An in-ground swimming pool is a fantastic and worthwhile feature of your home. Aside from being a place for you and your family to relax and have fun, a swimming pool can increase your home’s sale value. Under the best circumstances, a swimming pool can add an average of seven (7) percent value to your residential property.
However, regular maintenance is vital if you want to reap the most benefits from this crucial investment in your property. Whether you have had a swimming pool for several years, are considering buying a home with one, or are preparing to add one to your residential property, you should beware that regular maintenance is necessary to keep the pool in the best condition for the longest time possible.
The information below covers everything you need to know about swimming pool maintenance, from routine water testing and cleaning to maintenance costs and the overall maintenance plan.
Components of a Swimming Pool
Before we discuss what swimming pool servicing and maintenance entails, you need to understand a pool’s primary components, which include the following:
The Filter System
One of the most essential features of a swimming pool is the filtration system. As the name suggests, a swimming pool filter system aids in the removal of bacteria, debris, and other contaminants inside your pool. Your water pump ensures the water is circulating as the filter system removes particles and contaminants present within it, leaving the water safe and crystal clear for swimming.
Returns and Skimmers
The skimmers are the tiny perforations along the wall of your swimming pool that help pull the water toward the filters. On the other hand, the returns help push the filtered and clean water back into your swimming pool, leaving you with fresh and clean water to enjoy all summer. Both of these components require frequent maintenance to maintain top efficiency levels.
Pool Walls
Maintaining the walls of your pool is a critical maintenance duty you should prepare for if you decide to invest in this feature in your home. Without proper and frequent maintenance and the right chemical balance, bacteria and algae can stick to the surface of your pool, making it dangerous and unfit for swimming.
The Water
Ensuring the pH levels of your pool are well balanced is vital if you want the swimming pool to stay clean and safe to swim in. The pH level helps show how base or alkaline your swimming pool water is. If your pH level is imbalanced, you could experience skin or eye irritation when swimming.
Pool Maintenance and Servicing Tips
Adding a swimming pool to your property or buying a home with a pool is a wise idea, but this feature requires maintenance to stay functional and healthy to swim in. Below are crucial tips that can help maintain and keep your swimming pool safe to enjoy all year round, particularly in summer:
Maintain a Pool Servicing and Maintenance Schedule
Since it is a regular obligation you cannot neglect, it helps to have a schedule for serving and maintaining your swimming pool. Depending on where your swimming pool is located and how often you use it, daily, weekly, or monthly cleaning and maintenance work could be required. The degree of the required cleaning could vary and could be as simple as removing leaves that fall on the swimming pool daily.
Whether you enter your tasks on your phone or list them on a calendar, preparing a pool maintenance and servicing schedule is a brilliant move.
Ask One of Your Friends to Help Maintain Your Pool When You Go on a Vacation
If you love to go out of state or country often to run errands or enjoy a vacation, you must consider your home’s swimming pool. In this situation, the best step is to find a trustworthy friend or family member who can help you maintain and service your pool while on vacation.
Purchase or Set Your Pool Pump Timer
If your swimming pool does not have a preinstalled pump timer, you should budget for one. Once you purchase it, you should set it to run your swimming pool at least every eight to twelve hours to ensure the pool water remains crystal clear all year round.
Buying a pool pump with a timer also lessens your work because you do not have to set an alarm to turn on your pump daily.
Maintain Your Swimming Pool Water Level
Many swimming pool owners overlook the importance of keeping their pool water at a certain level. Your swimming pool water level can increase due to heavy rain or reduce on sunny days due to evaporation or frequent pool use. Ensuring your swimming pool water is at the recommended level helps the filter system work properly.
Therefore, it is wise to check your swimming pool water level often. The ideal water level for a swimming pool is approximately halfway up the skimmer’s opening. If your swimming pool water level is below the recommended level, add more using a hose until the ideal level is reached.
While adding more water to the pool is as easy as dropping a hosepipe on it and monitoring the water levels, removing excess water can be complicated because a submersible pump may be required. That is where the services of swimming pool maintenance experts become critical.
A trustworthy swimming pool maintenance expert can help you extract excess water from the pool while you focus on your daily chores and errands.
Ensure Your Pool Water Filter System is Well-Maintained
A water filtration system is crucial to your swimming pool because it helps remove debris, dirt, and other contaminants. As a swimming pool owner, you cannot overlook the obligation of maintaining it well throughout the year.
How you will clean your swimming pool water filtration system will depend on the filter type you have in place. Below are different water filter types and how to clean them for optimal performance and efficiency:
- Glass or Sand Filters
Cleaning a glass or sand water filter requires reversing or backwashing the water flow. Regular check-ups and maintenance of the water filters can help maintain your swimming pool’s optimal safety and health. Generally speaking, most water filter companies will recommend cleaning them at least once every week.
- Cartridge Filter
If your swimming pool has a cartridge filter, you should clean it at least once every month. Remove it and the hose pipe from the dirt to clean and wash a cartridge filter. Then, soak them for at least twelve hours to remove grease and oil. Finally, before leaving the cartridge to dry, thoroughly rinse it using clean water.
