DIY Pool Maintenance - Summer Sparkle Series

Maintaining the proper balance of your pool’s water chemistry is key to keeping your family healthy — avoiding the itching, burning and bacteria that can make you sick.  And there are plenty of factors that can throw off the balance, from sunlight to falling debris to body oils.

Keep your test strips or test kit handy so you can check your pool water every day and make sure levels are where they need to be. Here’s a guide to help you:

Chlorine kills bacteria, helps prevent algae growth and destroys other organic matter in the water, so maintaining proper chlorine levels is key to making the water safe to swim in.

But before chlorine can do its job, your water’s pH has to be stabilized. If the pH is too high, chlorine becomes inactive. Too low, and chlorine becomes unstable and could evaporate — reducing its effectiveness.

Once your water pH and your alkalinity are balanced, it’s time to chlorinate.

• Chlorinate your pool in the evening to allow the maximum length of time for the disinfectant to take effect; strong sunlight can actually deactivate and destroy the chlorine in your pool!
• Shock your pool (called superchlorination) to block the accumulation of organic waste products. Swimming should be off-limits until chlorine levels return to normal.
• The ideal time to shock your pool is every other Sunday evening, since they follow heavy swim periods, which can alter levels.

Just as important as keeping your chemicals in check is making sure your pool water is at the right level. And after an afternoon of cannonballs, or after vacuuming the pool, the water level can get too low, which can affect your water chemistry.

To keep your skimmer working properly, it’s recommended to keep the water level between one third and one half the way up the opening of the pool skimmer.¹

What does it mean if the water is green? Check out our Troubleshooting Guide for some common pool problems, and easy ways to solve them.