1: Skim Debris and Clean out Baskets

Skimming the pool’s surface every few days is one of the fastest and easiest ways to keep your pool clean. Floating debris will sink and become more difficult to remove. A long-handled net called a hand skimmer or leaf skimmer is easy to use to remove leaves, bugs and other unwanted items. Skimming increases the efficiency of the pool’s circulation system and lowers the amount of chlorine you’ll need to add to your pool. You need to clean strainer baskets at least once a week as well.

2: Vacuum the Pool and Brush The Walls

A pool should be vacuumed every week to keep water clear and reduce the amount of chemicals you need. Check the filter each time, also.

Along with vacuuming brushing the walls and tile helps should also be done. This will minimize algae buildup and calcium deposits so they don’t become larger problems.

3: Clean the Pool Filter

There are different kinds of pool filters, all require periodic cleaning depending on the type of filter and how often a pool is used. Cleaning the filter more often than recommended can actually hinder the filtration process. A clean filter is less efficient than one with a mild amount of dirt in it because the dirt helps trap other particles, which removes debris from the water. But don’t let the filter get too dirty. One sign that it’s time to clean is an increase in flow between the pressure gauge and flow meter. Clean the filter when the difference reaches 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kilograms) per square inch.

4: Professionally Service the Heater

Pool heaters typically don’t require a lot of maintenance. Gas heaters lasting a couple years, and electric ones even longer. Sometimes, there is calcium build up inside the tubes of a heater which restrict flow, prevent the water from heating adequately. If this happens, give us a call because the heater may need to be disassembled and have its tubes cleaned out with a wire brush or acid.

5: Check and Maintain Water Level

Don’t let the water level fall below the level of the skimmer, this could cause damage to the pump. Water will be lost throughout the swimming season because of evaporation, swimming, splashing and exiting the pool. Check your level weekly. If the water is low, use a garden hose to bring it up to safe levels.

If you drain your pool to perform maintenance or once the swimming season has passed, do not let the pool sit empty very long. typically, it’s best to leave water in a pool throughout the winter because the weight of the water counteracts with forces from the ground pressing up against the pool from below.

6: Maintain the pH Level

Pool water should be tested regularly to make sure it’s clean and safe. The pH scale is a measurement of acidity or alkalinity that runs from 0 to 14. A reading between 7.2 and 7.8 is ideal; this range is safe for swimmers and helps sanitizers work at top efficiency.

You can monitor your pool’s pH level with a testing kit. There are many kinds of testing kits available; however, most homeowner prefer to let a pool service company handle those needs. This will be done weekly by Aquablue.

7: Supercholorinate Water

Massive amounts of organic contaminants like ammonia or nitrogen can interact with a pool’s chlorine to form chloramines, which give off that potent chlorine smell that many people associate with pools. To get rid of this odor, it’s necessary to superchlorinate — or shock — pool water back to normal chlorine levels. Some pools should be shocked once a week, while others can go a significantly longer time.

8: Find and Repair Leaks

If your water level seems constantly low. You may determine if you have a leak by conducting a simple bucket test. Fill a plastic bucket three-quarters full of water. On the inside of the bucket, mark the water line. Place the bucket in the pool, then mark the water line on the outside of the container. Let it float for two or three days. If the water inside and outside the bucket has gone down the same amount, your pool is losing water due to evaporation. However, if the pool water level has gone down more than the water inside the bucket, your pool has a leak. That’s your cue to call a professional to have it patched.

9: Winterize Your Pool

If your location experiences temperatures that drop below freezing, you’ll need to take steps to ensure that your pool stays healthy. Residual pool water left in pipes can freeze and cause damage. To prevent this from happening, use an air compressor to blow water out of the pool’s plumbing when swimming season is over. Also, drain as much water as possible from the filter and heater. Disconnect the heater, pump and chemical feeders, the latter of which should be cleaned and stored.

Finally, clean the pool: skim, brush walls, vacuum, empty skimmer baskets, close skimmer line valve, lower water level to approximately 18 inches (45 centimeters) below the coping and supercholorinate. Lastly, cover the pool to keep out debris.

10: Open Your Pool for Swimming Season

If a pool is properly winterized, it can easily be reopened come swimming season. Most importantly, don’t remove the pool cover until you’ve cleaned the area around the pool. Sweep or hose away debris to prevent it from getting into the pool. Next, use a garden hose to fill the pool to its normal water level. Reconnect everything that was disconnected. Water will need to flow through the circulation system, so open the skimmer line valve. Test the water for its pH level, then shock the pool. It’ll take a week or more before the pool gets balanced and becomes swimmable. Leave the pump running 24 hours a day, and reduce the run by only an hour or two each day until the water is balanced.

With several different swimming pool designs and equipment out there, thinking in terms of safety can be very confusing. From different swimming pool liners to buying different toys, you surely have a lot to choose from. You can always ask questions at a local supply shop to find out more, as the experts there can surely help you. There are a lot of needs with swimming pools, especially when you get everything you need.

The first thing to do when inspecting your swimming pool is to figure out your average depth. Your average depth will help you determine your swimming pool capacity. You can figure out your average depth by adding the deep end to the shallow end, then dividing by 2. The average depth tells you a lot about your swimming pool, including the design and capacity. Once you know your average depth, you can pretty much buy any accessory you need without any problems.

Your design of swimming pool will help you in choosing the best cover for your swimming pool. There are a few covers to choose from, most of which vary from season to season. You can use different covers for summer, spring, and winter, each one offering you something different in terms of protection. Nearly all supply shops have a lot of covers to choose from, and as long as you know your design – you can further inspect your pool and select the right cover.

