Pool Care and Maintenance
Cleaning your pool is a must to ensure comfort for you and your guests and to protect your equipment. To clean your pool you need to have the right tools and more frequent cleaning will be needed if the pool is surrounded by trees or bushes that keep filling it with leaves.
If you would like me to take the headache of cleaning and balancing the water
please contact me and I will arrange a visit.
I have placed some info below for general reading.
"Nice clean pools don't just happen on there own ask any owner,
It take a lot of time and effort to keep them sparkling"
Pool Water
There are many contaminants that can pollute your swimming pool. Some can cause illness or skin irritations, others can cause discoloration of the water or unwanted odours but are not harmful to health, below is a brief overview but by no mean the full list.
- Microorganisms - There are many different types of microorganisms that can be pathogenic to humans or result in discoloration of the water and produce unwanted odours. Microorganisms include bacteria, viruses, algae, parasites and many more. They often enter the water from people using the pool as they are present on the skin, in hair, sweat and saliva. Contamination of microorganisms is most likely to be a problem in shallow, circulation pools. Algae contamination is often a problem in swimming pools and can cause many problems if the water is not filtered and cleaned correctly.
- Dissolved pollutants - There are many substances produced by the swimmer, sweat for example contains salt, amino acids and urea. When these substances react with the disinfectants in the water it can produce unwanted by-products. These often cause discoloration of pool water or give unwanted odours, they are not usually harmful to human health.
Why has my pool turned green?
Your pool will only turn green for one reason - lack of chlorine. What
you really need to be asking is why is there no chlorine in your pool?
The answer could be one or more of the following;
- Low salt level
- Faulty or dirty chlorinator
- Low stabilizer level,
- Insufficient running hours on the timer
- Reduced water flow due to dirty filter or baskets
- If you have a chlorine pool then the reason could simply be that you are not adding enough chlorine each day.
How long should my pump run for?
Your pump and filter system has been matched to the size of your pool so
that the total water volume is recirculated roughly twice a day. In most
cases this means running the pump for about 6 hours during the winter
and about 8 hours during the summer.
What is the best time to run my pump?
In a saltwater pool the chlorine is manufactured by the chlorinator as
the pump is running, providing a "trickle feed" into your pool. Since
chlorine is affected by UV light it can disappear as quickly as it is
made if the pump is running during the day. For this reason it is
generally recommended that the pump is set to run in the early mornings
and late afternoons when the sunlight is not as strong. I usually set
the timer to 3-4 hours from 6am and another 3-4 hours from 4pm.
Is my pool leaking?
Evaporation rates can be quite high, especially during the summer
season when they can reach up to 1cm + per day.
As the summer gets into full swing people are often alarmed
at how quickly the water level drops, in most cases it is just
evaporation. A simple test can answer the question for you:- fill the
pool to the correct level and then make a mark with a pencil inside your
skimmer box at the water line. Check this mark each day over the next
few days and measure the drop in water level. If it is more than the
current evaporation rate then there may be a leak,
if you have a friend in the area with a pool maybe you can check both
pools at the same time and compare reading, They should be the same.
Is there too much chlorine in the pool?
If there is a strong smell of chlorine around your pool then there is
probably not enough chlorine in there. Insufficient chlorine
levels result in compounds called chloramines being formed which is what
you can smell. The way to get rid of them is to super chlorinate or
"Overdose" the pool with chlorine. But before you do check instruction
for the correct dosage for your pool.
What is causing my kids eyes to sting?
The most likely cause of this is an incorrectly adjusted pH level.
Whilst a very high chlorine level could be at fault it is very unlikely
that the chlorine could climb high enough to be a problem. Take a water
sample to a pool shop for analysis, to do a full checkup and balance of
your pool. Remember too that opening your eyes under water for any length
of time, no matter how good the water, is going to irritate the eyes.
The pump is making a noise.
This could be a number of things. What sort of noise is it? If it is a
gurgling kind of sound then the water in the pool is most likely too low
and you will need to fill it up. If however the sound is a loud whining
or screeching then most likely the pump will need to have the bearings
and/or seal replaced, or full pump replacement depending on make and
model.
Tip: Cleaning Plastic Furniture
If you have any plastic outdoor furniture, Firstly hose off any loose dirt
And then gently lower it into the pool (Be very careful if you have a liner type pool)
then leave it in the pool overnight.
And in the morning it's nice and white again!
this is an easy and good way to clean the plastic, Brilliant !!