How to maintain a swimming pool?
The French climate enables you to enjoy your swimming pool at home from May to September if you are located in Northern France; and you can use it between April and October if you settle in the South of France! Therefore, for the rest of the year, your swimming pool needs good maintenance to protect it from the cold of winter.
When to open it, when to close it?
When the water’s temperature reaches 60 degrees F, you may open the pool. Keep the cover over your pool as long as possible to ensure that your water stays clear. The clearest it is before it is cold, the better it is. Don’t forget to take off small backflows before covering, as these would be damaged due to cold.
Should I empty water every winter?
As soon as you think it is time to cover your pool for the whole winter until the next spring, the first thing you should do is just empty a little quantity of water. The most important is the water level under the filters. In winter, water often transforms into ice, which will inevitably damage all the tubing of your filters if water is present.
Otherwise, it is a big waste to empty all the water from the pool and very expensive because of the substantial amount of water. Normally, every in-ground pool contains a liner. This is a sort of water-proof element stuck on the walls of the pool that could come undone rapidly if you empty all the water from the pool.
Of course, for standard reasons, you have to empty water to clean the pool, but the pool should not be empty for a long time so that the liner remains stuck on the wall. This operation is required every 4 or 5 years at least and must be carried out by specialists.
When and how to clean the pool?
When taking off the cover, don’t waste the rain water on it. Use a pump to absorb it and put it in the pool, except when the water is really dirty.
Usually, a good cleaning has to be carried out both when covering and when taking off the cover. During the high season, you can find special vacuum cleaners for pools. Use it once a week and make a back wash straight after. Nowadays, small special robots do exist to clean your pool. The rest of the dirtiness in the water is evacuated by the filters.
In order to avoid dirtiness in the water coming from any external elements (leaf, insects, dust…), take into account the following suggestions:
– Check the PH level. However, manage the level of PH (around 7 when it is normal) when necessary.
– Check the chlorine level. You can put in a small quantity of chlorine every day (a cube is sufficient). Don’t hesitate to put more if you use your pool very often.
– We suggest you use 1 litre of algaecide (for a 60,000-litre pool) every 10 days. Be careful: put algaecide when the chlorine level is low.
– Stop the engine during the night (maximum 12 hours off) and don’t hesitate to turn it on only 5 to 6 hours a day in autumn when the pool is not used.
– Pull the cover every night during the summer to keep in warmth, and always keep the cover on in winter. If you have not an automatic cover deck, make sure your tarpaulin touches the water. This is compulsory.
There is a problem with my pool… What to do?
– Turbid water: add some more chlorine
– Water is getting green: this is because of algae. Add algaecide
– There is less and less water in your pool: it is maybe because your liner is leaking. Contact your pool dealer as soon as you notice this.
As a sum-up…
Here are the quantities of products we advise you:
– Algaecide (almost 3 to 4L per season)
– Chlorine (almost 10 to 18kg per season)
– PH+, PH-
– Clarifying liquid
– Vinyl cleaner for edges
– Thermometer
– Test kit
You see that the cost of installing a swimming pool is very expensive. But please, take into consideration that the maintenance of a pool is very important, and it can also be very pricey.