In this article we’re talking about the pool maintenance action plan.This is the basics of pool maintenance.I’m gonna give you actionable tips to keep your pool clean and clear all year long.
And we’re gonna talk about the three Cs of pool maintenance.This is something I’ve come up with over the years.And there’s three things.
There’s circulation, the most important part of pool care.Then we’re gonna talk about cleaning your pool.
And then finally, pool chemistry, the water chemistry.If you can master these three areas of pool maintenance,you will have a crystal clear pool all the time.And it’s safe to swim in.And everybody will be happy,including your friends and family.
So let’s just dive in, pun intended.We’re gonna start with circulation.So circulation is, like I said,the most important part of pool care.And there’s a few things we’re gonna go over.So first, we’re gonna start with running your pump and filter system.
Ideally, if things were great and we all had a lot of money,I would recommend that you run your filter 24 hours a day,seven days a week, all the time.
That’s the best circulation.That’s like your body,you’re body’s constantly circulating blood.Your pool should be constantly circulating water,but that’s just not realistic.And so, I recommend that in the summer or when it’s hot, that you run it eight to 12 hours a day.Closer to 12 hours a day would be great.
That’s highly recommended.And if it’s colder,if you keep your pool open all year long,you can run it to about four to six hours a day.
If you have a variable-speed pump,you may be able to drop it to a lower speed and keep it running all the time,and actually save yourself some money,so that’d be good.
Also, if you run your filter system at night,you might save a little bit of money because not everyone has their electricity on,and so you’re actually saving some money there.
But if you, I recommend, hot summer day, 12 hours a day.And you can split that up, six hours here, six hours there.And that’s the recommendation there.So running your pump and filter system, the most important.
Now we’re gonna talk about angling your jets.So you have jets that are in your pool that are pushing, you know, once the water goes through your skimmer basket, through your filter system,it gets pushed out through your jets.
You might have step jets.You might have just one jet,if you have an above-ground pool.You may have multiple jets if you have an in-ground pool.
And what you’re seeing is, you wanna angle some of the jets at about 8 o’clock. And the reason we do this is so that water can be pushed underneath to the bottom of the pool. And then that water will come back up. And then another one, if you have more than one jet, you wanna keep it spinning in a clockwise motion.
So if you have your skimmer that’s right next to your return jet,your return jet should be facing away from your skimmer so that it creates a whirlpool and gets back into your skimmer.
But I like to keep my jets at around eight, 8 o’clock,7:30, 7 o’clock, you know, right kind of diagonally that direction so that it’s pointing down and you can get that.
And that’ll help if you have any dead spots in your pool.You might have a corner or a crevice that just doesn’t get a lot of water movement.
It might help with that.And that’s super important.Then we’re gonna talk about cleaning your skimmer and pump baskets.
So your skimmer, or multiple skimmers if you have an in-ground pool gets filled with debris.If you check these every single day and just empty them out,that’s gonna help the flow of watergo through your filter system.
And it’s just gonna make your circulation batter.On top of that, you have a pump basket,you have a basket in your pump,and you wanna make sure that that’s also cleaned out.That won’t be as filled with debris as your skimmer baskets,because your skimmer baskets are the first line of defense.
And then it moves into your pump.But you wanna make sure those are free and clear of debris so it helps the water get through your filter system.Now we’re gonna talk about filter maintenance.Because the filter is the heart of your pool.
And if it’s clogged, well, you know what happens.So we’re talk about a sand filter first.So if you have a sand filter, great.
One of my favorite filters.They’re very easy to use.And you wanna make sure that you backwash it every once in a while because when it builds up with pressure,then it’s clogged and it needs to be backwashed.
It needs all the gunk that the filter has been collecting pushed out of the backwash port.And the way we do this is,there’s a pressure gauge on the top of your sand filter,or on the side, depending on which one you have.
And you wanna make sure that right after you backwash,you take note on where your pressure lies.And the pressure is pounds per square inch, which is P-S-I.And you wanna see how many pounds it’s operating at when it’s clean.
You might see it between 10 and 15 psi.That’s pretty normal.If it goes 10 pounds over that,well that means your filter’s clogged,and you need to backwash it.
So you wanna backwash your sand filter.You won’t do this very often because,unlike your heart, the more clogged it gets,the more it helps to filter out things.So that’s actually a good thing.But too much is too much.
