Having a swimming pool as a home feature, but only if the water is clear. Besides there being many health issues that come with having accumulated contaminants in the water which you could be exposing yourself to, having cloudy water simply isn’t aesthetically pleasing either. The good news is, there are 7 effective things you can do to keep your swimming pool clear.
1. Use Robots
The first step to having a clear pool is to make the pool walls and floor spotless. However, as anyone who tried to clean their pool will tell you – doing it by hand is tedious and hard work. Instead, you might want to consider looking into the best pool cleaning robots on the market today to see which one suits your needs. A pool cleaning robot should be able to take care of just about every pool and will even clean the walls and floor for you. Choosing a model that works well on corners and angles is an important feature to consider when choosing a robot.
2. Use Pool Shock
Once you’ve gotten your pool clean and free of any contaminants, the next step toward having a clear pool in addition to using a pool cleaning robot is using a good amount of chlorine, also known as ‘shock’. By doing this you will ensure that the pool has a high enough chlorine content to kill algae and other contaminants since algae are one of the biggest causes of cloudy water. Also, if you have a pool cover on your swimming pool, make sure not to leave it on while shocking the pool as doing this will cause the chlorine to evaporate prematurely. You’ll want to chock the pool every month or two (depending on the filter system you have) with chlorine.
3. Test The Water Regularly
You should test your pool water for chlorine levels weekly or fortnightly, to make sure it’s suitable enough to swim in. If there is no chlorine in the water, it can become a breeding ground for algae and other contaminants. On the other hand, too much chlorine is bad for your skin. For the best results, have a water testing kit so you can always be sure. The amount of chlorine in your pool should ideally be between 1 and 3 ppm. Reaching the right chemical balance will take some time for sure, but not nearly as long as it takes to clean the pool.
4. Keep Out Debris
When cleaning your swimming pool, make sure you remove any floating debris like leaves or insects that might be in there. Regularly skimming the surface will keep your pool free from any organic particles that may have fallen in. If you have a pool cover, make sure to clean off the debris regularly as these too might fall into the water and pollute it. This is something you’ll want to do on a daily basis in order to ensure there’s no breeding ground for algae or bacteria. That said, ideally, you’ll remove any obvious debris as soon as you see it. While that’s not a must, it is the best way to make sure the water is always crystal clear.
5. Hire A Professional
You might want to consider hiring a professional to clean your pool once a year – at the beginning of the swimming season. If you live somewhere where the climate allows you to use your pool throughout the year, consider having a professional drop by every six months or so. It’s much easier to keep your pool sparkling clear once a professional has gone over it and thoroughly cleaned it with his equipment. That way, you really only have to maintain the pool, and not have to worry about heavy-duty cleaning, until the next appointment with the pool cleaning professional – who will more than likely have to drain it completely before starting work.
6. Clean The Pool Filter
It’s important to maintain your pool filter by cleaning it at least once a month. Removing the debris from the filter will make sure that all of the water flowing through it is clean and free from contaminants. At this time you should be able to see what exactly is going on with your pool – whether there are signs of algae or not. If there are, shock your pool and you should be good to go. Filters are pretty easy to clean. All you have to do is remove the cartridge and rinse it. You should be able to find specific instructions on how to clean your particular filter model online or in owner’s manuals.
7. Use Tennis Balls
Tennis balls are a simple way to extract the oils from your pool. Even if you’re freshly showered every time you enter the pool, it will still accumulate oils over time – especially if you let your pets swin in it as well. However, tennis balls can absorb these oils and clean your pool at the same time. Just rub a few tennis balls on the walls of your pool, and in between the tiles if you have them. You can use a couple of them in each cleaning session – one for each half of the pool so you don’t miss any spots.
Having a crystal clear swimming pool is important for numerous reasons. The health benefits alone should convince you to take these 7 simple steps towards clean water, but aesthetically too the difference will be noticeable. With just a few hours of regular maintenance per week, you can have your very own sparkling blue oasis any time of year.
