Keep Your Pool and Spa in Optimal Condition Year-Round

Brushing and scrubbing your pool walls are necessary to prevent algae growth, but the wrong kind of brush can do serious damage to your pool surface. If you own a vinyl-lined, fiberglass, acrylic, or painted pool, you will want to use a nylon brush.

These brushes are softer and won’t tear the vinyl or scratch the surface. For plaster or concrete pools, a wire brush will provide superior cleaning strength without harming the pool surface.

Along with brushing and scrubbing, vacuuming your pool is a great way to help prevent algae growth. Brushing the pool walls will dislodge most algae spores that are clinging to the surface, but these spores often simply settle at the bottom of the pool. Using a vacuum, you can eliminate most of the dirt, debris, and contaminants that find their way into your pool.

Skimming the pool’s surface by hand every week to keep your pool clean. Floating debris will eventually sink, becoming harder to remove. We use a long-handled net called a hand skimmer or leaf skimmer to remove leaves, bugs and other unwanted items. Skimming significantly increases the efficiency of the pool’s circulation system.

Why We Will Clean Your Filter?

Cleaning the skimmer and pump baskets regularly is important to the overall maintenance of your swimming pool. Clogged baskets make your pump have to work harder to try to cycle the water. This can decrease the life and stress the seals in your pump.

With water flow impeded by baskets full of debris, you are not getting the proper turnover rate to properly filter your pool water. For your pool to stay clean and clear the water must be filtered. With your skimmer and pumps baskets full of debris, you are not pulling as much water to the pump, and not filtering as much water as if the baskets were kept clean. This can have a negative effect on your pool maintenance.

It is common to see the alkalinity levels of pools rise periodically. There are a number of factors that lead to this. Water with high alkaline levels is known as ‘hard water’. One common cause of high alkalinity is that pool owners simply overestimate the amount of alkalinity boosters needed for the pool. This happens when trying to balance the pH level of the pool to a neutral 7. This is most often practiced in areas with frequent acid rain. The nitric acid and sulfuric acid found in acid rain increases the acidity levels of the water. In order to bring down the acidity, alkaline boosters must be added to the water. Body sweat and lotions that mix with the water in the swimming pool can also lead to higher alkaline levels. One common indication that the water in the pool is high in alkalinity is when the pool water turns cloudy.

Chlorine kills bacteria though a fairly simple chemical reaction. The chlorine solution you pour into the water breaks down into many different chemicals, including hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion (OCl-). Both kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in the cell walls and destroying the enzymes and structures inside the cell, rendering them oxidized and harmless. The difference between HOCl and OCl- is the speed at which they oxidize. Hypochlorous acid is able to oxidize the organisms in several seconds, while the hypochlorite ion may take up to 30 minutes.

The water’s pH is a measure of its total acid-alkalinity balance — the relative proportion of acids and alkalis in the water . Simply put, water that is either too acidic or too alkaline will cause undesirable chemical reactions. If the water is too acidic, it will corrode metal equipment, cause etching on the surface materials and cause skin irritation. If the water is too alkaline, it can cause scaling on the pool surface and plumbing equipment and can cloud the water. Additionally, both high acidity and high alkalinity alters the effectiveness of the chlorine. The chlorine won’t destroy pathogens as well if the water is too alkaline, and it will dissipate much more quickly if the water is too acidic.

Total hardness in the context of pool water refers to the total mineral content of the water. This is made up of calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese and other elements.

These elements are present in the water used to fill the pool, and the levels can increase through the use of regular pool chemicals (e.g. chlorine composed of calcium hypochlorite). We are interested in the calcium hardness levels.

If the calcium hardness is too low, the water becomes corrosive and results in the etching of the pool’s surfaces. Metals corrode – and this includes pool equipment, pipe fittings and pump connections. As a result, the pool’s walls and floor can stain.

If the calcium hardness is too high, the result will be scale formation on all pool surfaces. The filter and pipes become clogged, reducing water flow and filtration efficiency. The water becomes cloudy and swimmers complain of eye irritations.