Do-it-yourselfers listen up! The swimming pool service contractors from Express Pool Care want to tell you about swimming pool cleaning mistakes to avoid. They understand that many pool owners enjoy cleaning and maintaining their swimming pools, but there are times when they are called in to address “mistakes” that an inexperienced pool owner may inadvertently make.
Arizona residents certainly understand and appreciate having a swimming pool in the backyard — especially when the temperatures climb into the triple digits. Being in your swimming pool is an ideal way to beat the heat without having to get into your car and drive to a crowded public swimming pool.
Swimming pool cleaning mistakes to avoid
While many swimming pool owners in the Goodyear, Arizona area rely upon the services of a pool maintenance professional — after all, who wants to spend time working ON the pool when you could spend time IN the pool?
What will a pool contractor do for you? He will balance the chemicals, clean and scrub the pool and vacuum it. He will also inspect the pool equipment to assure everything is in top working condition — the last thing you want is broken equipment in the midst of a heatwave or when you have planned a family pool party!
Avoid these pool cleaning mistakes:
- Being lax in the test of the pool chemistry. If you aren’t experienced, you need to check the pool water chemistry more frequently than most. There are many reasons the chemistry gets out of line — high swimmer load, rain, dust in the pool, not running the pump enough, simply not checking or adding the chemicals when needed.
- Not understanding the importance of the total dissolved solids ratio in the water test kit.
- Backwashing not often enough, or too often. Backwashing uses a lot of water and should only be done when necessary. If you’re not sure when it should be done, ask us. Too frequent backwashing diminishes the effectiveness of the pool filter and costs you money, water usage and time.
- Forgetting to clean the skimmer baskets. This is your first line of defense in capturing floating dirt and debris. Empty the skimmer baskets frequently — daily or even more than once a day.
- Not waiting until the sun goes down to add chemicals. When you add them during the day, the heat of the sun evaporates them before they are truly effective. Also, when you add during the day, you lose the ability to swim in the pool.
- Not taking the time to brush the pool walls and floor and around the steps and stairs. This needs to be done to remove any algae spores. Don’t vacuum until you have brushed the pool.
- Running the pump infrequently. A swimming pool pump needs to be run between eight and twelve hours per day — ask us for the formula for how long the pool pump should be run. The pump needs to be run long enough to completely turn over the pool water and fully circulate the pool chemicals.
If you’re not certain whether you want to clean the pool yourself, ask us for an estimate for pool cleaning and maintenance for the season. You may find it is less expensive to hire a pro than to make the investment in all of the equipment and chemicals you need — as well as your time.