There is something really enchanting about summer. Oh yeah! You can’t wait to — temporarily — cast away the winter blues and enjoy great times outdoor. Perhaps planning your traditional family or friends pool party with the summer barbecue and lots of drinks to keep the bellies happy.
However, to ensure the pool party is a success, there are important considerations you need to make before opening the pool to ensure it’s ready for summer. This often means hiring professional pool opening services but with handy-skills and the right information, this is something you can actually do yourself.
Skills you have! Get information on the proper methods and steps for successful pool openings.
Carefully Remove and Store Pool Cover
Removing a pool’s cover can often bring with some challenges, especially if you haven’t been removing water, dirt, and debris that collects on the cover over the winter period. This is particularly common solid vinyl pool covers.
So you need to approach this step with caution to ensure you not only damage the cover but also debris don’t fall into the pool water affecting its clarity, which can translate to costly hours of filtration. The first thing is to drain off the water and try to remove the debris as much as you can.
To avoid all that, have someone hold one corner of the cover while you hold the other, and together slowly slide the cover to remove. Once it’s done, it’s recommended to properly clean the cover before you can store, which is only done when it’s completely dry.
Turn On and Test if Filter System is Functioning
During this step, you need to switch on the pump and filter system to ensure they’re working properly. Assemble the pump again if you had installed winterizing plugs, and connect the filter, drain plugs and heater if you have any. It’s a crucial step that helps uncover damages and pipe leakages early for repairs or replacements.
If the filter is blocked with impurities, consider replacing it before it damages the entire system. The circulation and filtration of pool water through the system produce compressed air, which has to be completely removed before opening the system. Prime the pump first then power on the system and water to circulate for a few hours.
Swimming Pool Vacuuming and Cleaning
This is one of the important steps in pool openings that involve several cleaning processes. Depending on your water clarity, you may need to vacuum your pool and thoroughly brush the walls to ensure clean pool water. Pools with visible bottoms may not need a lot of cleaning, perhaps only the walls. Otherwise if your pool has an invisible bottom due to poor water clarity, it’s advisable to brush the walls and allow the pool to filter for 24 hours. This is will help you have better water clarity during pool floor vacuuming.
The filter has to be cleaned regularly through a backwashing process to ensure it works optimally in promoting clarity. Vacuuming your swimming pool will not only improve the clarity but also help maintain balanced pool water and reduce time and resources removing algae. Also, your pool chemicals will function more efficiently.
Balanced Pool Chemistry
The last but vital step in pool openings is usually to balance the chemicals inside the pool water. But this will depend on how clean your pool is — pools with invisible bottoms and build-up of algae will require more chlorine than regular.
Add essential pool maintenance and balancing chemicals that will bring the pH, alkalinity, calcium to optimal levels. If you have a salt generator, make sure the cell is clean so as not to impend chlorine production.
With these pool openings steps, you’re certain to conduct a successful pool opening and prepare your pool for a fun-filled summer at the pool. A pool company can help you with pool opening and pool closing with many of them also offering pool repair and maintenance services.
