayton, Raleigh, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Wendell, Zebulon, Apex, Cary, or surrounding areas. Call us at 919-586-8556 to help you with your pool or fill out our online contact form.