Swimming Pool Maintenance

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Say goodbye to winter and hello to summer with a sparkling pool.

(ARA) - Spring is right around the corner and with it comes anticipation of the hot, lazy days of summer, lounging by the pool with a cool beverage. If you're like most people, taking a dip into the cool waters in 90-degree temperature is like a reawakening of your slumbering winter soul. It's a time to shed those layers of flannel and wool, and to show off your New Year's resolution-body.

Whether you've put in a pool costing $100,000, or an above-ground pool costing $1,500, they both have one thing in common--water. If the water is not sparkling clear, it will look more like a pond than a pool. The sparkling clear water of a pool should be enjoyed with all of your senses. It should bring pleasure to the eyes, softness to the skin, and the air should be filled with excitement -- not chemical odors.

But talk to pool owners about pool maintenance, and very often they'll tell you they can't quite get the hang of it. It's not like your bathtub, where you bump your rubber ducky out of the way and drain the water after every use. Pool maintenance is definitely a challenge if you don't get the basics right.

So, where do you start?

M. Robert Edelson, Ph.D., a thirty year expert in pool water chemistry, says the first thing your pool water needs is to be "balanced," which involves getting the important parameters of the water in line.

Balancing your pool water involves alkalinity and the water's acidity, determined by the pH level. The right amount of pH is considered to be between 7.2 and 7.8. Do you have high water hardness? Calcium is the culprit here. Too much calcium, and the water becomes cloudy and chalk shows up on pool surfaces. Stabilizer is needed to keep the sun from burning off the chlorine so it can work longer. When your stabilizer is low, the life of the chorine is reduced.

Chlorine levels should be the least amount to safely sanitize. Any more and the result will be red, itchy eyes and bleached swimming suits. The range on chlorine is one to three parts per million or ppm in the north and slightly higher in the hot south.

Once you get the basics down, you can focus on the pleasure - not the hassle. If the FBI can have their ten most wanted list, so can we. Here are a few tricks to help along the way:

A Hot Summer's Ten Most Wanted Tips

1. Run your pump like crazy - nine to 12 hours a day. Don't be pennywise and pound-foolish. Your pool water can't be cleaned unless all the water runs through the filter.

2. Clean your filter regularly. It's a filter and its job is to trap the dirty stuff. If it's a sand filter, simply backwash whenever the filter gauge pressure increases five psi. For DE filters, remove the grids once or twice a season and clean them. If using a cartridge filter, clean it with a good garden hose getting between all of the pleats.

3. Try mineral pure water. One of the biggest breakthroughs in pool purification has come in the last five years. It's called FROG mineral technology and it uses natural minerals along with low levels of chlorine to purify the pool. With less chlorine, there are no more red eyes, bleached swimming suits, and little to no odor in the air. (On the Internet, FROG can be found at www.kingtechnology.com).

4. Stop the manual labor. Get an automatic pool floor cleaner. It's like a robot that doesn't require any pay! One name to remember is Kreepy Krauly. They are one of the experts in suction side pool cleaners and they even have a mineral purifying attachment to the cleaner called Pollywog for easy installation on existing pools.

5. Shock. That means add a concentration of chlorine or a non-chlorine shock treatment to go after the newly added heavy dose of bacteria and contaminants from body oils introduced by people and airborne particles.

6. Use an algaestat. That's an algae preventative. Clarifiers help too. A clarifier clumps the molecules together so that the dirty molecules get sucked into the filter and trapped there.

7. Don't let algae get out of hand. At the first signs of algae, go after it. When you use an algaecide, it will automatically drop your chlorine level so always add a chlorine shock after using an algaecide.

8. Get equipment that automatically adds chlorine to your pool. A regulated chlorinator is one of the most popular. Again, you can use a FROG mineral product and reduce your chlorine use. Or if you have big bucks, get an electric chlorine generator.

9. Stay ahead of problems. As with the stock market, pool care timing is everything. Get on a weekly schedule of maintenance that includes testing the water and re-balancing if needed, maintaining a regular chlorine level and shocking.

10. Always add your necessary maintenance doses during the day. That's when the most demands are on the pool (sun, rain, people, etc.). Also make sure to circulate the water whenever you are adding chemicals to the pool.

Whether you're thinking about a new pool or looking to improve your current pool, the last tip is to see your local pool professional. They have the answers. Once you've got your routine, the pool will provide more happy memories than you can imagine.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information contact Lynn Nord, Marketing Manager, King Technology at (612) 933-6118.

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