Regardless of where you live or how frequent it's used, pool maintenance is an important factor in having a
healthy pool. Maintenance can consist of anything from removing debris, balancing water chemistry, or
maintaining the pool's equipment. Your pool requires attention. And while you’ve already got a lot of things
to do this weekend, the cleaning and maintenance for your swimming pool needs to be a priority.
We've compiled all the need-to-know life-hacks to making maintaining your swimming pool easier no matter if you have an inground or above ground pool. We're also calling out the most common pool maintenance mistakes. (Don't do these!)
Here's your scoop...
At Royal Swimming Pools, we make getting started with your pool maintenance quick and easy by beginning your pool on E-Z Pool. Why? Because no one wants to be a chemist on the weekends.With these items, there's no guessing or measuring out multiple products in order to get pristine water conditions.It's just easy.
E-Z Pool is a proven water care program that combines simplicity with incredible water quality in a once-a-week application.Did you catch that? Only once a week! Leaving you much more time to actually enjoy your pool instead of maintaining it.
This is a specially blended, multi-tasking formula for proactively managing swimming pool water while eliminating the confusion and inconvenience of adding multiple chemicals on a continuous basis.
E-Z Pool can also be used for your winterizing routine come time to close your pool for the season. Which we'll cover more on in just a moment.
Your Royal Swimming Pools install team will have also used Revive! when your pool was initially installed. A multi-action product that uniquely removes phosphates (algae food), metals including copper and iron, scaling carbonates, organic debris and other contaminants that cause cloudy murky water. (Seriously, even if your pool looks like a swamp monster's favorite vacation spot.) See more REVIVE! before and after pictures here.
Revive is formulated for use on new pools, remodel/refills, spring openings, abandoned pools, and severe algae cleanups of all swimming pools (like your child's pool party where no one left the pool for 5 straight hours after going through 6 cases of lemonade). Revive! It's compatible with all pool chemicals sanitizers, and finishes. If you get in a jam, reach for your Revive!
Revive! comes in a larger container (shown below) for heavy duty start-up or clean-up needs. But it also comes in a smaller options meant to be used with your weekly E-Z Pool routine to be proactive against pool contaminants.
One of the most important jobs when owning a pool is testing the water regularly. There are 4 main tests to
be performed:
While it is unrealistic to think that most people will test their pool on a daily basis, it is recommended that
you do so once a week at minimum. This will help to ensure clean, healthy water for your pool.
Test strips are the cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to test your pool water.
While these are definitely easy to use, they also tend to be the least accurate.
There are digital testing kits. These kits are easy to use and popular among health departments. While these are more expensive to purchase, they are the most accurate kits for testing your pool water.
Finally, there are Reagent test kits, where you drop reagents into the water sample. These kits rely on the eye of the tester to make accurate color comparisons
pH is the measure of how acid/ alkaline the swimming pool water is. The pH of the human body is 7.2. This
may conclude why this number is also perfect for the pool. When pH drops below 7.0 the water becomes
acidic. Anything above 7.0 is alkaline
Do not drain more than one-third of the water from the pool. Draining a vinyl liner swimming pool can cause the liner to dry out or shrink. This would cause far more headaches than solutions and typically results in needing to replace the liner. Draining your vinyl liner pool may seem like a good idea when opening it for the summer, however, you can do all the cleaning and maintenance necessary with the water still inside. Just use your Revive!
So you took all the necessary steps to prep your pool for summer, but you haven’t tested your water in two months. Unfortunately, water testing is an integral part of pool maintenance and must be done at least once a week; if your pool is used nearly every day, you should check the water twice a week. You may need to add more chlorine or E-Z Pool + Revive Weekly and balance out the pH, among other things that could be specific to your pool. Keeping your pool water maintained with regular water tests will ensure clean, clear water all season long.
When there is no water flowing in your pool (your pump is off), the pool can become a breeding ground for bacteria growth. When your pump is running and water is flowing, your filter is able to do its job and water is not allowed to settle which helps keep bacteria from growing. Sunlight assists bacteria in growing, so especially in the hot summer sun, it is very important to keep the water flowing to ensure bacteria does not have a chance to grow. If you want to save money where you can, leave the pump on for 7 to 8 hours per day (during the daytime) and closely monitor the water to be sure bacteria isn’t growing and that water levels are remaining the same. If there are issues with imbalances, return to a 24-hour pump schedule to be sure the water stays clean. Or save time and money by investing in a pump timer (because they pay for themselves quicker than you may think)!
You must keep your filter clean throughout the pool season. Frequency of cleaning will vary depending on the filter type, amount of pool use, and the number of contaminates in the area. A good rule of thumb is to clean/backwash the filter when the gauge on the filter rises about 10 PSI more than what it was when it was clean. Different types of filters will have different PSI reading when they are clean of any debris. Be sure to note what your filter’s “clean” PSI reading is so that you can clean/backwash the filter at the appropriate time.
No, not everyone has a sand filter. But it is the most commonly asked about filtration type and we wanted to cover some ins and outs of having one.
A sand filter uses a multi-port valve to operate the filter which removes dirt, algae and visible contaminants that enter a swimming pool. You must operate the filter system at least eight to twelve hours per day in order to remove wastes effectively.
FILTER: Use for normal filtration or vacuuming the pool.
BACKWASH: Is used to clean filter sand. Turn pump off, set multi-port valve to backwash, restart pump for several minutes or until site glass shows clear water. Then rinse filter.(see Rinse below).
RINSE: To clean water inside filter tank. Turn pump off, set multi-port valve to rinse, restart pump and run clean water through the system for one minute. This process should also be done every time filter sand is added or replaced.
WASTE: Use for vacuuming heavy concentrations of dirt directly to waste. This action bypasses the filter bed. It also can be used to lower the water level or drain the pool to the bottom of the skimmer.
CLOSED: Use for shutting off the flow to the filter and pool. Make sure your pump is off when using this function.
WINTER: Used when closing a pool in areas especially where water can freeze. Be sure to remove all drain plugs from pump and filter system. Winter plugs can be stored in pump basket for safe keeping until spring. Pump and filter must be completely drained as expanding water can cause damage and is not covered under warranty.
RE-CIRCULATE: Use for bypassing the filter tank. It is useful during extended periods away from the pool. This function permits automatic chlorinating systems to maintain proper chlorine levels while eliminating concern over pressure build-up in the filter. This also works well if your sand filter tank is leaking or has cracked.
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