Pool Cleaning Basics: The Essential Guide to Pool Care
If you want a swimming pool that is clean and well maintained, consistent pool maintenance is key. But in order to properly maintain your pool, you’ll first need to create a pool cleaning schedule. This may seem daunting, especially for new pool owners, but in reality, it’s quite simple and the best place to start is by learning the Three C’s of Pool Care.
What are the Three C’s of Pool Care?
The Three C’s of Proper Pool Maintenance are the foundation that effective pool care is built on. These three simple but important concepts are Circulation, Cleaning, and Chemistry.
Circulation
Proper pool maintenance all starts with circulation. This is your pools ability to move water from the pump, into the filtration system and back. Pools that are unable to circulate water are far harder to keep clean because stagnant water is a breeding ground for algae and other water-borne organisms.
Your pool’s circulatory system is made up of four primary parts: the weir, the pump, the filter and the pool jets. Each of these parts plays an important role in the overall quality of the pool water. If just one or more of these parts were unable to function, the water quality would suffer greatly.
How your Pool’s Circulatory System Works
The pump sucks water from the pool through the weir which captures large debris such as leaves and twigs, the water then travels through the pump into the filter. The filter removes dirt and other impurities from the water before the water is pushed back into the pool through the pool jets.
Run the Pool Pump
Duration: 8-10 hours per day
The longer water is pumped through your filtration system, the cleaner it is but running your pump 24/7 isn’t realistic. We find that the ideal time to run time for your pump is between 8 to 10 hours per day during the summer months and between 6 to 8 hours per day in the winter months.
Backwash or Clean the Filter if Necessary
Frequency: Either when the pressure gauge on the filter is 8 - 10 psi above normal operating pressure or once every 2 weeks if your filter isn’t fitted with one.
If your pool filter is fitted with a pressure gauge, take a reading when the filter is clean (this will usually be between 10 - 15 psi), when the gauge reads 10 psi or more above this reading, it’s time to backwash your filter.
Backwash or Clean the Filter if Necessary
Frequency: Either when the pressure gauge on the filter is 8 - 10 psi above normal operating pressure or once every 2 weeks if your filter isn’t fitted with one.
If your pool filter is fitted with a pressure gauge, take a reading when the filter is clean (this will usually be between 10 - 15 psi), when the gauge reads 10 psi or more above this reading, it’s time to backwash your filter.
Angle the Jets
Frequency: Every 2 weeks or when necessary
Make sure that your pool jets are always pointing away from your weir, this ensures that the water cycles around the entire pool. This makes it easier for the weir to get rid of any debris floating in the pool. It also helps to angle the jets slightly downward so that the bottom of the pool gets circulation as well.
Cleaning
The next step in proper pool maintenance is cleaning. This is comprised of: scrubbing the pool surfaces, skimming debris from the top of the water, and vacuuming the pool floor. Manual cleaning is a normal part of pool ownership, owning an automatic pool cleaner does however make this easier.
Scrubbing
Frequency: Every 2-3 days
Scrubbing the surfaces of the pool with a pool brush pool prevents algae growth, staining, and scaling, especially in areas such as around steps, ladders, and below the weir. This will need to be done regardless if you have an automatic pool cleaner or not.
Skim
Frequency: Every 2-3 days
Skimming the surface of the water with a net or leaf rake removes large debris. If not done, this debris can fall to the bottom of your pool where it can leave stains.
Vacuum
Frequency: Every 2-3 days, unless you make use of an automatic pool cleaner.
Vacuuming the bottom of your pool is an essential part of removing debris that can reduce circulation and damage your pool. You can do this with a pool vacuum attached to your weir.
If you have an automatic pool cleaner you may only need to vacuum your pool once a week to remove any debris the automatic cleaner has missed.
Chemistry
Properly balanced pool chemistry plays an important role in keeping your water clean. When your water is out of balance, you’re far more likely to struggle with problems such as cloudy water, algae blooms, or harmful bacteria. That’s why frequent testing and balancing of your water is such an essential part of pool maintenance.
Test Your Water & Balance Chemicals
Frequency: Test 1-2 times per week
The best way to ensure that your pools chemical levels are in perfect balance is to test it.
There are a number of ways you can do this, but no matter which method you use, these are the essential chemicals that you should be monitoring:
pH Level:
Ideally, you want your pool water to have a pH of around 7.5. This is important because pH levels that are too high or too low can lead to a variety of pool maintenance issues, from equipment corrosion to increased green algae growth.
Calcium Hardness:
The correct range is between 200 – 400 ppm in a pool. When pool calcium hardness levels are too low, you run the risk of damage to your pool’s plaster finish. But if too high, your pool will develop hard to remove limescale.
Alkalinity:
You want your total alkalinity to be between 120 to 150 ppm. If below this range, your pool’s pH can be affected, and your pool’s surfaces are more prone to stains. If it’s on the higher side, your water can become cloudy.
Chlorine:
A range of 1 – 3 ppm, is adequate enough to keep your pool water sanitized from harmful bacteria and algae growth.
Shocking the Pool
Frequency: Shock every 1-2 weeks in Summer, and only as needed in Winter.
In addition to keeping your pool chemistry balanced, it’s also a good idea to shock your pool once every week or two. “Shocking” refers to adding a large dose of chlorine to your pool in order to kill off any bacteria, contaminants, and organic matter.
It’s a good idea to shock your pool:
After long periods of heavy use.
After rainstorms.
After a spill or contamination such as washout from the garden.
After an algae breakout.
Create a Maintenance Schedule
As you learn more about your pool and how to correctly care for it, your to-do list might start to seem intimidating but creating and following a pool maintenance schedule is easy.
Not only will you be able to stay on top of basic upkeep, but you’ll be able to plan ahead for more advanced pool maintenance tasks like closing your pool for winter or getting it ready for summer.
Here is a Basic Pool Maintenance Guide you can use to properly maintain your pool. This guide sums up all of the points we’ve covered.
Daily:
Run your pool pump for 8-10 hours.
Bi-Weekly:
Clean the weir basket
Scrub the surfaces of the pool.Skim the surface.
Vacuum the pool floor or use an automatic pool cleaner.
Test the pool chemical levels and correct them where necessary.
Bi-Monthly:
Backwash or clean filter if pressure is above 10-15 psi, if your filter is not fitted with a pressure gauge, do this every 2 weeks.
Make sure the pool jets are facing away from the weir and circulating the water around the pool.
Add a shock treatment to the pool. Depending on the size of your pool, you may need to add 2 shock treatments. If your pool is showing the first sign of algae bloom double shock as well.
*NB - A shock treatment is a concentrated dose of chlorine that is quickly burned up. Shock treatments are not to be used as a replacement for granular chlorine. Always make sure to test your water before adding a treatment.
If you follow these basic steps, you will be on your way to maintaining a crystal-clear pool and avoiding problematic algae growth. The key is establishing a routine and taking early action if you notice discoloration, cloudy water, scaling, or other signs of trouble. And if you ever find the responsibilities overwhelming, contact a professional pool service like Clean My Pool to take care of your pool for you.
We hope this guide has made your life just a little easier.
If you have any questions, let us know!