Don’t make these pool cleaning mistakes

Scottsdale, AZ swimming pool service contractors offer tips to help you avoid pool cleaning mishaps

Swimming pools are fun and almost necessary if you live in Arizona. This means that if you have a pool you also have the responsibility of keeping that pool clean and free of bacteria. There are a couple of ways to do that — do it yourself, or hire a swimming pool service contractor from SwimRight Pools to do it for you.

Either choice can work, but you need to decide if you can be diligent enough in the cleaning that the water won’t get full of bacteria or the pool grows algae. You also need to consider that if you’re cleaning it yourself, you will need to find a place to store the chemicals and learn how to properly test your pool water and use the correct chemicals.

The top maintenance mistakes that do-it-yourselfers run into include:

1. Not checking the pool chemistry often enough. Purchase a test kit and be diligent in its use. If you don’t understand the readings, take a sample of your pool water to a pool service professional and they can test it for you.
2. Adding chlorine and other chemicals to the water during the day time when the sun is heating up the water. If you add your chemicals in the heat of the day, they will quickly evaporate under the heat of the sun. Additionally, if you add them in the daytime you may not want to to use the pool while they circulate.
3. Not taking the time to thoroughly brush the pool walls and floor and the surrounding tiles frequently enough. You also need to make certain you’re brushing around and behind the pool steps as this is where algae can take hold if you’re not diligent. Note: Once algae has taken hold in your pool it will quickly turn it into a green, slimy mess and the clean up could take a long time and be rather costly.
4. You don’t run the pump as long as you should. To know how long the pump should be run a day, you can ask a pool professional or go by the run of thumb, that it should be run for one hour for every degree of water temperature.
5. Neglecting the calcium hardness and pH levels in your pool. If they are out of line, especially the total dissolved liquids, it could cause the rest of your pool chemicals to get out of balance.

If you’ve decided to clean your pool on your own, it might be best to have a pool contractor pay a service visit to show you how to clean and test the water so that you have success — and clean water! — going forward.