Pickering Residential Pool Services

Pool Care at Home: How to Handle Your Water System 

The key to maintaining a sanitary swim space at home is regular maintenance and consistency. With a busy schedule it can be tough to find a spare moment, never mind enough time for a pool cleaning. In order to keep your pool cleaner, it is important to break the cleaning process down into multiple steps that address each aspect of your swim space, from top to bottom. 

Applying Pool Chemicals: All chemicals can be dangerous and your pool chemicals are no exception. From storage to proper use, managing multiple pool chemicals can be a huge pain. Shocking the pool when you start to notice cloudiness will help to provide a bit of visual improvement but it isn’t enough to make water sanitary. A simple testing kit can point out obvious issues with water chemistry but they don’t tell you how to correct them. Proper pool chemistry means balancing chlorine levels, as well as pH levels, total alkalinity and calcium. 

Debris Removal: When dealing with an indoor pool or outdoor model debris will always be an issue. Depending on the plant life surrounding your outdoor pool, scooping out unwanted items might start to feel like a full-time job. A bit of skimming and a quick vacuum might provide a visual improvement but there are some areas that a robotic pool cleaner just can’t hit. Standard vacuum heads are not designed to reach into corners, hard angles or the complicated areas around steps. These areas require special tools like manual vacuums to suck up unwanted items and brushes to scrub away residue that has formed around water lines — and don’t forget about emptying the skimmer basket! 

Managing Filters & Circulation Systems: From the outside swimming pools might seem simple but this just isn’t the case. More than just the visible areas of your pool, there are complex systems hard at work behind the scenes, keeping water clean and running. The goal of a pool filter is to trap and hold small bits and pieces of debris. Over time all of these small pieces will create one large clog. Clogged fillers will make it harder for water to pass through, which means your system will have to work harder to create flow. The harder that your pool pump has to work, the more energy it uses, causing higher utility bills and putting strain on your internal systems. There are different types of filters on the market, each of which need to be cared for differently. A cartridge filter should be removed, cleaned and reinstalled every 3-4 months and a sand filter should be emptied and refilled with new sand every 3-5 years. 

Seasonal Care: As if regular cleanings weren’t enough to keep up with, seasonal care is even more complicated! Failing to properly prepare your swimming pool for the off-season can quickly lead to damaged equipment and maybe even burst pipes. This is bad news anywhere but it is particularly bad when it happens at home. A burst pipe doesn’t just negatively impact your pool, it can drown lawns, flood basements, rot nearby construction materials and cause serious and expensive damage. In the same way that a proper closing can protect your pool from the winter, a proper opening can help you make the most out of the swim season. An improper opening can leave contaminated water behind and this is a serious risk to health and safety. Stepping into dirty water can quickly lead to recreational water illnesses like skin irritations, eye and ear infections, digestive illness and in serious issues, e-coli poisoning.