Attention new pool owners: the complete entry-level guide for pool care

Your swimming pool is an impressive highlight in a home and offers a wonderful place for pleasure and relaxation for the whole family. However, regular care is essential in order to get the optimum out of a pool and to secure its durability.

Here we present you a detailed guide to maintaining your swimming pool, which includes all aspects from regular cleaning and water analysis to chemical treatments and the maintenance of the technical devices. The pool experts from the pool megastore at our side, who have had experience in this area since 2004.

Maintaining your pool

It is important that you develop a plan for proper care, cleaning and maintenance of your pool. This includes general weekly tasks that should be done while using the pool, as well as the maintenance of the devices and machines that are necessary for the operation of the pool.

Weekly tasks

Careful weekly care is crucial to increase the lifespan and cleanliness of your pool. After completing the installation, you can minimize the costs for repairs and other costly maintenance work by regularly executing small, uncomplicated tasks if something is more extensive from the minor difficulties.

It is advisable to establish a fixed routine for cleaning and maintaining your pool and work this work every week on a certain day.

Her weekly duties should include:

• Check the water level and, if necessary, fill in.
• Clean the filter.
• Clean the skimmer baskets.
• Suck the pool floor off.
• Brush the walls of the pelvis.
• Clean the area around the pool terrace.
• Check the pH and adjust the water chemistry.
• Check your pool chemicals and order replenishment if necessary.

Maintenance of the devices

The devices and machines used to operate your pool can have a considerably longer lifespan with a careful maintenance routine. boiler and heat pumps should be serviced once a year in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements.

Gas boilers , if available, must also be checked for leaks annually, according to the applicable gas regulations. It is also advisable to hire a specialist to check the system if you notice something unusual. An example of this would be a strange noise in the technical room, or if the pool does not reach the desired temperature.

General pool cleaning

General pool cleaning includes the skimming and suction of the pool to free it from all residues that can get into the water, such as waste, leaves and other organic materials. You should also keep an eye on the filter of your pool and the need to cover. Also make sure not to miss out on cleaning your pool, to inspect potentially problematic areas such as stairs, ladders and diving boards, which have to be cleaned regularly.

Spread the water surface

If you find deposits or dirt in the pool, you should fishing the surface with a kescher to remove it as quickly as possible. Ideally, you should do this every time you enter the pool.

Suck out the floor

It is inevitable that dust, dirt and other foreign bodies get into the pool water and settle on the floor before they can remove them. This not only leads to an unsanitary swimming environment with a dirty pool floor, but can also lead to an accumulation of algae and bacteria with a long time.

The regular vacuuming should be part of your routine, but it may also be necessary to suck outside the usual schedule to remove dirt that stands out on the bottom of the pool. As soon as the bottom of the pool is heavily dirty, which is typically the case after winter, suction becomes essential.

The process includes vacuuming as you are used to before you switch off the pump and then put the multiport back on the "waste" setting. Then you can continue with vacuuming; The water is sucked off so that it does not have to be guided by the filter. Please note that this reduces the water level in the pool. It is therefore advisable to fill it up a little before the start of the process and to keep the hose into operation.

The filter system

It is important to emphasize how crucial the filter is for the purity of your swimming pool. The filter ensures that dirt and deposits are removed from the water. There are different types of filters, and it is advantageous to know the differences to clean them properly and ensure their effectiveness.

• Sand or glass filter: A sand or glass filter is cleaned by rearing or reversing the water flow. These filters work most efficiently if they are only slightly dirty and should be cleaned at least every two weeks.
• Kieselgurfilter: A DE filter is similar to a sand filter and also uses back rinsing to remove dirt. After the backwash, however, it is necessary to add the filter de to coat it again. It should be cleaned several times a season, and it is also advisable to disassemble the filter once a year and to clean them thoroughly.
• Potter filter: To clean a cartridge filter, you have to remove the cartridge and then rinse the dirt. After that, the elements should be soaked for at least 12 hours to remove oil and fat. Then rinse the cartridge thoroughly before set it aside to dry. It makes sense to have two sets of filters available so that you can switch between them in order to be able to carry out the time -consuming cleaning process without interruptions.

