Cleaning the Swimming Pool - Daily Tasks

Owning a swimming pool involves many different tasks to keep the pool clean and protect one of the largest investments pool owners make in their home. Ignoring these tasks for any length of time can lead to a very dirty pool, significantly harder pool maintenance chores, and in many cases expensive repair issues. A few minutes of attention every day can make pool care very manageable and prevent most unnecessary pool problems.

Visual Inspection - as you get to know your swimming pool, how it works, and what it takes to maintain it, a simple visual inspection can often give you clues to any problems that may be developing.

Check the Pools Water Level - it takes only a few seconds to check the water level of the pool. If the water level gets too low the pool pump could run dry and cause severe damage to the pump. If it gets too high because of rain, water needs to be drained. Typically the water level in a swimming pool needs to be kept half way up the skimmer intake.

Test for Chlorine - all the chemical parameters of the pool water should be tested at least once a week to keep it properly balanced, but it is a good idea to do a quick test daily to make sure there is sufficient chlorine in the pool. This can be done very quickly by dropping a drop of the chlorine test reagent from your test kit into the water. With a DPD chlorine reagent, it will turn pink when it hits water when there is sufficient chlorine. Using an OTO chlorine reagent will produce a yellow color when there is sufficient chlorine. If either test produced no color, chlorine needs to be added to the pool.

Brush - quickly brush the pool steps and swim outs. If you see any signs of yellow or green algae, brush that also.

Skim - skim the pool to remove any larger debris from the surface and bottom of the swimming pool.

Empty Baskets - clean out the skimmer baskets and pump basket of any debris. Making sure these baskets don't ever get clogged can pay big dividends in the form of using less chemicals and avoiding many different pool problems.

Pool Cleaner - check the pool cleaner to make sure the bag is empty if it has one. Also, if your swimming pool gets larger debris in it, check to make sure the pool cleaner is not jammed up with debris stopping it from working properly.

Following this daily swimming pool cleaning routine should take no more thank 5 to 10 minutes on most days and help to keep your pool clean. This is a small investment of time to stay in tune with your pool. Some pools need more maintenance than others, so as you perform these pool cleaning tasks daily and get to know your pool better over time, you can adjust the cleaning schedule to match the needs of your pool.

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