One of the best ways people get to relax on a hot day is by swimming. Imagine you want to use a swimming pool, and the water is terrible. You will repel from the swimming pool.
As much as anyone wants to get themselves refreshed from the sunny weather, no one will use a dirty swimming pool.
Hence, the need for good maintenance routines for swimming pools. One of the known ways of maintaining swimming pools is draining them. How often are swimming pools drained? Let us get into it.
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How Often Are Swimming Pools Drained?
Deciding to drain a swimming pool is a controversial issue at the moment. Some people believe it is unnecessary to drain swimming pools if the filtration systems work perfectly fine and the pool chemistry is well maintained. While other people think it is necessary to do so, and they do it twice a year.
Some believe it is necessary to maintain swimming pools. I believe the same. Even if the filtration system and the pool chemistry are excellent, how long will that last?
Swimming pools get to a point where the best thing to do is drain the water. To be on the safer side, one could just couple the two. Have a sound filtration system, maintain good pool chemistry, and still drain the swimming pool from time to time. Don’t remove that piece from the puzzle.
Many public swimming pool owners make sure to drain their swimming pools twice a year. This is because of the frequency at which the swimming pools are used.
Homeowners who have swimming pools can still drain their swimming pool once in 2-3 years. Unlike the public swimming pools, homeowners’ swimming pool barely gets traffic, hence the draining rate necessary.
Are There Regulations Guiding The Draining of Public Swimming Pools?
Concerning legal regulations, you are probably wondering if there is any form of law regulating the draining of the swimming pool. Yes, there is. I will give more details on that.
In France, a regulation before 1981 made it mandatory for public swimming pools to be drained twice a year.
This was reviewed some time ago and updated as of the 7th of September, 2016, that public swimming pools should be drained at least once a year. There are exceptions for wading pools and whirlpool baths which should be drained twice a year.
Read: Do Swimming Pools Need To Be Drained?
Factors That Determine How Often A Swimming Pool Should Be Drained
Several factors can determine when and how often you should drain a swimming pool. Could you stick with me?
1. Daily Maintenance Routines
How you keep up with maintaining your swimming pool every day has a role to play in how frequently you will have to drain your swimming pool.
You should maintain the chlorine in your swimming pool and the pH level of the swimming pool at the normal and right range.
The chlorine should not go lesser than 1 part per million. Anything lesser than that will reduce the effectiveness of chlorine. The pH should be kept between 7.2 and 7.6.
Put the swimming pool water to test daily, to know the pH and chlorine level. If this is done from time to time, you might not need to drain your swimming pool so frequently. Also, using a sound filtration system could help.
The inability to keep the chlorine and pH level steady might signal that you need to get the water changed.
2. The hardness or softness of the swimming pool water
The kind of water – either hard or soft, will determine how frequent draining is needed. If your swimming pool water is hard, you need to change the water frequently. Hard water contains different minerals in a larger quantity than soft water.
3. The level of solids in the water
As time goes on, the swimming pool water gets evaporated. This increases the ratio of solids to water in the swimming pool. The more the increase, the harder it gets to get your swimming pool neat using chemicals.
You will need to change the swimming pool water if the solids reach 1550ppm. You can measure the solids level in your swimming pool using the TDS test.
Why Should You Drain Your Swimming Pool?
Some people believe it is not necessary to drain your swimming pool and that it should be the last resolution in maintaining your swimming pool. There are reasons why you need to consider draining your swimming pool from time to time. They are:
- A dry climate
- Heavy swimming pool maintenance routine
- For swimming pool painting
- The stabilizer readings are getting unsafe.
Why Should You Not drain a Swimming Pool?
Are there possibly good reasons why you should not drain a swimming pool? As much as there are benefits from draining swimming pools from time to time, there might also be some drawbacks.
Hydrostatic pressure is one of the reasons; it is from the water beneath the ground under the pool floor. This can cause the pool floor to crack if it is concrete.
If the pool floor is made of vinyl, it can raise the floor, which will destroy the floor and wall. Other reasons include the backfill effect.
When You Need To Drain Your Swimming Pool
You would know when your swimming needs nothing but a drain. If dirt, debris, algae, etc., is getting hard to eliminate, draining the swimming pool is a great option.
Doing a partial drain is another option. This can help rule out the risk that comes with hydrostatic pressure. There are some repairs and renovations that you won’t be able to do without draining your swimming pool.
Conclusion
Draining swimming pools is a controversial talk. While some believe it should be the last resort in maintaining your swimming pool, some do it twice a year.
