Swimming pool management and maintenance: Complete Guide

Pool management and maintenance: whether you have an Intex or Bestway pool, discover the parameters to keep under control, the treatments to carry out and the summary table with causes and solutions of the most common pool problems.

To ensure the protection of swimmers in your pool and extend the life of your pool over time, pool maintenance is essential: monitoring the right parameters, intervening using the right chemical products and treating the water correctly are the main activities that you will learn about in this guide.

What parameters should I monitor?

There are essentially 4 parameters of your pool water to keep under control:

• The pH: the pH of the water provides the acidity/basicity value of the water; the value should be between 7.2-7.6. A Ph value lower than 7 indicates acidic water which tends to corrode metal elements and cause burning of the mucous membranes and eyes. If the pH value exceeds 7.6 the water is basic, this favors the development of bacterial flora, limestone encrustations and makes the water cloudy.
  Maintaining the pH in the 7.2-7.6 range allows the chlorine to work well, obtaining a faster and more persistent germicidal action over time; furthermore the water is non-corrosive or cloudy and non-irritating for swimmers.
• There hardness, defines the concentration of calcium and magnesium bicarbonates dissolved in water. Excessively "hard" water causes encrustations on ladders, lining and pool pipes; on the contrary, water that is too "soft" is corrosive and attacks the metal parts of our pool. The ideal hardness value is between 15-25°F.
• THE dissolved salts, are the ions of metals such as copper and iron that make the water opaque and colored, being oxidized by chlorine. Ideal values are within the range 200-500mg/l.
• L'alkalinity, represents the total quantity of salts dissolved in the water, this value, often poorly controlled, is responsible for unwanted effects; in fact, an excessively low value makes it very difficult to manage the pH of the water, while a high alkalinity causes excessive encrustations. When the water is very calcareous, it will be advisable to keep the Ph closer to the value of 7.2 to avoid encrustations, when the water used is low in salts or rain, the Ph will have to be closer to 7.6 to avoid annoying irritation of the mucous membranes .

What are the main treatments to perform on my pool water?

Disinfection of swimming pool water through chlorination it is certainly the most widespread method, although not the only one; the value of free chlorine in the water should be between 0.6ppm and 1.50ppm, uniformly inside the tank. Here you are the main treatments with chlorine-based products:

Shock treatment or superchlorination.

This water treatment should be carried out at the beginning of the season and every 2 weeks in private pools.
There is a chlorine content called break point, beyond which all the contaminants in the water are eliminated and the chlorine still available will act against any contaminants that may appear; during superchlorination the chlorine in the water is brought beyond the break-point, this leads to the elimination of chloramines (responsible for the annoying smell of chlorine and other contaminants). Once the treatment has been carried out, it will be advisable to wait for an entire filtering cycle before rechecking the value and it will not be necessary to add more chlorine until the values return to normal. This treatment becomes essential during the summer period, when the increase in temperature favors the proliferation of bacteria and algae. The recommended product to use is fast-dissolving chlorine (56% granular chlorine).

Chlorination treatment.

Normal swimming pool maintenance treatment to be carried out with Slow dissolving chlorine in 200g tablets; the objective of this treatment is to slowly but regularly release chlorine into the water in order to oxidize the microorganisms present in the water (gungos, bacteria, algae). Under normal operating conditions the free chlorine concentration must be in the range between 0.6-1.00ppm.

Anti-algae treatment.

Ph values above 7.6, high temperatures and insufficient chlorination favor the proliferation of algae and black algae; at the beginning of the season and periodically it is necessary to enter an anti-algae product either in the skimmer or in the compensation tank.

Flocculation treatment.

This treatment has the aim of promoting the filtration process with the aim of eliminating the microscopic particles that cloud it from the water. The molecules of the flocculant in contact with the water increase in volume and form cross-linked figs which, depositing in the sand filter, increase its filtering power, allowing it to block even the smallest particles. This treatment must be carried out with the system functioning by entering the flocculant in the skimmer or in the compensation tank.

Here is a summary table with the most frequent swimming pool problems and solutions:

The summary table of the most frequent problems with solutions.

Alternative methods

Some use dissolved salts to disinfect the water in their pool, others use products based on oxygen. Products based on saline solutions have the disadvantage of being very aggressive towards the structure of the swimming pools into which they are placed, while oxygen has the advantage of being usable by those who are allergic to chlorine.
In any case it is advisable to ask your specialist dermatologist for further information.

Interesting guides

Also read the guide to learn how to clean your pool filter at the beginning of the season.