Palm Springs, California swimming pool contractors from Supreme Pool Service offer pool owners five ways to keep your pool water clean. There are some tasks that swimming pool owners can, and should, do between service visits to keep the pool water clean and bacteria free between pool contractor visits. Pool maintenance is part and parcel of pool ownership and unless you set aside a designated amount of time to perform your pool upkeep, it can be a bigger chore than it has to be. If you don’t want to devote time to cleaning the swimming pool, hire the services of a pool contractor to undertake the maintenance for you and all you will have to worry about will be small tasks, not major upkeep.

 Five ways to keep your pool water clean

Keep the water clean. It’s one of the most important items because you don’t want swimmers to contract any water borne diseases while swimming. You also have to ensure the correct mix of chlorine and bromine are added to the water to keep it free of germs and bacteria.

If you can smell chlorine and if it irritates the eyes, the levels need to be adjusted. Chlorine is a necessary component of pool cleanliness because it neutralizes the urine and saliva and other bacteria that swimmers bring into the pool with them. It’s a popular myth that your pool water is clean if you can smell chlorine — chlorine is odorless and colorless — if you can smell it, what you’re smelling is “free chlorine” and that means your pool water chemicals are out of balance.

Algae happens. If you don’t know what you’re doing with pool maintenance or if you neglect pool maintenance you will be faced with a green pool filled with brackish water. To help assure you don’t have that issue, you need to thoroughly clean the sides and bottom of the pool and behind the pool stairs where algae spores may lurk. An experienced swimming pool contractor understands this and will work diligently to assure your pool doesn’t become home to algae. If you notice the water turning green, you may need to call on the services of an experienced pool contractor to clear the water.

Water circulation. A water pump is essential for recirculation of water in the swimming pool. There are pool pumps that have two motor speeds to save power consumption; these are variable speed pumps. Ask your pool contractor how often the pump should run every day. The rule of thumb is that the water should be “turned over” at least once — preferably twice per day. This means that every gallon of water will be moved from the pool, through the filter then back into the pool.

Clean the gutter. The channels or gutters that run all along the outer side of the pool need to be cleaned. Water that is splashed out runs into the gutters rather than into the yard and the drainage holes need to be cleaned and checked regularly. This drainage is connected to the filter so all the excess water runs toward the filter and is cleaned and recirculated.

Add chlorine at the end of the day. Wait until the sun goes down before adding chemicals to the pool so your family can get the full enjoyment of the day of swimming. Also, adding chemicals after the sun has gone to help prevent evaporation of the chemicals.

You may find it will cost you less money to hire the services of a qualified, experienced swimming pool service contractor than it will to do your own pool maintenance. Call us and ask for an estimate so you can make an informed choice.