Once you know your average depth and capacity for your swimming pool, you can move on to other inspections. The liner is next, as it protects the quality of your water. A liner will maintain the pH level of your water, and help prevent algae from forming and growing. When you inspect your pool to select a liner, you should think in terms of material. Most are plastic or vinyl, and can provide you plenty of attraction along with great protection as well.

With your swimming pool, you’ll also need to think and inspect your swimming pool in terms of safety. If you have a below ground swimming pool, you should always remember that it can attract a lot of visitors. Due to this fact, you should always have someone watching the pool, or an adult around at all times who can swim. Or, you can simply use a locking gate that surrounds your pool to keep people out of it when you aren’t around.

Another area of swimming pools that most people find enjoyable are the toys and accessories. The more must have accessories and toys are goggles, as they will help little children protect their eyes from the chlorine. You can also find several different types of floats as well, as they are fun to lay on and also help kids stay afloat. Swimming belts and water wings are great as well. If you have thought about adding toys to your pool, you should always look around and shop for the best prices.

Inspecting your swimming pool can be fun, although it is something that you simply must do. You can inspect in terms of maintenance as well, although you’ll need to inspect your pool before you buy any type of equipment or other things for you pool. When you visit your local pool supply store you’ll need to know different thingsFind Article, which is the reason for inspecting. Inspecting your swimming pool doesn’t take a lot of time – yet it is something that you simply must do if you want to get the best out of your swimming pool.

Article Tags: Swimming Pool, Average Depth, Swimming Pool,, Should Always

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AquaBlue provides repair and servicing of swimming pools in Jackson and the surrounding areas. Pool Leak Detection works by first detecting whether there is a leakage in the pool or not. Sometimes, the loss of water from pool may be because of high temperature and evaporation. To make sure that this is not the case and that there is a leakage, the water level in the pool is marked. A large bucket having water of about ten gallons is taken and the water level in the bucket is marked, too. The bucket is kept in the same environment as the pool.

The pumps etc of the pool are switched off. At the end of a few days, the fall in the water level of the pool and the bucket is compared. If the fall in water level in the two is comparable, the pool is leakage free; otherwise there are definitely one or more leaks in the pool. The temperature of air, wind temperature of water and humidity are the factors that cause evaporation of one eight of an inch of water from the pool everyday. Possible causes of leakage can be faltering of one or more pipes of the pump system.

Pool Leak Detection provides cost effective, quick, durable and reliable service for swimming pools at your home or business. This will help avoid further loss of money due to deteriorating of pipes leading to enlargement of leaks. The equipment used for detecting the points of leak are scientifically most advanced and tested for their results. The detection and repair is done by expert professionals who have tackled thousands of leaks in the past years. The best service for customer satisfaction is the prime focus and always kept in mind while we provide all of our services.

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You are assuming the task and risk of keeping your pool clean and safe just by owning a swimming pool.   If you follow the advice of a professional and perform regular maintenance on your pool, you’ll keep it healthy year round.

Checking the chemical balance regularly, will help make sure the water is safe for swimming.  Keeping debris out of your pool will also help keep the water healthy.  Invest in a good filter so the chemicals will keep moving about and keep the water safe for swimming.

The weather will greatly contribute to the condition of your pool water.  The sun can reak havoc and turn your water  a green, musty color.  So you’ll need to make sure that you keep your chemicals properly balanced at all times.

Isn’t it funny how your pool naturally attracts leaves, insects, grass cuttings, hair, and other forms of debris.  Hate to say it, but this can’t be prevented, no matter how hard you try.  However, if you get these foreign bodies out as quickly as possible using a skimmer, you can prevent as much of the pollutants as possible, from getting in the water and leading to bacteria and algae, which will quickly destroy your water chemistry.
If you don’t have the time to clean your pool yourself, you can always give us a call.  Then you can rest assured that your pool will stay clean year round.

Once fall ends and winter begins to rear it’s ugly head, it will be time to shut your pool down.  When shutting your pool down, the first step will be the water.  You should begin by checking your pH level, and making sure that it is around 7.5.  If it isn’t, simply add some dry acid.  You should also check your chlorine as well, and use a winterizing product to make sure that your pool will be protected from algae during the few months that you won’t be swimming.

During the winter months, you should run your pump for around 6 hours a day, to ensure that the algae doesn’t settle in.  You should also go ahead and check for any types of leaks as well, then switch your skimmer valve off and let the water drain to around 6 inches below the skimmer’s bottom.  This way, you’ll have the preferred amount of water in your pool.

If you are using a summer cover, take it down and give it a good cleaning using fresh water and a pressure washerif you have access to one.  Once you have cleaned the cover really good, go ahead and put it in your building or garage and break out your winter cover.  When you put your winter cover on the pool, make sure that you have plenty of tension on the cover, to prevent anything from getting under it.

Although you may have put the cover on tight, you should still check it every couple of days to make sure that it is still tight.  Remind your familyand friends that you have closed your pool down for the winter, and that they shouldn’t be around it.  Pool Coversare designed to protect your pool and the water – they aren’t made for safety.  Never, under any circumstances should you let a pet or a person on the cover.

Once you have finished with the cover, it is time for the equipment.  You’ll need to drain the water from your pump, heater, and your filter.  Each one should have a drain plug located somewhere near the bottom, which makes it easy to drain the water out.  You should never forget to do this, as the water can freeze inside of your equipment during the cold months of winter and result in permanent damage of your equipment.

Once you have finished getting your swimming pool ready for winter, you can relax knowing that your pool is protected.  Keeping a check on it every few days will ensure that nothing has happened.  Once summer starts to arrive again, you can get your pool ready for summer and prepare to open it up again.  If you’ve done things right – your pool will be ready to go in no time at all.

 Nicholas Tan