Pool Maintenance Mistakes

Want to extend the life of your swimming pool? Want to increase the enjoyment of the pool at the same time? Here are some very common mistakes that pool owners often make when it comes to maintaining their pools.

Perhaps the number one mistake that pool owners make is they do not check the chemistry of the water often enough. This should be done twice a week during the hot summer months and once a week during the cooler months. Hot sun will effect your chemical levels and the only way to know what those levels are is to do a chemical test.

Sometimes pool owners will allow the pH of the water to get higher than 8.0. Keep in mind that once chlorine hits 8.5 it is only 10 percent active. On the other hand, at 7.0 it is about 74 percent active. If you make it a habit to keep the pH around 7.5 your chlorine will be 50-60 percent active which means it is working for you at a very good rate. This can also save you money on chemicals as you will need to use less.

Another mistake happens when pool owners do keep the alkalinity between 80-140 PPM (parts per million). Levels that are lower or higher can affect the water balance and will result in lowering the sanitizer’s ability to perform properly.

You should always keep an eye on the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) levels. This is also a part of the calcium hardness level. Check the TDS in the pool every 6 months and check the calcium hardness every month.

If you have a salt water pool make sure you check and clean the cells in the chlorine generators. You want to do this because corroded or calcified cells will result in very little chlorine being produced.

Also, if you backwash your sand filters too often you are probably wasting money. Most filters require backwashing when the pressure gauge hits between 8-10 PSI.

Make sure you clean your skimmer baskets often. When these get full, poor water circulation will follow. This can create problems in virtually all pools. Keep the baskets clean.

If you add chemicals during the hottest part of the day you are not getting the full potential of the chemicals. Try adding your chemicals during the night or when the sun is down. This will dramatically increase the chemical effect and save you money.

You also want to make sure that you allow your pumps to run for as long as they need to in order to do their work. A good rule of thumb is to run the pumps for one hour for every ten degrees of temperature. This will greatly enhance the circulation of the pool and help with delivering chemicals to all areas of the pool.

By paying attention to these areas, you can extend the life of your pool and prevent many of the most common problems that pool owners face.