10 Tips for Proper Pool Maintenance

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Proper swimming pool maintenance is important, as it helps your swimming pool have a longer lifespan and ensures that the water is clean and safe to swim all the time. Here are 10 tips that'll help you keep your pool swim ready!

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1. Skim the surface of the pool if there is floating debris and empty the skimmer basket. Be sure to dispose of this waste away from the pool so that it doesn't blow back into the water or be tracked back into the area.

 

2. Direct return jet eyeballs downward to quiet surface ripples. This will allow you to see the pool bottom clearly.

 

3. Begin cleaning by brushing any buildup off the pool walls with a nylon brush on the vacuum pole. 

 

4. After brushing, remove the brush attachment and connect the vacuum head and vacuum hose to the pole. Then, prop up the pole with the vacuum head suspended over the water. Use one of the return jets to fill the free hose end until the water pours out of the vacuum.

 

5. When full, submerge the vacuum head and clamp your hand over the hose until you connect the hose to the skimmer.

 

6. The average pool requires 30 minutes of vacuuming. Vacuum slowly across the water in overlapping parallel lines, like mowing a lawn or vacuuming your carpet.

 

7. If the pool is too wide for one pass across, vacuum one half at a time.

 

8. Watch out for a floating hose, which indicates a hole in the line, or diminished suction due to a full filter.

 

9. Test and correct pool chemistry weekly. Adjust pH first—with muriatic acid if pH is above 7.6 or with a soda ash product if pH is under 7.4.

 

10. If the chlorine is below 1 part per million (ppm) "shock" the water. To shock the water, dissolve chlorine in a bucket of water and pour it into the pool.