Then we’re gonna move on to a cartridge filter.There is no backwashing with a cartridge filter.What you do here is, you actually take the cartridge out of the filter system,and you rinse it down with a hose or you soak it overnight in a cleaning solution.
This may not have to be done nearly as much as a sand filter,but just make sure that your cartridge is always cleaned.And again, the pressure gauge here is your indication when you have to do that.
If you have a very clean cartridge filter,and you’re running at about10 to 15 pounds of pressure, great.
Once it reaches 20 to 25 pounds pressure,it’s time to shut off your filter system,take apart your cartridge filter,and clean the cartridge inside or even replace it.And finally we’re talking about a D.E. filter.These are the only three types of pool filters.And a D.E. filter, very powerful at cleaning a pool.
But it does need to be backwashed every once in a while.And when you backwash it, you need to replace the D.E.that you backwashed out of the pool.And D.E. stands for diatomaceous earth,which is a fine white powder.
And you wanna be very careful when you use the stuff because it is a carcinogen.So just wear a mask, wear some protective eye gear when you’re dealing with this fine white powder.And the pressure gauge, again, that’s your indication if you need to backwash or not.
Like I said earlier, 10 pounds over pressure,over normal running pressure, it is time to backwash.So those are the three filters and how to keep them clean.Now we’re gonna talk about cleaning the actual pool itself.
First, we’re gonna talk about skimming.Skimming is, you have a leaf net.You have it attached to a pole,or maybe you’re just using your hand.You wanna skim the top of the pool every day.
I know that may not be practical, but try.If you can do it every single day, great.And consider it a break from your day.Go outside.
If it’s nice out, just stand there.Move the thing around.It’s like a, kind of think of it like you know, like a Chinese zen, like a zen garden.You’re just moving it around and picking up all the debris and dumping it out.And that is gonna help you so much.
Because the debris that collects on the top of the pool eventually ends up at the bottom of the pool.And then you have to vacuum it,which is much harder than just skimming the top.So if you can skim it every day, great.
If you can do it every other day,every three days, that’s fine.The more you do it, the healthier your pool is gonna be.Then we’re gonna talk about brushing.Brushing is something a lot of people skip,but you gotta brush your teeth, you gotta brush your pool.So you take your brush.
You put it on the telescopic pole.You replace the skimmer.And you wanna brush the walls, the steps, the ladders.And you wanna do this every day.If you’re gonna skim, you might as well brush, too.If you have those hard-to-reach places.
You know how they say with teeth,if you have those hard-to-reach places in your pool where debris likes to collect, brush it out of there.So that way, at least it gets circulating and perhaps your filter can pick it up.
Or your vacuum will pick it up.And you wanna do this every day.Again, if it’s not practical to do it every day,every other day, every three days, but try.
Again, the more often you do it,the cleaner your pool’s gonna be in the long run.It’ll just help with…You know, you won’t have cloudy pool problems and algae problems if you just keep it clean.And then, vacuuming. Vacuuming, I say you can do once a week.
Or you can invest in an automatic pool cleaner that’ll do it for you all the time.So we have the regular, manually vacuum your pool.
If you skim and you brush all the time,you may not have to do this as often.But weekly should be good.I recommend that you invest in some sort of automatic pool cleaner, whether it’s a pressure-side,suction-side, or a robotic pool cleaner,which I highly recommend.
So that way, your pool’s constantly being vacuumed by a robot instead of you.It’s totally worth the investment, I promise.Now we’re gonna move on to chemistry.
Chemistry is the confusing one, but it doesn’t have to be.First thing we wanna do,test the water one to two times a week.It’s that simple.
You can use a home test kit,you can use test strips.You can take it to your local pool dealership,wherever you get your water tested.
Make sure that your water is good to go.Do this often.The more often you do this,the better you’ll stay on top of your water chemistry and you won’t have problems with your pool.Those readings that you wanna look out for is, first we’re gonna look at the pH and alkalinity.No matter what sanitizer you use, salt, chlorine, bromine, BAQUACIL, minerals, whatever you use.
Everyone has to deal with pH and alkalinity.And this is the balance.You wanna keep your pH between 7.2 and 7.6.And you wanna keep your alkalinity between 100 and 150 parts per million.
If you keep your pool balanced at all times within these ranges, you are doing 90% of the work here.
If you have good balanced water,all the other chemicals will just work much, much better.And now it’s time for the sanitizer. We’re gonna go over all of them, okay?The first one we’re gonna go over is chlorine.
