How to Take Care of Your First Pool

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How to Take Care of Your First Pool 
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• Maintaining a pool is not as easy as you may
  think. Pools and
• spas require frequent monitoring to maintain a
  crystal clear
• look, and comfortable sanitization level. Even
  those who have
• owned swimming pools before probably do not know
  how to
• properly maintain a pool.
• So you just purchased your dream house and it has
  everything,
• including the pool you always wanted. Now, you
  desperately
• need to figure out what to do before you end up
  with a green
• swamp in your yard. Here are the basics consider
  it Pool Care
• 101, as I am intending for this page to be
  specifically for pool
• owners who have no clue. I will keep this as
  simple and basic
• as possible, assuming this is chlorine, not a
  saltwater pool.

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• First, you will need test strips. You may
  purchase these at pool supply stores, such as
• Leslies. (Aquachek is a common brand name.) These
  test strips are a basic guide to
• the water in your pool. You will put one of these
  strips in your pool and check the color
• that these small sponges turn against the color
  guide on the side of the test strip
• container. Liquid Chlorine and Muriatic Acid are
  the two chemicals that you will be
• using to balance out your water to an ideal
  sanitization level. Take a look at the
• chlorine and PH reading. Ideally your PH should
  be 7.2-7.8. This is a range that allows
• chlorine to do its job and is still comfortable
  to swim in. Eyes are less likely to become
• irritated when the PH closely resembles human
  skin. (Typically being 7.4). The
• chlorine reading should read between 2 4. If
  you are getting a 1 or a 0, you should
• add chlorine to bring the reading up, If you have
  a PH reading of 8.4, you should add
• muriatic acid to lower the PH. That is how it
  works! Either of these being off will lead to
• algae outbreaks. The amount of chlorine and acid
  to add depends on the size of your
• pool, however, if you have an average size pool
  of approximately 20,000 thousand
• gallons and you are getting a 0 on chlorine and a
  high PH reading, you could try 1 1/2
• gallons of chlorine and about 1/2 of acid. This
  is usually the way one adds chemicals,
• more chlorine than acid in approximately this
  ratio. Try another test strip the next day,
• or after the pump has been running for 6 hours.

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• You should own a net and brush. If you just
  purchased a home with a
• pool, chances are you are one the verge of an
  algae outbreak. Brush
• the walls of the pool, and the steps to see if
  there is a green cloud, if
• there is, its algae. You should brush it off the
  surface of the pool and
• check the chemicals every day to make sure that
  you have it under
• control. Try to keep the surface of the water
  free of debris, as this too
• can add the the possibility of algae. A robotic
  vacuum is a must. This
• will aid in the overall circulation of the water
  as well as keep the
• surface of the pool clean.
•  

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• I hope this helps you understand the basics of
  caring for your pool. Keep in
• mind these are the very basics of pool care.
  Please keep in mind that this is
• information to provide you with general knowledge
  that is important to know
• about your property, and to get you by until you
  find a good pool service.
• There are many aspects and details to maintaining
  a healthy pool, such as,
• alkalinity, phosphates, chlorine stabilizer, and
  possible metals. A
• professional service is always recommended,
  although finding a true
• swimming pool professional is not easy. The pool
  business is unusual in that
• a teenager can grab a net and knock on your door
  asking if you want a "pool
• guy," this is not a real professional, a good
  service is not easy to come by
• because there are so many people throwing
  chlorine and nets around to
• make a little extra money. Some good advice to
  remember is, don't hire the
• cheapest! hire someone who knows what he is
  doing. It requires money for
• the service to take proper care of your pool, and
  if they come in with a low
• price, chances are they will cut corners when it
  comes to balancing out your
• water. If you have a plaster pool and the water
  is not balanced correctly, it
• will start to wear thin and become porous. Many
  people think that they are
• saving money by letting their kids take care of
  the pool or they do it
• themselves, but in the long run, the cost to
  replace tile, plaster, and corroded