Whether you have an above-ground, semi-buried or buried pool, it is essential to maintain it with a metronome regularity to be able to bathe in clear and healthy water. Pool maintenance is just as important to prolong the life of the pool and the devices with which it is equipped. We must therefore have a real arsenal of products and accessories, and there is no question of derogating from it. Here are the top tips for swimming like a fish in maintained pool water.
Essential swimming pool maintenance products
To guarantee all swimmers the pleasure of swimming in the pool, the water must absolutely be completely free of organic matter such as algae, bacteria, fungi and others. All these micro-organisms make it unsuitable for swimming. Fortunately, its sanitation is possible thanks to treatment solutions. It’s about :
- Bromine: this chemical element very present in seawater is effective in swimming pools and odourless. Marketed in different forms (powder, tablets), it is very easy to use and allows you to perfectly disinfect the water in your swimming pool.
- Chlorine: it is the chemical that pool owners use most frequently. Very affordable in terms of price, it is offered in pebbles, powder, pellets or even in liquid form. Easy to use, it is very effective. Beware, however, of overdose, which leads to irritation of the eyes, mucous membranes and skin. Unlike bromine, which is odorless, chlorine gives swimming pool water an odor that many of us don’t like very much.
It is also necessary to ensure very regularly to maintain water balance. The essential products are:
- The pH corrector (Hydrogen potential): depending on whether this level needs to be raised or lowered, either a booster (pH Plus) or a reducer (pH Minus) is used. The water must always be perfectly balanced to avoid excess limescale, the risk of corrosion, cloudy water, the proliferation of algae, problems of skin irritation. the pH readjustment is required as soon as this rate is lower than 7 or higher than 7.4.
- The floculant : it guarantees the extreme clarity of the bathing water since it causes the agglomeration of all the impurities which are then eliminated via the filtration system.
- And algicide: to always have on hand, this product acts against algae which, in excess, give the pool water a green color.
- And metal sequestrant: to be used if the water becomes brown, black or reddish, these colorations being due to an excess of manganese or iron in the pool water. It is also the solution to which one resorts when the water becomes translucent green because of the presence of copper.
- A product for adjust the Complete Alkalimetric Title: the TAC is expressed in French degrees (°f) or in milligrams per liter (mg/l). It is actually the alkalinity of the water. Its rate is intimately linked to that of the pH since it stabilizes it. Thus, when the TAC is within the norm, the pH is stable. The ideal TAC is between 8 and 14°f.
- A product for rebalance the Hydrotimetric Title: the TH (expressed in °f) is ideal when it is between 10 and 25°f. If it is too high, there is concern for the pipes and pool equipment due to the rapid accumulation of limescale deposits. We therefore risk scaling. If it is too low, corrosion is to be feared because it degrades everything that is PVC but also cement. We therefore use a lime sequestrant in case of high TH, and a alkaline product if the TH is below the norm. But then, it is necessary to recheck and correct the pH if necessary.
Pool maintenance accessories
Here are some accessories to buy to facilitate the maintenance of your swimming pool.
- The salt chlorinator: it transforms salt diluted in water into natural chlorine. It can therefore be used if you do not wish to use bromine or chlorine to disinfect bathing water. It is an automatic treatment solution linked to the filtration box. It must therefore be compatible with the pump. In addition, the technical room must be spacious enough to install a salt chlorinator, especially since it is strongly recommended to couple it to a pH regulator.
- The electric photometer, an electronic TAC tester that also measures pH and chlorine levels. But if you do not want to invest a lot of money in a device, it is possible to opt for strips to measure the Complete Alkalimetric Title.
- water quality tester which allows you to instantly know the pH of the water but also the chlorine level.
- pool vacuum cleaner where the pool robot: mandatory, the walls, bottom and water line must be cleaned as often as possible, even every day when the pool is very busy, for example. The most practical is robot autonome which does not need a connection to a pipe or to be connected to a cable. It works with an integrated battery. Its autonomy must be sufficient if you have a large swimming pool.
- landing net: essential to immediately eliminate some insects or plant debris, for example, which could spoil the pleasure of swimming.
- The surface skimmer for above-ground pools: imperatively connected to a suitable pump and attached to the suction nozzle, it eliminates debris floating on the water line.
Finally, elbow grease is essential to have an impeccable swimming pool. Even if you have a state-of-the-art robot, you have to scrub from time to time to remove traces of limescale, stains, and grime accumulated in the corners. Likewise, the filtration system should be cleaned frequently.
So that pool maintenance is carried out regularly without the risk of forgetting one task or another, it is advisable to keep a kind of logbook which can be requested from the FPP (Federation of Pool Professionals) or quite simply to his swimming pool specialist. The preservation of the swimming pool depends on the rigueur with which it is maintained. For more peace of mind, it is possible to take out a swimming pool maintenance contract. Each contract being personalized, it is necessary request multiple quotes through a comparator in order to find out about the rates applied and the services offered.