If you have a salt system, this applies to you, too.Because salt systems are chlorine.And you wanna keep your chlorine between one and three parts per million,more towards three parts per million if you can.
Once that goes below three or one,your pool is not being sanitized.You are open for bacteria and algae growth and cloudy water.So if you just keep your chlorine at three parts per million all the time,which is much easier to do with a salt water pool.But if you have a chlorine pool,and you have a chemical feeder like a chlorine puck dispenser,that’s the way to go.
Keep your chlorine in check at all times with balanced water, man, you’re gonna be really good to go.If you have bromine, you wanna keep that between three and five parts per million.If you use biguanide, which is similar,which is BAQUACIL, sorry, or Softswim.
They come in different brand names.But biguanide should be between 30 and 50 parts per million.And then if you’re using a mineral system,which uses chlorine as a back up.
So mineral systems, Nature 2, Frog.These are mineral systems, which I love,but you have to keep your chlorine at 0.5 parts per million.So that’s less than one part per million,and that half a part per million that you keep of chlorine in there,is a back up in case the minerals fail you,for some reason, or you didn’t change the cartridge that you were supposed to change.
The chlorine will go in there and kill what it has to kill.And that’ll keep your pool safe.If you keep all of these in check.Well, not all of these, depending on which one you have,you are gonna be good to go.
And then finally we’re gonna talk about shocking.So shocking, you have to do this with a chlorine pool,salt or just regular chlorine.
You can do it with a bromine pool. Definitely a mineral pool. Biguanide, you have your own version of shock there.
But basically, you wanna shock weekly.And you may hear people talk about shocking weekly or bi-weekly.
The hotter the summer, the hotter the temperature out,shock weekly.It’s kind of a insurance policy.Shocking is basically taking whatever sanitizer that you use and just putting avery concentrated amount in there,just wiping out everything.Killing every thing that’s possibly in your pool.
That’s what shock does.You do it weekly, you’re staying on top of it.If you wanna do it bi-weekly, that’s fine, too.
Just if you’re having, you know,all the other chemicals are on track.You look good, you’re staying on top of it.Sure, go bi-weekly.Because that way it’ll save you a little bit of money.But shocking your pool, super, super simple.
And it’s an insurance policy to make sure that you’re not gonna get bacteria and algae growth and cloudy water and all the problems that come with pool ownership.
So those are the three Cs of pool maintenance.Again, it’s circulation, the most important part.If you have good pool circulation,then that’s the first line of defense for everything.
Because the filter system is there to filter the water, to keep it clean.And then we’re gonna talk about cleaning,or we already talked about it.
Cleaning is the second one.You keep your pool clean, you skim, you brush,you vacuum, you’re not gonna have a lot of…Your sanitizer is not gonna have to do that much,which is awesome.
That’s gonna save you money in the long run.And then finally, chemistry. Chemistry does not have to be difficult.It is very, very simple.But if you are still confused about any of these things,and you want more in-depth knowledge.
We have two products called,The Pool Care Handbook and its companion video course.It is the easiest pool chemistry tutorial ever.
We talk about the secrets of handling green and cloudy water.If you get green and cloudy water,you’ll be able to take care of it instantly.
You’ll save a ton of money on chemicals because we teach lean pool care,which means just what you need, only what you need,and nothing else.You’ll know how to avoid being up sold.
You’ll know what you need and don’t need.And then we talk about hacks to keep your pool clear all year long.What we just talked about is not a hack,but we have more things that you can doto sort of automate your way through this.
And then a real big one is how to open and close your pool.If you live in an area where you do open and close your pool,you’re gonna save a ton of money by doing it yourself.It’s not that difficult.
And we keep both the video course and the PDF, the Pool Care Handbook updated and available all the time.Always updated.So if you buy The Pool Care Handbook and the video course,you get both.
They’re always up to date.And wherever you have an internet connection,you can watch these videos.
If you have to go back, you know,you have to login and go back to review a video that maybe you forgot about,you can go in and do that at any time.Once you own it, you own it forever.And then the Pool Care Handbook, which we also update.300-plus pages, it’s fully illustrated.It’s always up to date.
And you can download it to your computer,to your smartphone, to your tablet.You can take it out by the pool and use itas a reference guide if you have any issues.
So that’s it.I hope you guys enjoyed this.I hope it was super helpful. Happy swimming.
