Making the most of your pool opening

With pool opening season just around the corner, we thought it would be a great opportunity to discuss how to ensure you are going to get the best of your swim season from the start.  What have you done over the winter to care for your pool?  Did you maintain the water and chemically treat it?  Did you remove debris off the cover periodically so dirt/debris particles don’t break down and nestle their way into your pool. If your answer is yes, you already on the path to success and swimming in no time.  If your answer is no, chances are you are going to have a tougher time getting your pool ready for swim.  But no worries, we are here for you, lets do this.

Mid March and early April are the best times to schedule your pool opening.  This will ensure the date you want and will allow time for revisits if necessary.  Make sure there is a lot of water in the pool, we like to say “mid tile level”, this will allow us to vacuum to waste as needed.  Inspect your pool equipment: jets, baskets, filter cartridge, pool cleaner.  How do they look?  Have you had any critter or weather damage over the winter?  Do you think you may need new parts?  Let your service technician know, they can bring these parts to you at time of opening. Pool openings require chemicals usually shock, water balancers, and stabilized chlorine.  If you do not want to use our chemicals, leave your chemicals easily accessible, we will use your chemicals first.

After your pool is open, run your pump for 24 hours continuously.  This allows water circulation and proper chemical distribution through out your pool.  Afterwards adjust your daily run time to meet your specific needs. The most common pool struggles for homeowners after pool opening are cloudy water, filter pressure, and leak detection.  Here are the most common fixes for these struggles:

• Check your filter and backwash often for cloudy water, maybe try a clarifier as well.

• If your filter pressure is low, this often means there is blockage somewhere inspect skimmer baskets, pump baskets, and filter media for obstruction.

• Try the bucket test if you feel you may have a pool leak.  Fill a bucket with pool water and leave on pool steps, mark both sides of bucket the water levels.  Compare water levels on both sides after 24 hours, if the pool water drops more than the bucket, you most likely have a leak somewhere.

Make sure you inspect your pool equipment regularly during the pool season to avoid any long term problems and/or issues.  Call or email us anytime with questions.  Have a great swim season!