How To Get Your Pool Ready For The Summer Sun
The pool has been out of action for a few months, but now you have to get it ready for the summer sun. Days and evenings are much easier to deal with when you can cool down in your pool, but you can’t simply take the cover off and go for a quick dip. You’ve got to tackle some key pool maintenance tasks to ensure it’s safe for everyone to use.
Give Everything A Thorough Clean
Start with the pool cover before you even address the pool. You want to clean this prior to removing it so any dirt and debris doesn’t fall into the pool itself. It’s worth getting a vacuum cleaner that works on outdoor stuff for this – or you can use a leaf blower to blow it all off the cover and then collect it with a dustpan and brush.
Then you can move on to the actual pool, in which case it may be better to get a pool service company to clean it. After several months of inactivity, you’ll need a deep clean with chemicals and all sorts of stuff that you probably don’t have access to. Let the specialists handle this so you can be confident that your pool is now very clean.
Test The Equipment
Pools are more than just holes in the ground that turn your garden into the entertainment space you’ve always wanted. They include lots of working parts and equipment, such as:
- Water pumps
- Filters
- Heating elements
You need to test every piece of equipment to make sure it still works. Some of these things will have been turned off during the winter to save energy, so you need to give them a quick test run before you actually use your pool. If you bring someone in to clean your pool, the chances are they can also service the parts, which gives you one less job to do.
Either repair or replace broken parts, or enjoy the relief of not needing to do anything because everything works perfectly!
Get The Water Ready
You’re now in a place where your pool is clean, tidy, and everything around it works as expected. The final consideration is a big one: the water. Start by checking the water chemistry, and then ensure you balance it accordingly. The ideal water chemistry can depend on whether you have a saltwater or chlorinated pool, but you can usually find this information online – or it’ll be supplied by whoever installed your pool.
With the right balance in place, you can slowly start to refill your pool so it reaches the ideal water level, which is around the midpoint of the skimmer opening. Finally, you should turn on the filter and let it run for 24 hours before first use. This helps filter any bad stuff out and ensures your first dip in the pool involves lovely, clear water.
And just like that, you’re ready to use your pool once more. It was a huge hit last summer, and with temperatures on the rise again this year, it’s almost certainly going to be the highlight of this summer too.