The more often you use your pool and the more dirt gets into the water, the more regularly you have to clean your filters. It is comparable to emptying a vacuum cleaner bag when the suction power subsides.

Lid on it - the role of covers

If your pool currently has no cover, you should think about investing in one. Pool covers do different tasks, but their most important advantage is the maintenance and care of the pool. It is obvious that one of the main problems are the residues that get into the pool when dirt penetrates into the water.

A cover, as long as the pool is not used, can significantly reduce this problem. In addition, pool covers are useful because they protect the heat in the water. So if you have a heat pump, you don't have to put it into operation as often. Ultimately, this not only means lower heating costs, but also a longer life of the pool.

Pool chemistry / care product for water treatment

Chemical treatments represent an elementary part of their routine to maintain the swimming pool. These measures are both crucial to ensure that the water is pure and harmless for swimmers, as well as for the general health of the pool.

The specific chemical processes required for your pool depend on the type of water used and the materials used during construction. It is therefore advisable to get advice from your swimming pool installer about the suitable water treatment .

Compensate the pH value

The correct pH of your pool is one of the essential aspects of pool care. The pH is a scale that measures the acid and alkali content and ranges from 0 to 14, whereby 7.0 is considered neutral. Values ​​over 7 indicate alcohol, while values ​​under 7 are sour. The optimal pH value for swimming pool water is between 7.0 and 7.6.

If the value is below 7.0, metals and surfaces can begin to corrode in the pool; Values ​​above 7.8 can cause deposit problems because there are calcium salts in the water and chlorine loses its effect.

Safety instructions in dealing with chemicals

Please note that chemicals for the pool are usually potentially dangerous and should therefore be treated with caution.

Here are some important safety instructions that you should take into account when dealing with these fabrics:

• Chemicals should be kept in separate containers in a cool and dry place.
• Always read the instructions carefully and follow them.
• It is advisable to wash your hands after working with pool chemicals.
• Suitable personal protective equipment should be worn when dealing with these chemicals.
• Chemicals must not be mixed before they are put into the water - the mixing can make many fabrics very reactive and release dangerous gases or even cause explosions.
• Chemicals should never be stored in containers that are intended for other purposes.
• Empty containers can be cleaned, flushed out and then disposed of.
• Empty containers should not be used to store other chemicals.
• Children are never allowed to deal with pool chemicals.

Shock treatments

Shock treatments always become an instrument of choice if you want to prevent algae and bacterial formation, which is not possible with conventional methods.

A freshwater swimming pool system can significantly reduce the need for such treatments. It is often assumed that a strong chlorine smell indicates too high chlorine content; In fact, however, these are often the result of a wrong pH or chloramines that arise from body fluids.

To remove this, it is necessary "shock" of chlorine for the pool or special chemicals . Products such as calcium hypochlorite or unstabilized dichlor should be used. It is important to consider important:

• Shock treatments must be carried out after sunset (often also depending on the use of the pool).
• With high frequency or external influences such as strong winds, additional shock treatments are required.

Controls and monitoring

It is necessary to test and adapt the pH of your pool water weekly to ensure optimal swimming conditions and avoid damage to the pool. Easy usable test kits available for this, be it through color comparisons or diving strips.

Automatic dosing systems offer a modern alternative by continuously monitoring the pH and automatically dosing chemicals if necessary. Alternatively, you can instruct a specialist who compensates for the water values ​​every week.

So your pool comes through the winter

In winter, outdoor pools are usually not used often, which is why it is advisable to take some time to adjust to the colder temperatures.

First of all: If you want to do more extensive work on your pool, this is the optimal time for it. Even if the thought is obvious to empty all of the water from your pool, this is an unfavorable decision without prior professional advice, as it can lead to damage to the pool.

The most important thing you need is a suitable winter cover that protects the water from contamination and sun rays. It should also be taken into account that the pool must also be treated during its non -use to prevent the growth of algae and bacteria. Furthermore, the water in the pool should be checked regularly.

There are many other tutorials and valuable information as well as a clear cheat sheet on pool care at Swim University .