- Diatomaceous Earth (DE) Filter
Like a sand filter, a DE filter requires reversing or backwashing the water to clean it at least once per month. Then, at least once every year or every six months, the DE filter should be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned to remove debris and dirt trapped inside.
Check for Cracks, Blockages, and Leaks
As part of your swimming pool servicing and maintenance routine, you should be ready to inspect it occasionally to determine whether it has cracks, blockages, or leaks. Cracks and leaks could be due to aging, wear and tear, or adverse environmental conditions.
Skim and Vacuum Your Swimming Pool Regularly
While it could seem obvious, skimming and vacuuming your swimming pool regularly can help keep it clean and safe for use. Skimming your swimming pool water helps remove bugs, twigs, leaves, flower petals, and other objects that could be blown inside. If you do not skim your swimming pool regularly, these floating fragments could sink into the pool, making it challenging to remove them.
Vacuuming your swimming pool also helps keep its surface dirt-free, preventing algae growth and water contamination. In addition to the routine vacuuming, you should also brush the walls and floor of your pool to ensure the water is crystal clear.
Monitor Your Swimming Pool Water Chemistry
As a swimming pool owner, your routine maintenance of this home feature should include maintaining proper water chemistry. Doing that regularly is vital because improper or imbalanced water pH could make the pool corrosive or damage the surface. Another importance of frequently testing your swimming pool water to ensure the pH is well-balanced is keeping algae growth at bay.
To maintain proper water chemistry, it is also important to test its chlorine levels and whether it has metals. That way, you will know whether to add chlorine or other additives to ensure the water is clean and safe to swim in. If you cannot perform these vital tests yourself or have a tight daily schedule, you can rely on the services of a pool maintenance professional to do so at a fee.
Clean the Swimming Pool Deck
The deck of your swimming pool is your piscina’s lounging and relaxation space. It is where you keep your furniture, and guests can sit and bask in the sun. That means it is prone to littering, which could be blown into the swimming pool without regular cleanup.
Regularly cleaning and collecting litter around the swimming pool’s deck can help reduce the frequency of skimming the pool water to remove floating leaves, twigs, and other debris blown into it.
Shock Treat Your Swimming Pool
Also known as superchlorination, regular shock treatment of the pool can help eliminate chloramines, oxidize contaminants, and maintain the sanitation and clarity of the water. You should shock treat your swimming pool at least weekly or as needed, especially after an extreme algae outbreak or weather conditions.
Unless you have an expert doing this maintenance on your behalf, you should shock-treat your swimming pool using your manufacturer’s safety precautions and instructions.
Cover the Swimming Pool When it is Not in Use
Covering the pool during the winter or anytime it is not in use can help prevent leaves, debris, and other contaminants from being blown into the water by the wind, reducing how often you need to skim and vacuum it. Your swimming pool installers can recommend a reliable and long-lasting cover that you can use to cover it when it is not in use.
If you have children or pets, you could find that the safety cover offers you many benefits. Remember to inspect your safety pool cover every season to ensure it does not have tears that could allow debris and dirt into your swimming pool.
Winterize Your Swimming Pool
If you live in a region where winter brings frigid temperatures, winterizing your swimming pool could be necessary to keep it safe during those few cold months. Doing that ensures this home oasis is ready and safe for use when the summer returns. Below are steps for winterizing your swimming pool:
- Remove your swimming pool accessories, especially those that degrade in quality in extremely cold weather
- Deep clean your swimming pool
- Drop your swimming pool water level
- Regularly check the swimming pool chemicals
If you need to perform any major repairs or improvements, the best time to have the work done is during the winter.
Hire a Reliable Contractor for the Job
When it comes to swimming pool maintenance and servicing needs, you should be realistic about what you can handle yourself and what you cannot. Retaining the services of a reliable swimming pool maintenance company can go a long way in ensuring your pool is well-maintained and ready for summer at an affordable cost.
Look for a company that includes monthly or weekly inspections and maintenance as part of the package deal. The weekly pool maintenance cost could be between $20 and $50. On the other hand, the monthly pool maintenance cost could be between $30 and $95, depending on what you want the contractors to do on your swimming pool.
For the best services that give you value for your money, you should ensure that the contractor you choose to hire for your pool maintenance needs is reputable, experienced, and licensed.
Find a Swimming Pool Maintenance Company Near Me
Maintaining clean and crystal-clear waters in your swimming pool requires consistency, dedication, and attention to detail. With proper routine maintenance and care, your swimming pool can become an inviting and refreshing oasis where you and your family members can enjoy their time.
We invite you to call our reliable pool maintenance contractors at Oak Wells Aquatics at 904-619-3281 if you need outstanding and cost-friendly pool maintenance services wherever you are in Jacksonville.
You may also explore our services!
Ready to dive in? Discover our expert aquatic solutions. See our services here!
