Did you know that it can take you up to $5000 per year to hire professionals for maintaining your pool?? Why waste thousands of dollars when you can handle pool care on your own?

Owning a pool is something you should cherish. Maintaining your pool right will not only save you money but help keep your pool ready to swim.

Many owners aren’t aware of how some simple practices can ensure your pool stay clean and healthy enough for regular dips.

The Ultimate Pool Care Cheat Sheet

Want to keep your pool sparkling clean? This cheat sheet tackles every aspect of pool care so that you know exactly what to do.

Get the Right Equipment

Did you know that the right pool care equipment can drastically reduce the time you need to spend on pool maintenance? Buying the right maintenance equipment is crucial for keeping your pool clean.

Here are a few pieces of equipment that you must buy to ensure that your pool stays clean:

  • Telescoping Pole and Attachments

Telescoping Poles are a necessity when you clean your pool manually. A telescoping pole gives you better cleaning coverage. They act as extensions of your arm and help you reach the far-off ends of your pool. You attach tools like a skimmer net or a scrubbing brush to your pole which helps you clean your pool easily.

  • Robotic Pool Cleaners

Anyone who has used one of these knows exactly how well they work! These miracle workers are great for capturing debris and trash from your pool. Robotic cleaners such as Dolphin Proteus DX3 almost eliminate the need to use a skimming net. Learn why the Dolphin Proteus DX3 outperforms any other robot pool cleaner in its price range by reading pool cleaner reviews and comparing its features to other automatic cleaners.

  • Sanitizers, Shock Treatments, and Balancing Chemicals

These ensure that your water is safe for swimming. Balancing chemicals help maintain the right pH level and sanitizers clean the water. Shock treatments are necessary for disinfecting the water and getting rid of microbes.

  • Pool Vacuums

Very similar to robotic cleaners, vacuums also help clean up your pool. The only difference is that you have to do the hard work yourself. Just like regular vacuums, it sucks up the trash and collects it in the bag.

  • Pool Covers

Pool covers are a necessity when you want to keep out dead leaves and other debris that the wind brings into your pool. Some pool covers are manual and you have to put on the cover by hand. Others are automatically controlled and often built into the pool. These covers can be activated with only a click of a button.

  • Water Testing Kits And Strips

We use plenty of chemicals to clean and disinfect our pool water. This can throw off the pH balance, but how will we even know without testing it? You can frequently use test strips to understand your pool’s pH balance. liquid testing kits can give you a better understanding of the chemical condition of your pool water.

Sanitize the Water

Have you been away for a week and found your pool green and infested with algae and other microbes? The algae itself may not become a problem, but the bacteria that feed on them can cause rash and infection. There are a few steps to sanitizing the water.

  • The first thing to do is use chlorine sanitizer to adjust the free chlorine level of the pool. If your pool has turned green, chances are that your free chlorine level is low.
  • Test your water to see whether the free chlorine level is between 1.0 to 3.0 ppm. Any more or less than that means your pool water is not safe for use.
  • The next step is to use an algaecide. This is especially required for green pools, to kill the algae infestation.
  • Follow this step with a shock treatment. This must be done once a week. Try to do it in the evening as sunlight tends to dissolve the chlorine fast, making it less effective. Doing it in the evening ensures that the shock treatment works overnight and deals with all the harmful microbes.
  • Both sanitizer and shock treatment is made of chlorine but the strength varies. You use the sanitizer every day to ensure that the pool water’s free chlorine level is appropriate. Test your water and make sure that the pH level stays between 7 to 7.6.

Circulate The Water

Your pool water needs good circulation. Algae and other microbes tend to grow in stagnant water. If you don’t want your pool water to go stale, make sure your pool gets good circulation.

Use the pool water jets to keep the water in your pool moving. Angle your jets down and keep them pointing in the same direction, so that the water spins around.

By pointing them down, you ensure that the debris keeps moving and doesn’t get pilled up at the bottom. This also promotes proper chemical distribution throughout the water.

