Pool Maintenance Checklist

June 9, 2022 by HQ Pools

Are you doing everything you should be on a weekly basis to keep your pool clean and safe to swim in? At High Quality H2O Pool Service, we offer a weekly pool cleaning service for Monmouth County homeowners that lets you take back the hours per week it takes to maintain your pool. If you decide to do it yourself, here’s a handy checklist that you can go over every week.

CIRCULATION

Keeping the water flowing properly around your pool is key to keeping debris from settling. You can accomplish that by making a few small tweaks every week.

EMPTY PUMP & FILTER BASKETS

Keep the baskets in your skimmers and pumps completely clear of debris. This is a messy job, so wear gloves if you don’t feel like getting your hands dirty. This is essential to ensure good water flow to the filter system.

RUN THE PUMP & FILTER

Run your filter 8-12 hours a day during the summer, and 4-6 hours a day in cool and colder climates.

ANGLE YOUR RETURN JETS

If your pool gets heavy use, chances are the return jets get moved around either accidentally or by kids playing with them throughout the week. Angle them slightly downwards and in the same direction so the pool water is constantly spinning around.

Proper filter pressure varies by system, but on average, a filter should be running at about 10 psi. When it increases by 10 psi, it’s time to backwash the system to reset it.

CLEANING

Cleaning should be done from top to bottom every single week.

SKIM THE SURFACE DAILY

Staying on top of skimming the surface of your pool is a boring, but incredibly important task. Failing to skim could result in debris sinking to the bottom and settling in, causing more work for your vacuum later on and encouraging the development of stains. Skim in a circular motion with the flow of the water in the pool.

BRUSH TWICE A WEEK

Brush the walls in a downward motion towards the floors in all the crevasses, steps, and ladders. Getting any algae forming off the walls and into the water allows chlorine to do its job more effectively.

INVEST IN AN AUTOMATIC VACUUM

You can find an automatic vacuum that fits your budget at any pool supply store, whether it’s suction, robotic, or pressure. Whichever you decide, make sure you’re using it properly!

CHEMISTRY

You don’t need a science degree, but you do need just a bit of experience to feel comfortable working with the chemicals required to maintain a pool.

TEST THE WATER WEEKLY

Once per week, you should be breaking out the water testing kit to test the pH level of your pool water. Even if you don’t need to do anything, it’s important that you stay on top of it.

BALANCE YOUR POOL WATER

Ideally, the pH levels in your pool should be somewhere between 7.4-7.6, the alkalinity should be between 100-150 ppm, and the calcium levels should be between 100-200 ppm. If the numbers start to fall outside this range during your weekly test, you should be taking appropriate action to balance the water

SANITIZING AND SHOCKING

Shocking your pool is intended to quickly raise the chlorine level. You can do this by grabbing a clean bucket and filling it with water. Slowly add the bag of shock to the water, being careful not to splash on yourself or breathe any fumes in. Once it’s added, stir with a clean wooden paint stirrer until it’s dissolved.

Of course, this is a lot to handle when you have a full time job and a bunch of other things going on in your life–so why not hire the guys whose job it is to do? Contact HQ Pools today!