You’re not like most pool owners.
Unlike some of your neighbors who rely on pool cleaners, you want to do your own pool maintenance. You want to learn how to get rid of algae, adjust your pool’s pH level, and basically do everything that professional pool cleaners do. If you absolutely don’t like calling someone to clean your pool for you, there are a few things you need to know about keeping pool water safe and clean.
If you absolutely don’t like calling someone to clean your pool for you, there are a few things you need to know about keeping pool water safe and clean.
Maintaining pool water is all about sanitation and water balance. Let’s start with the latter.
Experts agree that pool water needs to be balanced. This means that your pool’s pH level should be between 7.4 and 7.6. Maintaining the right pH is easy but since water balance is quite sensitive, its pH can change fast. If it rains, the water’s pH will change. If you start swimming in your pool, the water’s pH level will change as well. Just about anything that touches pool water can affect its balance.
To ensure that you are always ready for your pool’s pH requirements, you’d need a pH increaser and a pH decreaser on hand.
You would also need to monitor the pool’s alkalinity level to keep the pH level from going up and down drastically. Maintain your pool’s alkalinity level at 100 to 150 parts per million. To do this, you would need a good alkalinity increaser.
You’d also have to be armed with test strips and would need a bit of patience too because maintaining pool water means knowing which chemical to add and how much of it should be added.
For sanitation, you can use chlorine, bromine, biguanide, or minerals. Chlorine is often the choice of many pool owners because it is quite effective in killing algae and bacteria. It is also cheap. Your chlorine level should be at 3 parts per million.
Now that you know the basics, you can finally take care of your pool.