New swimming pool owners typically have grand plans of taking on any and all swimming pool maintenance tasks themselves — or roping the teenagers into doing it or helping with it, right? But, the fact is, once summer is in full swing, the idea of taking on all of the pool maintenance causes burn out.
Unless you’re not working at a full time job and have hours to devote to pool care, wouldn’t you rather be in the pool than working on the pool? Your pool contractor knows and understands this and that’s why they offer a pool maintenance check list for those diehard do-it-yourselfers. If you’ve done your own pool maintenance and upkeep and this year just want to leave it in the hands of the professionals, it’s still not a bad idea for you to know and understand what goes into a clean swimming pool.
How To Create (& Stick To!) A Pool Maintenance Schedule
Pool maintenance and upkeep certainly isn’t the sexiest part of pool ownership, but it is definitely necessary. A pool that has been neglected or not cleaned in a few days is prone to algae growth. If algae takes hold in your swimming pool, it can take a lot of time, effort, chlorine and even money to rid the pool of all algae, get the slime out and help assure there are no spores lurking in the filter or skimmer basket or even behind the pool stairs.
What are some of the benefits of creating and sticking to a pool maintenance schedule and add it to your to-do list?
Here are a few of the benefits of a regular pool maintenance schedule.
- Save time! If you have a regular schedule for pool water chemistry testing, skimming, brushing, vacuuming and other pool related tasks you will save time in the long run. If you skip a day or two of water testing or cleaning or skimming, your task will take you longer the next time you jump into it. The time you spend on pool tasks will be less time you will have to spend — believe us, it works out!
- Nip potential pool water issues before they become an issue. You pool water will be at its most vulnerable and it never fails — at the time you want to throw a party or escape the heat by swimming a fe laps. When you have a higher than usual swimmer load in your swimming pool, you run a higher risk of contaminants in the water and that can lead to chemical imbalances. Ask anyone who uses the pool to please shower off before they jump into the pool; doing this will remove deodorant, sweat, dead skin, hairspray and other potential contaminants. If your pool water gets cloudy or foamy it could be because the water is not as clean as it should be and that the water chemistry is not in alignment.
- You can save money as well as time. This may not seem to make sense, but you will probably spend less money on pool chemicals if you take time to properly clean and maintain your swimming pool on a schedule. If you clean and maintain it regularly, you won’t have to dump additional chemicals in to make up for an imbalance. Keep track of how much it costs you to invest in pool chemicals for the season then weigh that against the cost of hiring a pool contractor for a season. Don’t forget to factor in the time you spend cleaning the pool instead of swimming in it if you take on the pool maintenance on your own.
How to create your pool maintenance schedule this season
Understand your unique swimming pool and its maintenance needs. Your pool is different than your friends pool and your brother’s pool. There are myriad factors that make this so — from swimmer load, to water volume, to pump and filter size, to how clean the water is, how diligent you are at skimming off debris, the pool construction material, the placement of the pool and many, many other factors.
To know how to set up a pool maintenance schedule it may make sense to talk with your pool contractor and get his advice or to call on the services of a pool maintenance pro to give you insight into setting up your pool maintenance schedule.
Get the family involved. If your children are old enough to swim, they may be old enough to help with pool maintenance! If everyone is enjoying the pool it doesn’t make sense that it’s only mom and dad who do all of the work, right? A pool is a responsiblity with a lot of benefits and everyone should be involved.
Determine which tasks your children are suited to and which tasks you want to take on yourself. Grab a calendar and plot out the various tasks that need to be done. Place the calendar in a high traffic area in the house. Ask everyone who is listed on the calendar with a pool task to cross it off when they’ve done it. This will help assure that the tasks are getting done and nothing is getting forgotten.
If you have someone in the family who is a night owl, they may be best suited to putting the chemicals into the pool water because it’s best they are put in after the sun goes down at night.
Ask your family members what tasks they’d like to take on. Switch the tasks around weekly or monthly so that not the same person is vacuuming the pool exclusively. You may need to supervise the vacuuming and brushing of the pool for a few weeks, but then you can hand that task off for a week or two until it’s your turn again.
Share the pool maintenance workload with as a way to speed up the work and divide and conquer so you can all jump into the pool and spend time with one another!
Let the kids know that if they want to have a pool party for their friends, that they will need to help with cleaning before and after the party as a part of the responsiblity for all of the fun they’ll be having.
Plot out the summer maintenance schedule. When you break down the daily, weekly, monthly and occasional tasks on the calendar for the swim season, you have a better idea of a fair distribution of duties and when you can simply enjoy the pool.
Consistency counts. If you forget to perform pool maintenance you can’t simply “make up for it” by cleaning it extra long or adding more chemicals to help balance out potential water issues. Consistency is key for any swimming pool maintenance schedule.