Having an in-ground swimming pool can be a fun filled experience bringing your family a lot of enjoyment every summer. That being said, there are some things that you will have to do in order to keep your swimming pool clean and safe for everyone that uses it.
To start, there absolutely needs to be a filtration system/pump to circulate and help clean the water. The pool cannot sit with the water not moving. That would cause the water to become stagnant and makes it more welcoming for nasty bacteria, fungi, algae and microorganisms to come and thrive in the pool. In addition to that, the stagnant water would be a perfect spot for other critters to live. Insects, worms, mosquito larva and other creepy crawlies would love to have a place to take over and call their own. In addition to having a filtration system keeping the water moving and clean, there are things that a filter just
wouldn’t be able to remove from the water. For these types of things, there would need to be an adequate amount of chemicals in the water to maintain a proper balance in order to kill off these unwanted pests. Sometimes, this is not the easiest of tasks, but with a little effort and once you get the hang of it, it becomes more tolerable and I find pool maintenance to be somewhat therapeutic. Don’t look at it as if it were a chore, just look at it as a chance to get away for thirty minutes to an hour. Put on some comfortable clothes and get some music playing and just relax, go out, sweep the pool, add some chemicals, and take your time to enjoy being outside for a bit. You will find that there are some common pool water problems, and you will also find that there are products that you can get to take care of those problems. So relax, KEEP CALM and CLEAN YOUR OWN POOL.
I will give you some inside information on what some the common pool water problems are and what you can do to take care of them. You will find that it is not as difficult as you may think. Let’s say you go out and find that your:
pool water is starting to turn a greenish color. This is caused by a free floating green algae, and it is not very difficult to treat. For this, you will need to shock the pool with pool shock, and add a product called algaecide. The amount you will need is dependent on the size of your pool, and typically the bottle will have some instruction on it. However if you are still not too sure, many pool supply companies will test your water for free and let you know what products to add and how much to add.
Pool has a yellow dust on the walls and floor. This is another type of algae called mustard algae, and again can be killed by shocking the pool water with pool shock, and adding algaecide.
Pool has black spots on the walls and floor. This is a type of algae called black algae. This type of algae is a bit more difficult to kill. To remove the spots effectively, you will need to treat it with a specially formulated type of algaecide for killing black algae. This type of algae has a hard outer layer that acts as protection, so for best results, srub the affected areas of the pool with a brush. That will allow the algaecide to penetrate the algae’s hard outer layer to more effectively kill it.
Pool has a pink slime on the walls and floor. This is not an algae, in fact it is a form of bacteria that is commonly found in coastal areas, and is brought to the pool by a swimmer who has been to one of those areas. For this, you will need to give your pool water a double shock. Use 2 lbs. of shock for every 10,000 gallons of water in the pool. Allow the shock to work for 48 hours then add an all in one algaecide at 6 oz. for every 10,000 gallons of pool water.
Pool water is cloudy or smoky looking. This can be due to a few things. One is that there is poor circulation, in which case you would want to backwash your filter, and clean the skimmer baskets and the pump basket. If that does not help, then it could be one of the following: improper water balance, high total dissolved solids (TDS), excess organic waste, or high total alkalinity. For these issues it would be best to take a water sample to your local pool supply store and have them test it. They would be able to identify what the problem is and tell you how much and of what chemicals you would need to put into your pool to fix the issue.
Pool water burns your eyes. This can be caused by the PH being too low or too high. You will want to check the PH and adjust it to be within the range of 7.4-7.6. Also, check the amount of sanitizer in the pool. If there is too much, you will want to check the setting on your chlorinator and maybe dial it down a bit. You can let the pool sit until the amount comes down or, if you want fast results, you can add a neutralizer.
These are just some of the common pool water problems that you may have to deal with from time to time. However, if you make pool maintenance a regular part of your weekly schedule, I think that you will find that you can easily stay on top of it and prevent these things from occurring. If you do have to deal with any of these problems, just relax. The treatment will not be that difficult and once your pool gets back to normal you can take pride in the fact that you solved the problem.
