The Importance of Proper Swimming Pool Maintenance

A swimming pool that is not maintained correctly can gather harmful bacteria over time. Aside from the aesthetics of an improperly maintained swimming pool, the bacteria that can gather may lead to health risks should anyone continue to use the pool. Proper swimming pool care is a vital part of being a swimming pool owner – the last thing you want is for anyone to get sick from your pool. If you’re operating your pool as part of a business, then this can also present legal problems. It may feel like a never-ending task but without proper swimming pool upkeep, any size swimming pool has the potential to cause serious illnesses.

What Is the Purpose of Pool Maintenance?

As an outdoor or indoor swimming pool is used, each person who goes for a swim is bringing bacteria into the pool. Outdoor pools, especially, are breeding grounds for bacteria because all sorts of organisms and wildlife can enter your pool. Imagine the last time a few leaves blew into your pool. Most swimming pool owners would simply pluck those leaves out of their pool and continue on with their day. Depending on the time of year, you might even leave a few leaves to float around in your pool for a while. This might seem harmless, but anything that enters your pool will introduce bacteria to it that could become harmful over time.

The purpose of swimming pool maintenance is to keep your outdoor or indoor swimming pool clean and sanitary. No one should be swimming in a pool that hasn’t been maintained. Above all else, swimming pool upkeep should be your top priority – even though it can feel like a time consuming, thankless task. Ensuring you have the proper pool cleaning equipment can help make your life much easier.

Maintenance keeps the area around your swimming pool clean, ensures that the water balance is correct and that there are no issues with any of your pool’s hardware (such as your pool filter or swimming pool pumps).

Why Is Maintenance Important?

Every time your pool is used, bacteria enter the water. Every day your pool is exposed to the elements is a chance for other organisms, bacteria, and animals to get into your pool. If an animal does manage to get into your pool, that’s even more bacteria in your pool – and maybe some fur, too.

A lot of pet owners happily let their dogs swim in the pool with them, which is fine, but since pets don’t get bathed very often, it can introduce potentially risky bacteria to your pool. Which then means that any fur could end up clogging up your indoor or outdoor pool’s filter, preventing it from removing the bacteria as it should.

A clogged filter is cleaned and repaired during maintenance, along with the pool’s walls and floor. Your pool should look shiny and clean. If the walls look a bit grubby or your filter isn’t working very well, that’s a sign that you should hire someone to maintain your pool as soon as possible. It is recommended that you clean your pool once a week. That may seem like a lot of cleaning, but it’s just the reality of owning a pool.

Remember the Three C’s of Pool Maintenance

When it comes to pool cleaning and maintenance, a good rule of thumb is to follow the three Cs – Cleaning, Circulation and Chemicals.

Regular Cleaning

This C is something that all pool owners are familiar with. Cleaning that should be done daily includes:

• Removing debris from the pool – this can be done with skimmers or a pool vacuum. Common items that should be removed from your pool ASAP include leaves, items dropped by visitors, dirt and insects. Basically, if you wouldn’t want to swim in it, remove it!
• Brush all surfaces of the pool – walls, flooring, tiles and stairs – to prevent any stains and buildup of orgasms or dirt. How often you need to do this depends on how many people use your pool, how regularly it is used and whether it is an indoor or outdoor pool.
• Emptying the pool pumps and filters.

Good Circulation

Circulation prevents your pool water from becoming stagnant, which can allow bacteria to grow unchecked. It also helps keep the pool chemicals evenly distributed in the pool, which is also essential for preventing bacteria growth. Good circulation also ensures that your pool water remains crystal clear and clean – no one wants to swim in cloudy water!

To ensure good circulation, you should keep your pool’s pump and filter running for between eight and 12 hours per day. If your pool is larger or used by a lot of people, you may need to run it even more. You’ll also need to clean out the pump and filter regularly to ensure that they keep working properly.

Balanced Chemicals

Maintaining the proper chemical balance is critical in swimming pool care. The chemicals added to your swimming pool ensure that bacteria, algae and other organic growth can’t happen unchecked. It’s an essential balancing act between ensuring the pH level and chemical levels are suitable to keep swimmers safe. This means that testing the balance of your pool should happen regularly throughout the day – how often will depend on the size of your pool and how often it is used. Make sure to use quality specialist tools like chemical dosing pumps to help you maintain the proper balance. Generally, pools should test and maintain:

• pH levels – should be between 7.2 and 7.6
• Chlorine levels – between 1 to 3 ppm
• Alkalinity – between 80 to 120 ppm

There are other chemical tests you should do, but these can vary depending on what your pool is used for. Testing several times per week is suitable for most pools.

You may also need to shock the pool if there has been a contamination incident, such as a storm or unusually heavy use. Shocking a pool means adding a high dose of chlorine to kill off bacteria – it’s advised to do this weekly regardless of any contamination incidents.

How We Can Help

Talk to our team about our maintenance services here at JC Leisure Solutions. Our experts are ready to take on all of your maintenance needs, no matter how long it’s been since your pool was last cleaned. In an emergency, it’s good to know that we have your back with our reactive maintenance services. Get in touch today to find out how our expert team can help – we can make your pool maintenance simple!