Weekly Pool Maintenance

Thorough pool care will ensure clean and safe water throughout the swimming season. Below are some important steps to include in your weekly pool maintenance routine. When it comes to the cleanliness of the pool surfaces, there are three main tasks:

1. Skim Off Leaves and Debris
2. Brush Sediment from Pool Walls
3. Vacuum the Pool - Manually, or using an automatic pool cleaner. We discuss the three types of cleaners below.

The next area of maintenance is maintaining water clarity and balance. In most cases, you can sustain healthy pool water by ensuring you address the three core elements of watercare: circulation, cleaning and chemistry.

Circulation: Moving water is cleaner and clearer. Run your pump and filter daily to maximise circulation.

Cleaning: Refer to the three tasks listed above.

Chemistry: The balance of chemicals in the water is critical to the health and safety of your pool. The three fundamentals of pool water chemistry are:

1. pH levels: How acidic or basic your pool water is - low pH levels are acidic, while high levels are basic. The ideal range for your pool is 7.4 to 7.6.

2. Alkalinity: Works as a pH buffer and helps bypass extreme fluctuations in basicity or acidity. The ideal range is 100 to 150 parts per million (ppm).

3. Sanitiser levels: The amount of chlorine, bromine, etc. in your pool water. The ideal levels vary depending on which type of sanitiser used.

Types of pool cleaners:

• Robotic cleaners are energy-efficient and work separately from your pool's existing filtration system.
• Pressure cleaners use a pressure line from the filtration system to move around your pool. They require a pool pump and usually an extra booster pump to run.
• Suction cleaners use the water flow from your filtration system and attach to either a dedicated suction port or skimmer. They are the most affordable option.