5 Swimming Pool Maintenance Tips That Can Make Life Easier

Having a pool on your property is nothing short of glamorous. Even just the idea of having somewhere to have a dip at leisure sounds luxurious.

Of course, before you contact a construction company in Dubai to make this daydream a reality, you must first understand what having your own swimming pool entails.

Aside from obvious concerns like cost and design, you’ll also need to think about pool maintenance. Like all the other parts of your property, your pool needs to be looked after properly for optimum performance and to make sure you can enjoy it for longer.

If you’re ready to learn, here are five swimming pool maintenance tips you should know to make your life easier:

1. Skim and scrub your pool regularly.

Like your house, a swimming pool requires regular cleaning for easier maintenance.

Skimming any debris and leaves off the water’s surface is the simplest way to do this. Do this every day to make sure that your pool is always ready to use. It can also help extend the life of your pool filter since it won’t have to filter out as many foreign objects every time.

If you have the budget, try buying a robot vacuum to keep the pool bottom clean—or hire someone to do it. Otherwise, you can always set aside some time to do it yourself.

Besides skimming, you should also scrub the sides of the swimming pool every other week. This will help prevent algae build-up that can be a bit slippery, not to mention unsightly, if left as-is.

Pro Tip: If you find any stubborn spots you cannot remove, consider repurposing an old sock. Fill it up with chlorine, then place it on top of the site you want to clean. Leave it for several hours before scrubbing again. Chlorine will help break down the algae, making it easier to remove.

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2. Keep the pool chemistry in check.

Keeping the pool chemistry balanced has become so much easier. Today, with plenty of test kits available, you can tell whether the water in your swimming pool is chemically balanced without having to wait for lab results.

You can do this up to twice every week during summer and once every week or two during the cooler months (if you are still using the pool).

For this maintenance task, there are several things you need to check, including:

a) pH Levels
The ideal pH level for the safe and comfortable use of a swimming pool is 7.4, but anywhere from 7.2 to 7.8 should be okay. Any lower, and you’ll need to reduce the chlorine you add to the pool water. This is because an decrease in pH level causes the chlorine to become more active.

b) Sanitizers
No matter what type you use, a sanitizer’s role is to ensure that the water is clean and safe. This means it will be free of viruses, bacteria, algae and other nasty things that can grow in untreated pool water. There are several sanitizers you can choose from, but the most commonly used one is chlorine.

Chlorine is quite popular among pool owners because of its affordability and efficacy in sanitizing pool water. It works by oxidizing contaminants, destroying them from the inside out. This chemical is also effective in getting rid of bacteria, viruses and—as described earlier—algae. It can even prevent algae growth.

The chlorine level should be kept at three ppm (parts per million) to ensure that your pool is really clean. If you add too much, you’ll need to dilute it with a chlorine neutralizer to bring it back to safe levels.

c) Calcium Hardness
Pool water can be described as either hard or soft. When you hear this from your swimming pool contractor, know that they are referring to the calcium level of the water.

The calcium hardness varies depending on your area and the water source you use to fill your pool. Water taken from a deep well often has higher levels of calcium and other minerals compared to water from a spigot. In other words, well water is hard, while tap water is soft.

One of the most common signs that you have hard water in your pool is cloudiness that doesn’t dissipate even after a pool shock. If uncorrected, this can lead to calcium build-up on the pool surface.

Of course, too-soft water isn’t good either. It can cause corrosion and scale on the walls and equipment attached to the pool.
So what’s ideal? The answer depends on the material your pool is made from. If the pool has a fiberglass or vinyl liner, the calcium hardness level should be anywhere from 175 ppm to 225 ppm. If the liner is made of plaster or concrete, the level should be kept between 200 ppm and 275 ppm.

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3. Maintain the ideal water level.

Keeping the ideal water level—which should be at the center level of your pool tile or pool skimmer—is critical for optimal performance as well.

If it’s too low, you may risk the pump burning up upon running dry. If it’s too high, the skimmer door might not work as it should, leaving debris in the pool and more work for the filter system.

4. Flush out debris from your pool filter periodically.

Your swimming pool filter acts as a sort of “kidney” that removes impurities from the water. This can range from dirt and leaves to small toys and just about anything that shouldn’t be left in a pool.

To keep the filter working properly, it is imperative that you turn off the filter at least once every week. Then remove the filter cap, lift out the filter basket, and get rid of any debris inside.

You’ll also want to clean the pipes of your filter system every month through back-washing. Simply set the filter to “backwash” and take the leaf basket out for cleaning. Turn on the pump and just let the water run through the waste pipe until it begins ejecting clean water.

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5. Bring in Professional Help

While these are all pool maintenance tasks you can do yourself, there remain some that should be left to the professionals.

If you can, hire a swimming pool contractor in Dubai to perform weekly maintenance on your pool. They should do a better job, since they know your pool inside and out.