You’ve finally decided to buy that pool you’ve been wanting so badly. Your family is happy and you can enjoy some well-deserved poolside relaxation. Lots of fun and little room for stress.
All idyllic, right? Yet, the pool needs to be cleaned and a lot of care is taken to maintain the integrity of the walls and tiles, but most importantly to ensure a deep clean for those who use it.
So, whatever type of pool you have, above ground, in-ground, or garden pools, cleaning is essential. There are treatments and actions that must be performed daily, weekly, or at the end of the season.
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Why Do Swimming Pools Need to be Cleaned Daily?
Swimming is, without a doubt, the most pleasurable aerobic activity. Swimming with your family or a group of friends is a lot of fun.
Pools are commonly seen in health clubs and major housing complexes. Swimming there can be a fun experience if you can mingle and the pool water is clean and odor-free, despite the fact that it is open to all members.
Having your own private pool is even more enjoyable, but it comes with certain upkeep and cleaning obligations. As we all know, swimming pools, whether public or private, require frequent cleaning to avoid bacterial contamination, algae growth, debris, excess chemicals, and other issues.
If you don’t know what to do about it, don’t be alarmed, let’s see together how we can clean and disinfect the water and the pool.
Filtration and cleaning of the water surface
The cleaning of the pool begins by taking care of the water: it takes very little, just a few small daily steps that if done correctly will give results more than effectively.
Pool cleaning with the net
To clean the surface of the water is enough a common swimming pool net that can collect dirt, hair, insects, and foliage. This simple but useful operation is good to repeat before each bath and shortly after the last batch of the day, to ensure a good cleaning every time we enter the pool.
Pool cleaning with the tennis ball
Very often during the summer, we use sunscreen creams and oils. After we dive into the pool these ointments mix with the water slipping off the body and then rising to the surface showing a light patina that glows in the sunlight.
To capture these oils just use a common tennis ball that, thanks to its composition mainly of wool and nylon, will collect the oil and attract even the smallest dirt that the net can not collect.
Cleaning the pool edge, bottom, and walls of the pool
To ensure the complete cleanliness of our water, it is necessary to take measures against dirt.
The pool edge should be cleaned every day and this can be done with the help of equipment and detergents created specifically for this type of cleaning. Generally, the equipment that is used is scrubbers or brushes that exert good pressure and ensure the impeccable cleaning of the entire surface.
The footbath should also be emptied, disinfected, and cleaned through the use of brushes to remove dirt.
At the bottom of your pool, over time, debris and dust accumulate causing not only increased dirt in the water but also dulling of the bottom tiles. It is therefore advisable to use an underwater pool vacuum cleaner on a weekly basis which will ensure thorough cleaning of the walls and bottom of the pool.
Once you have chosen the vacuum cleaner for swimming pools that is right for you, it is easy to use, just immerse it in water and move it like a normal vacuum cleaner.
In case we have a pool too deep to do the operation personally, it would be better to get an automatic cleaner that will move independently on the bottom of the pool.
Pool cleaning and water treatment
Water treatment is essential to remove impurities.
Water chlorination
Every time you reopen your pool to use after a long period of time it is important to put in place shock chlorination, designed to eliminate all bacteria that may lurk in the water.
Special powdered detergents with more than 50% chlorine concentrate are bought and, following the doses on the label according to the amount of water your pool contains, must be dissolved with water in a bucket or basin and then poured into the pool.
During the first six hours after treatment, it is best if no one enters the pool and it is recommended to keep the filtration system active for at least twelve hours after treatment begins.
During the summer period, it will be enough to use a tablet of 250 grams of chlorine every 20 cubic meters of water to maintain the level of chlorine at an adequate percentage.
In any case, it is always best to follow the instructions on the package to the letter.
Measuring pool ph
After the shock treatment is finished, it is important to buy a ph measurement kit. Ph is a value that defines the acidity of liquids. In this case, the ph of your pool should be neither lower nor higher than 7.0/7.5.
If the dosage is lower we can solve the problem by adding specific products called “ph plus”. Similarly, if the pH is higher than normal we add products called “ph minus”.
In general for the right amount of chlorine to be used several factors must be taken into account, such as exposure to the sun, the number of people using the pool, and adverse weather conditions.
However, with a ph kit, it should be enough to measure the right acidity.
Pool algae treatment
When we no longer use the pool for long periods of time it is always convenient to buy a product called “anti-algae” that is diluted in our pool, always following the doses marked on the package, which will prevent algae and other microorganisms from forming in the water of our pool.
We must be careful not to use this product if the filter of our pool is a cartridge because it could be damaged irreversibly.
Final Thoughts
Although taking care of a pool seems like a real task, it is nothing compared to the joy and serenity that this little piece of paradise can give you.
If you follow these steps to the letter, the cleaning of your pool will be a real walk in the park and you can enjoy the water and the sun without any worries.