Keep the Systems Clean

The pool filters play a crucial role in keeping your pool water clean. To ensure that your pool water stays safe for you, you must keep the filtration system clean. This means that you should not only empty the filter baskets but should also clean the lint collector inside your pump.

Balance the Chemicals

We have to use multiple cleaning agents and chemicals to sanitize the pool water. The use of heavy cleaning agents can throw off the chemical balance of your pool water.

This not only damages our skin but the long time of exposure to chemically imbalanced water can damage the pool’s structure and finishing. Use testing strips or liquids to figure out the pH level of your pool, then adjust your water accordingly.

Skim the Water

The wind is bound to bring debris and trash into the pool. Skimming should be done once every day so that you can swim without ending up with dead leaves stuck to your hair.

You use a pool skimming net to do this or use a vacuum to suck out all the trash. However, the best and easiest way to skim your pool water is to use a pool robot.

All you have to do is power up the robot and set them in the water, and it will automatically pick up all the trash. It catches both the floaters and the trash collected at the bottom. If you don’t want your pool to collect trash overnight, use a pool cover.

Give the Pool Walls a Scrub

Growth and dirt tend to build on the walls, floors, and accessories of the pool. Give these a good scrub twice a week using a brush. Cover all the corners, crevasses, and other dead spots, while scrubbing.

Make brushing a habit, especially before using algaecide and shock treatment. Use your brush to push the algae into the water, so that the algaecide can kill them off.

Maintain the Right Water Level

Did you know that there is a specific water level for every pool? The water level should reach halfway to the skimmer plate. Any more or less than that can cause severe pool maintenance issues.

What Happens if the Water Level Is Higher?

People often tend to overflow their swimming pool with water. What this does is reduces the efficiency of the filter. If the water level is way above the skimmer, the floating debris won’t get sucked into the filtration system and remain in the pool.

The debris will stay in the water and decompose there. This will make your pool water unsafe for use, pushing you to use high levels of sanitizer to clean your water, throwing off your chemical balance.

What Happens if the Water Level Is Less?

If the level is below the skimmer plate, water won’t even reach it to make the filtration system work properly. The skimmer is designed to filter water, not air. If it sucks in too much air, this will heat the pump and might even cause it to break.

Some Unorthodox Hacks

Now that you know all the common and necessary maintenance tips, how about some unorthodox ones? These hacks may shock you, but they are effective. Try out the following unusual methods to maintain your pool.

  • The Tennis Ball Hack

Did you know that you can use a tennis ball to suck up all the oil from the swimming pool? Throw some clean tennis balls into your pool and they will act like a sponge, by sucking up the grime. Try adding them to your filtration basket, so that they stay out of sight.

  • Plant Insecticides

Ever heard of planting something to keep the bugs away? Plants generally attract bugs, instead of keeping them away, but there are some exceptions. Insect-proof your swimming pool by planting lemongrass, citronella grass, or lavender. These plants repel insects and keep your swimming pool bug-free.

  • Boost Your Filters

Is the debris slipping out through the gaps of your skimmer basket? Cover the basket with old pantyhose. This will ensure that nothing slips through the filtration system.

  • Natural Pool

Owning a backyard swimming pool is great, but imagine having a completely natural one. The installation cost might be higher than that of a regular pool, but you will save money on chemicals. The ecosystem of a natural pool acts as a filter and ensures that your pool water stays pure and safe for use.

Get Professional Help

If the steps on this cheat sheet feel too difficult and time-consuming, consider getting professional help. Professional pool cleaning can take roughly 80 to 150 dollars per month. They can ensure that your pool is always clean, safe, and chemically balanced.

Conclusion

Keep your swimming pool super clean with these effective maintenance tips. Continually maintain your pool so that you have to spend less money on it.

Make sure that the collection baskets are clean and the water level stays accurate so that your filtration system can work efficiently. Maintaining the right chemical balance will ensure that your pool is always safe for use.