Swimming Pool Maintenance Mistakes

A swimming pool is great attraction for apartment complex and it is a best place for enjoying the fresh waters or swim on a hot day. A pool not managed properly will cause headache causing health problems and leading to grow all sorts of bacteria in untreated pools, causing illness in family members, particularly kids. A well maintained swimming pool makes a great attraction to every home or apartment and will increase the value of your property. Regular maintenance of swimming pool makes your pool maintenance work simple, easy and helps in pool last longer. Following are some common swimming pool maintenance mistakes.

Common swimming pool maintenance mistakes

Mistakes in swimming pool maintenance cause health problem, spreading of waterborne diseases and allows growth of bacteria in pool water. Following are common swimming pool maintenance mistakes repeated by property managers or pool keeper.

·                            Mistake in pool chemistry: First and important mistake in swimming pool maintenance is not balancing pool chemistry. Check the pool’s chemistry twice per week in the summer and once per week in the winter. For chlorine to be effective pH, stabilizer, and alkalinity levels also have to be kept in check.

·                            Improper cleaning of filters: Whether you have a DE filter, Cartridge filter, or sand filter, the filter should be marked with the last cleaning date and serviced on a regular schedule after that. Most filters require backwashing when the pressure gauge rises 8-10 PSI from clean. If you backwash on a regular basis for no reason, you are wasting water. Backwashing sand or DE filters too often can never reach its cleaning potential. When backwashing does not reduce the pressure or it has been 6 months since the last cleaning it needs to be taken completely apart, inspected and cleaned.

·                            Corroded or calcified cells: Not cleaning the salt cell (chlorine generator of a salt pool) is a common mistake. The salt cell will produce limited chlorine if it is clogged and the walls of the cell are calcified. Ensure to clean the cells once in every three months.

·                            Low water balance: Auto Fill Water Levelers automatically fill your pool with water when the water level drops below a certain level. Unless your pool is equipped with an auto fill system, you need to keep the water level up to the point where water can easily flow into the skimmers so that your pool pump does not suck in air. A timer for your hose bib can be an effective solution. Low or high alkalinity can affect water balance and ultimately a sanitizer’s ability to perform. Check TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) every 6 months and calcium hardness every month.

·                            Not cleaning skimmer baskets: Not cleaning skimmer baskets, pool cleaner bags, leaf catchers and the pump basket is common mistakes made by pool keeper or property manager. Some leafy pools in fall may need to be emptied out as often as several times per day. Even with a weekly pool service pool owners should check these areas between service visits. If these are full of debris you will get little flow resulting in poor circulation, potentially creating a big problem.

·                            Calcified walls and tiles: Most property manager or pool keeper fails to brush the sides of the pool which results in algae and calcified wall. Once the tile gets calcified it becomes like plaque and will take a specialist to get it off. Brushing down the walls will help eliminate algae problems, keeping your tile clean and save you money. If you have a weekly service brushing and vacuuming should be on their schedule for every visit depending on the pool and the season.

·                            Ignoring pool leak: Constantly adding water to keep a pool filled can be the sign of a leak. Due to fears of torn up concrete and huge repair bills, home owners or property manager often put off leak detection. You should not ignore a pool leak even if the water loss is minor, the leak will eventually get worse, be harder and more expensive to fix. If you cannot find the leak yourself it is best to consult a professional pool repair service.

·                            Not running pumps long enough: The pool pump needs to run long enough each day to filter all of the water in the pool at least once. Pool heaters typically have a thermostat control that prevents overheating and waste of energy. You should run your pump about 1 hour for every 10 degrees of temperature. The pool cleaner should be run 8 to 10 hours in the summer and 6 to 7 hours in winter depending on your pool.

·                            Mistakes in adding chemicals: For proper maintenance of pool, pool keeper or property manager need to treat pool with chemicals on a regular basis. When the pool chemicals are correctly introduced to the water, they will be more effective and longer lasting. It is best to add the shock treatment to the pool when it is dusk, and the sun is not shining on the pool. The sun can break down the chemicals in the shock, making it a less effective sanitizer for your pool.

·                            Ignoring dangers around a pool: A pool keeper or property manager should never ignore any danger around a pool during pool maintenance. Make sure you follow the guidelines of the pool manufacturer, test water regularly and keep chemical levels maintained. Broken child safety fencing, lock or gate, loose coping, cracks in the concrete, outdated electrical systems and not replacing broken or missing drains or suction sources are real and dangerous hazard.

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