Everything you need to know (and have) to properly clean your pool

For two people to celebrate a symbolic contract that decrees them friends, there must be sympathy, emotional ties, loyalty, trust, perhaps common interests, perhaps a similar scale of values, d love and respect. And in the summer hopefully a swimming pool.

At this season of the year, this last element can replace one, two or even almost all the characteristics indicated above. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so common to read people in Instagram stories looking for friends with a swimming pool. During the warmer months, that hole full of cold water can be the difference between a sweltering Sunday in the sun and an exquisite day smelling of sunscreen.

But just as friendship is a small plant that needs watering and tending to stay healthy, a swimming pool is an asset that also takes dedication to stay fresh and clear. Arduous work that can become unbearable if the knowledge and secrets of the pool are not mastered. We research and consult with water, filter and chemical experts to find out everything you need to clean, chlorinate and maintain the pool of your dreams.

Patricio Castro is an electronics engineer in telecommunications, passionate about science and also a perfectionist. For this reason, when a swimming pool was built, it was made 8 meters long, 4 meters wide and 1.30 meters deep, to avoid accidents, to be able to swim and also to practice sports such as volleyball -water ball.

Looking at his crystal clear pool, he confesses that just looking at the water is a source of pleasure for him. “You have to wear sunglasses, yes,” he warns, because they are so immaculate that the reflection damages his eyesight.

Nine years ago, after finding her cleaning service ineffective, she decided to get to work. He investigated and discovered that there were Dolphin robot pool cleaners, and became the official importer and distributor of these alluring aquatic machines that the press even compared at one point to wall. “With the robot, we save water, chemicals and electricity. It’s also safer, more sustainable and environmentally friendly,” he says.

But the most common mistake people make with their pools, Castro says, is that they don’t consider the pH of the water. With these two letters, it refers to the acidity of the liquid, which will determine its ability to repel the reproduction of microorganisms that turn it green.

“A lot of people think that just adding chlorine will keep the water clean,” he explains. “But if the pH is not good, it is useless.” No matter how much bleach you put on it, that disappointing green tint won’t go away.

Roberto Garcés is managing director of cleaners , an online store specializing in swimming pools that also sells cleaning equipment and robots. An oft-repeated problem, he says, is that people neglect the pool during the winter and let the water turn green. “When that happens, the work to get it back is very long and difficult, and you have to put a lot of chemicals on it.”

The summer season is when the pool is used the most, not only by humans but also by algae and bacteria, “which reproduce more quickly with heat”, specifies Garcés. This is why treatments in summer must be more frequent, especially if you have a heating system, such as a heat pump or solar panels: at higher temperatures, you have to be more careful.

“The delivery or removal of chlorine must be daily, because algae and bacteria fall into the water every day. Many people perform liquid or granular chlorine shock, injecting large amounts of these chemicals only once a week. However, no matter how much you put in, the effect only lasts a few days,” he explains.

“You have to make sure that there is always a minimum level of chlorine, and for this we recommend using chlorine tablets”, he suggests, which can be placed both in special floats and in the compartments intended for it.

“The most important thing is to regulate the pH, the correct value of which should be between 7.2 and 7.6,” explains Castro. That is, neither the water should be neither acidic (with a very low value) nor alkaline (very high), but neutral.

When the pH of the water is alkaline (higher), it is dangerous for the eyes and the skin, in addition to the fact that the effect in the pool will be contrary to what was expected, since the water becomes cloudy and damage the paint.

However, if the pH is lower than these figures (ie very acidic), it also causes irritation of the skin and eyes, and the proliferation of algae is favored.

“To measure the pH, there are several tests, very easy to use, which deliver the results immediately. According to these, you have to add a chemical product to raise the pH or another to lower it”, adds Garcés. It is said that in the summer this measurement should be carried out at least once a week.

“In some countries, it is forbidden to use chlorine in swimming pools,” explains Castro. “There is data that it can cause skin and health damage, such as asthma, or even more serious complications.” For this reason, there is also the possibility of keeping the water clean through salt chlorination, although it is a larger investment: it costs more than a million pesos to install this system .

“There are other alternatives, such as bromine or copper ions”, specifies Garcés. Emphasize that if chlorine is used in ionizing tablets, UV rays or salt chlorinators, a weekly examination is enough and more than enough. However, if granulated chlorine or liquid chlorine are used, which are the most traditional formats, this task is a daily one.

The latest swimming pool safety report, published by the mutual security warns that home accidents are the leading cause of death among children aged 0-5. These claims also include falling or drowning in swimming pools.

For this reason, in addition to the ever-important recommendation to use sunscreen, the report provides a series of suggestions, such as always being aware of children’s movements, since water surfaces are very attractive to children — especially less than 4 years old—and these can drown even in 30 cm of water.

If there are girls or boys of this age at home, “it is recommended to put bars or fixed barriers of at least 120 cm. If your pool is plastic, cover it to prevent unintentional falls, and when you stop swimming, remove all flashy pool toys and floats.”

The report also advises marking deep areas of pools with floats or graphics, and not using extension cords or electrical appliances near water. Also check filter caps so they don’t suck in limbs or hair, and store pool cleaners in a safe place.

Roberto Garcés says that among his clients there are people who, for economic reasons, have had to start taking care of their swimming pools and others who have decided to turn the ritual into a form of therapy.

“Cleaning the pool isn’t just about adding chlorine: it’s all it takes to get rid of all the physical dirt: from leaves, hair and sticks that can be removed with a net, to algae that died with the use of chemicals, or the earth that settles at the bottom”.

The first thing is to learn how to take care of the pump and the filter. “The pump is equipped with a pre-filter basket responsible for retaining the largest dirt. To clean it, you have to take out the basket and remove everything it has caught.

The filter, on the other hand, is responsible for retaining the slightest dirt, that which is contained in the quartz, which is a very fine sand where the dirt is stuck.

The filters have a self-cleaning system called backwashing, a process that should be done once a week or at most every two weeks.

In addition to this, you must have a minimum cleaning set: nets to remove leaves or larger dirt that remains on the surface, brooms to clean the walls, in addition to the poles, which are the long rods that we help to access every corner. .

The following kit includes all the basics for a good cleaning: a wheeled vacuum trolley, a 4.5 meter three-piece pole, a 7.5 meter sky blue hose, a flat net, a 45 cm broom and a two-parameter mop to test the pH.

Finally, there is the vacuum cleaner or the pool cleaner, which, as Garcés explains, “are the equipment that removes the dirt that is at the bottom of the pool”. There are manual alternatives, like the typical cart with a hose connected to the filter, which the person moves with the pole and decides which areas to clean. There is also the automatic pool cleaner, equipment that only moves along the bottom and walls of the pool; and finally robot cleaners, which are the most advanced equipment for cleaning.

Pool cleaner robots “are state-of-the-art machines and are very easy to use,” says Patricio Castro. “Even a child could start it. They work in any type of swimming pool and, like a vacuum cleaner or a polisher, they clean and shine surfaces, walls and water pipes,” he says.

Like a strong friendship, there are many ways to keep a swimming pool fresh and healthy. The good thing is that by making sure you have a flawless this summer, even if you are a bad person, not very funny or very faithful, you will (almost) always be a precious friend.

*Prices for products in this item are current as of October 19, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change.