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Your Guide to Pool Maintenance
Pool maintenance can be the subject of misinformation and misunderstanding among homeowners. There are countless urban legends abound about how often you should have a pool cleaning service maintain your pool. Likewise, unscrupulous vendors that sell miracle treatments ensuring your pool will never need pool maintenance again is a big myth. When it comes to pool maintenance, relying on quality information is key.
Pool maintenance and service should be viewed the same way you view car maintenance or home maintenance: you have to take care of it to ensure its longevity. Understanding pool maintenance and hiring a good pool service company will set you on the path to happy and safe pool ownership.
Here are five questions and answers about pool maintenance to guide you:
How Often Should I Have My Pool Serviced?
Weekly.
Cleaning your pool once per week is a good rule of thumb. However, pool cleaning often breaks down into many tasks that must be performed daily (or every couple of days), weekly, monthly, and seasonally (or annually). Some of these tasks can be performed by the homeowner or tenant. Other tasks should be performed by the qualified provider of pool maintenance Phoenix residents trust.
A broad schedule of tasks necessary to maintain your pool include:
- Daily (or every couple of days): Test the pH levels and chlorine levels of the water. Take note of any levels that are off so you can report them to your pool maintenance provider. Empty the skimmer basket and pump basket of debris to promote a clean pool.
- Weekly: Balance the pH and chlorine levels. Treat the water with chemicals to reduce algae growth. Scrub the walls and floor. Skim debris from the pool's surface. Inspect the pool heater and pump.
- Monthly: Clean or replace filters.
- Seasonally (or annually): Test pumps and the heater.
- As needed: Drain pool and clean pool surface. Pressure wash deck. Replace or repair the pool heater and pump.
What Happens if I Do Not Service My Pool on the Recommended Schedule?
You can damage your pool and endanger swimmers.
Pool maintenance has aesthetic benefits. A well-maintained pool looks, smells, and feels clean. However, the two primary purposes of pool maintenance are to maintain the integrity and functionality of your pool and to protect the health and safety of swimmers. If you fail to maintain your pool, you risk diminishing the value of your pool by damaging it. You also risk the health of swimmers by creating an environment where microbes can live and multiply.
Specifically:
- Chlorine kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Chlorine is an oxidizer. This means that it causes water molecules to break apart, releasing an oxygen atom. The oxygen atom disrupts the cellular metabolism of the microbes in your pool, causing them to burn up. Moreover, chlorine atoms tend to replace hydrogen atoms in molecules. This hydrogen replacement disrupts the enzymes microbes use to regulate their cellular activity and causes them to die. There are pool conversions available if you prefer an alternative to chlorine, but you should always have a system to kill bacteria in place.
- Chlorine is more effective in alkaline environments. More importantly, chlorine can be dangerous in acid environments. Therefore, maintaining the correct pH level in pool water assists chlorine to kill microbes and prevents the release of dangerous chlorine gas.
- Algae can create slippery surfaces and eat away at your pool's liner. It can also clog your baskets, filters, pump, and heater, causing overheating and failure. Cleaning your pool of accumulated algae and treating it with anti-algae chemicals can keep your pool's liner from breaking down.
- Large debris can also clog baskets and filters, causing pool equipment breakdowns. Regular skimming can extend the life of your heater and pump.
How Often Do Pool Pumps Need to be Replaced?
About every 10 to 15 years.
However, this is just an average. Pool pumps might last longer or shorter, depending on a number of factors. Some of these factors include:
- Pump size in relation to pool: If a pump is undersized for the pool, it will wear out faster and require replacement sooner. On the other hand, a pump that is sized correctly for the pool's volume will be more likely to last for its rated lifetime.
- Operating temperature: Debris in the baskets and filters can cause the pump to run at higher temperatures or even overheat. Mechanical parts like motors and bearings are more likely to deform and seize at high temperatures.
- Environment: If the pump and pump motor are exposed to rainwater or sunlight, the metal components can corrode and the plastic components can crack. Moreover, in a dry environment like Phoenix, dust and dirt can accelerate the wear of moving parts.
- Maintenance: A well-maintained pump is more likely to reach its rated lifetime than a pump that is neglected. Some parts are meant to be serviced, like the filters, O-rings, and sealant. Regular inspections and maintenance can help get the most out of the motor and pump by replacing these parts before they degrade and cause leaks or overheating.
Are There Any Alternatives to Chlorine?
Yes.
The technology exists to supplement or replace chlorine as the disinfectant in your pool's water. However, these systems do not eliminate the need for pool maintenance. Rather, they just require a different kind of maintenance.
A few of the alternatives to a system that relies entirely on chlorine include:
- Ultraviolet (UV) light: UV light sanitizes water by killing the microbes, including bacteria, viruses, algae, and parasites, in the water. UV light is the same radiation that causes sunburn. As it strikes microbes, it ionizes atoms causing massive cellular damage. The benefit of UV systems is that they reduce the amount of chlorine you need to keep your water clean. Keep in mind that this will not eliminate the use of chlorine completely. Moreover, these systems still require maintenance since the UV bulb must be replaced periodically to maintain its effectiveness.
- Ozone: Ozone, like chlorine, is a powerful oxidizer. Ozone sanitation is accomplished by generating ozone from the ambient air and mixing it into the water circulating from the pool. Ozone systems sanitize pool water without leaving any ozone in the water that returns to the pool. This is because ozone is a highly dangerous gas. Since the pool water is sanitized before it enters the pool, ozone sanitation systems will not fully replace chlorination. But ozone can reduce the use of chlorine by up to 90%.
- Salt water: Salt water pools and salt water conversions have become popular because they sanitize water using chlorine or bromine without producing the "chlorine" smell or irritation. This is because the chlorine generator in a salt water system produces chlorine to kill microbes in the water while burning off chloramines that smell bad. The disadvantage of salt water systems is that they require a different type of pool maintenance that might not be familiar to many pool owners.
What Maintenance Do Salt Water Pools Require?
Salt water pools require different maintenance than conventional pools. Salt buildups can damage your pool's surface and equipment. Thus, your pool maintenance company will be highly focused on maintaining both the water chemistry and water circulation. If the water is not circulating at the right rate, or the water chemistry goes off, the salt in the water could begin to build up rather than being converted into chlorine by the chlorine generator.
Your daily maintenance for a salt water pool is similar to the daily maintenance for a conventional pool. You will empty the baskets and skim the surface so that nothing impedes the circulation of water.
You will also test the water and note any irregularities so your pool maintenance company can correct the water chemistry on the next visit. You or your pool company will also add salt periodically so your chlorine generator can keep the pool chlorinated.
Your pool service will also inspect the chlorine generator's cell regularly. This cell converts sodium chloride (table salt) into chlorine. It will develop scaling and buildup of minerals. As a result, it will need to be cleaned periodically and replaced when it begins to degrade.
Your pool maintenance company will also need to inspect your pump and plumbing from time to time. Since salt can accelerate corrosion, these parts can corrode if the chlorine generator loses its effectiveness and allows salt water to circulate through them.
Pool maintenance is critical to preserving the quality and safety of your pool. This, in turn, guarantees that you and your guests can enjoy the pool safely. Just as importantly, regular pool service can help you maintain the value of your pool and realize a sizeable return on investment when you sell the home.
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