Having a pool in your own backyard is great. The freedom you have, because you don’t have to pay any extra fees to use public pools, cannot be described. However, everyone who owns a pool will tell you that there are a lot of things that need to be done in order for your swimming pool to be durable and safe for use. The water quality is one of the most important things and you need to maintain it so that you, your family and your friends will be safe every time you go in to swim a few laps or just to relax and have some fun.
If you want to have a swimming pool in your backyard, you should know that there are a lot of responsibilities that come with it. You will need to clean it, maintain the level of water, the quality and you will need to cover it in the winter months. Many people forget about the cleaning part and they end up getting sick.
To make sure you know how to maintain the water quality and to make sure you and your family are safe, we made a guide that will help you do all the things right. Follow this guide and you will realize that it’s not that hard or that time consuming as you thought.
Filters
One of the things you need to take care of is the filters. You need to replace or clean them once every 5 months, but that depends on the weather in your location.
You should know that after every huge storm, you will need to clean them, to make sure that they are working properly. The cleaning process is really easy – you will need to soak them in a 10% solution of muriatic acid. When you are cleaning them, you have to wear eye goggles and gloves, to make sure you are safe. Another thing you need to be careful of is that you will need to add the acid to the water, not the other way around.
When the soaking process is done and when the filters look clean, you need to rinse them and let them dry. Do this once every 4-6 months to make sure that the maximum flow rate is provided and that there won’t be any water waste.
Chlorinator and Chlorine Generator
Some pools have chlorine and some of them use salty water and a no-chlorine pool. Let’s talk about both these cases and what you can do to maintain the proper water quality.
If you use an inline chlorinator then you will need to make sure that it has the proper chlorine tablet levels. The device is used to add chlorine in the water and with that, clean it. If you want to understand what the chlorine does to the water, you can check this. There are different units available on the market and they have different features. Some of them will notify you when they need refilling, but for some, you will need to do the check manually.
When it comes to no-chlorine pools, you will need a chlorine generator. Why do you need to invest in them? Well, because they do all the hard work instead of you. They will produce the chlorine so that you don’t have to buy it or manually add it in the water. It is said that these generators will cost you a bit much the first time you buy them, but they will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. There are different units available on the market, so choose the one that works for you.
Ozonator
Most people who have pools in their homes have ozonation, but they forget to check them. There are different types of this unit, but most of them have light signaling that it is working.
Make sure that the light is on so that they do their job – maintaining the water quality and the chlorine levels. If you are not sure how your device is working or if it is working properly, you can ask the sellers, the store or you can just find the website of the company that’s producing the make and model you’re using and send them an email.
Pool Chemistry
The chemistry of the water is one of the important things you need to check to make sure that it is safe for you to swim in it. The pH should be kept between 7.2 and 7.8. In the summer, you need to do weekly checks, at least once or twice per week. In the winter, you can do that once every other week.
You need to do that so you know that the chlorine is doing its job. If the pH levels are too high or too low, then they are not cleaning the water. Many people make the mistake of adding chlorine every time they check the chemistry and that is a big no-no. To save yourself a lot of time and money, you need to control the pH and with that, save money on chlorine.
As you can see, there are different ways to maintain the water quality in your pool. It’s not hard and it is something that you can do. One thing you need to remember that you need to invest in order to keep your health intact. If you are not sure that you can do these things on your own, or if you don’t have time to do it, you should invest in a professional pool cleaning company.
The most important thing you need to do is to clean your unit, check the chlorine levels and invest in devices that will do all of these things for you. Make sure that every device you have is working properly and clean your pool after every storm. Most of the devices are really durable and will last you for years. However, you need to check and clean them once in a while so that they will do their jobs.
Try and get the water out at least once per year and clean the walls of the pool with the right chemicals. If you are not sure what to use or how to do this, it is better to get a professional service that will do the job right.
