With the temperatures rising, your swimming pool becomes an even more popular place to spend time. To keep the water clean, healthy, and safe throughout the summer, it’s important to perform routine swimming pool maintenance. Let’s look at seven important tasks to make sure your pool is ready to enjoy on hot summer days.

Important Steps in Swimming Pool Maintenance

1. Pool Maintenance Includes Skimming Twice a Week

A few leaves floating on the surface might seem like no big deal. However, if you don’t skim them off regularly, you make more work for yourself later. Leaves absorb pool chlorine, which can cause a chemical imbalance. The leaves also decay and eventually fall to the bottom of the pool, encouraging algae growth.

2. Vacuum the Pool Once a Week

Even with regular skimming, debris will settle to the bottom of the pool. Routine vacuuming is important for swimming pool maintenance. A manual pool vacuum can do the job, though it’s labor intensive. The better option is investing in an automatic pool vacuum. It does the work for you and saves time for other pool maintenance needs.

3. Balance Your Chemicals Twice a Week

When a pool’s chemical levels get out of balance, the water becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and algae. Testing the water for healthy pH levels alerts you to a potential problem. Ideally, the pH should be between 7.2 and 7.8. Testing kits are inexpensive and only take a few minutes to complete.

4. Pool Maintenance Includes Cleaning Your Filters as Recommended

Pools can have any combination of three different types of filters: cartridges, sand, and diatomaceous earth. These filters keep your pool water clean and clear. However, if you don’t clean and maintain them, they aren’t able to do their jobs properly and your water quality will suffer.

5. Clean the Pool Deck Once a Month

This is probably the most commonly overlooked pool maintenance step. You spend time and money keeping your pool in pristine condition. However, if the surrounding pool deck is dirty, your pool will not be healthy and clean. Take time at least once a month to scrub and wash the surrounding deck.

6. Scrub the Pool Edge Once a Week

One of the hardest jobs for pool maintenance is scrubbing the edge of the waterline. Scale and stains build up there, no matter how well you keep the rest of the pool clean. Once the scale starts to develop, it’s difficult to remove. Swimming pool maintenance includes scrubbing the edge at least once a week to maintain a clean water line.

7. Refresh the Water a Few Times a Year for Proper Pool Maintenance

Swimming pools have high concentrations of salts and metals like copper, iron, and chloride that interfere with keeping the pool clean and can create brown stains on the pool surfaces. The easiest way to lower the concentrations of these salts and metals is to add fresh water to the pool a few times each year, and whenever the water level falls below the skimmer opening.

Walton Inspection Services provides swimming pool and spa inspections to Murrells Inlet and the surrounding areas. Contact us to make sure your pool is ready for summer.