Investing in a pool can be considered an investment. Why risk making common mistakes that could damage your pool equipment? Many pool owners are now facing costly repairs that you could have easily avoided.
Continue reading to find out what common mistakes you can make and how to avoid costly repairs later.
You Aren’t Treating Your Algae Problem
Many pool owners are not experienced enough to diagnose an algae problem. So instead, they use a skimming net and a pool vacuum to solve the problem.
This action is not enough to protect your pool equipment. Algae can cause problems in your pool, not only because of the apparent yuck factor. Algae can block your skimmer and cause water to stop flowing through the filter:
- Kill the algae to get rid of it effectively. To treat algae, you can use pool shock along with an algicide. After the algae have died, you can use a pool skimmer to eliminate most of it.
- Scrub the bottom and sides of the pool to remove any remaining algae.
- Remove any dead algae from the bottom and sides.
You Aren’t Maintaining PH and Alkalinity
Do you know that too low pH levels can cause damage to your pool equipment? It would help if you did not skimp on the chemicals in your pool. Your pool may look clean and healthy but slowly eats away at your pool equipment.
A highly acidic pool can cause problems to these:
- Your pool pump and filter
- The heater in your pool
- Vinyl pool liner
- Solar blanket for your pool
- Pool maintenance equipment
Low pH can cause damage to everything in your pool, including your swimsuit, pool rails, and ladders. Test it often to ensure your pool water is between 7.8 and 7.2. If your pH is too low, you can add soda ash. You can add a pH reducer if your pH is too high.
The total alkalinity level should not exceed 80 ppm to 150 ppm. Be careful not to add too much at once. It will be difficult to change the pH if your alkalinity is too high. To balance the chemicals, add a little acid each day, and allow for three days’ rest.
The pH can fluctuate if the total alkalinity drops to a low level. Therefore, it can be challenging to balance. To increase total alkalinity, you can add sodium bicarbonate.
Your Pool Water is Too Hard or Too Soft
If you don’t keep your pool water at the correct hardness, you are not protecting your fiberglass, plaster, or filter system effectively. Unfortunately, many pool owners are unaware of calcium hardness’s importance. It is just as important as monitoring the pH levels.
You can prolong the life of your pool’s interior by properly using calcium hardness.
For a vinyl or fiberglass swimming pool, ensure that you maintain the calcium hardness at a level of 175-225ppm or 200-275 ppm for concrete. This step may require extra attention during hot summer months when water can evaporate and guests splash. It is vital to keep the water hard enough. Too soft water can cause permanent damage to your pool walls and pull calcium from them.
Pool water that is too hard can cause pool equipment to become cloudy and harden. The best way to reduce hardness in pool water is to add a flocculant. This action causes calcium to clump together and can be vacuumed out. Pool floc could cause damage to your filter medium if you don’t turn it off. It would help if you also vacuumed the calcium clumps to get rid of them.
How to Keep Your Pool Healthy
There is never a dull moment when you are a pool owner. However, if you don’t want your pool equipment to get damaged, you must ensure that the water is adjusted every few days. These common pool equipment traps will help you get through your challenges faster and enjoy all the benefits of pool ownership—contact pool specialists for pool maintenance near me or if you need assistance keeping your pool balanced.
