Weekly pool maintenance: what it takes

Less than most people fear, more than a pool store sticker suggests. For a typical backyard pool in our area, plan on a few minutes most days to look at the water, skim what floated in and check chlorine, plus one longer session each week to do the full routine. That longer session is where the brushing, vacuuming and chemistry adjustments happen.

The time goes up in three stretches of the Northeast Ohio season. Late May and June bring tree pollen and cottonwood fluff. July and August bring thunderstorms that dump rain into the pool and leaves onto the deck. October, if you are still swimming, brings leaves by the bagful. The rest of the summer is usually quiet.

Equipment makes a real difference. A robotic cleaner turns vacuuming into lifting a machine in and out. A variable-speed pump on a schedule keeps the water turning over without anyone flipping a switch. Automation can handle the timing of lights, heat and pump speed from a phone.

• Look at the water. Is it clear enough to see the drain? Any green tint in the corners?
• Skim leaves, bugs and pollen off the surface before they sink.
• Test free chlorine and pH, at least when people are using the pool.
• Glance at the water level. It should sit around the middle of the skimmer opening.

The CDC's guidance for home pools is to test chlorine and pH at least twice a day, and more often when a lot of people are swimming. Most families do not test that often on a quiet weekday. But on a hot Saturday with ten kids in the pool, chlorine can drop fast, and testing before and after is sensible.

1. Test the full set. Free chlorine, pH and total alkalinity every week. Cyanuric acid and calcium hardness less often, perhaps monthly.
2. Adjust in order. Alkalinity first, then pH, then chlorine.
3. Empty the baskets. Skimmer baskets and the pump basket. A clogged basket starves the pump.
4. Brush the walls, steps and floor. This knocks loose the film that algae starts on, especially in corners and on steps where circulation is weaker.
5. Vacuum or run the robotic cleaner.
6. Check the filter pressure against your clean starting pressure.
7. Top up the water if evaporation has pulled it down.
8. Look over the equipment pad for drips, odd noises or anything that has changed.

For shocking, many owners add a dose of shock once a week or after heavy use. Others hold a steady chlorine level and only shock when the water needs it. Either way works if the numbers stay in range.

Here is how it tends to go for a family with a fiberglass pool in, say, Stow or Tallmadge in July. Monday through Friday, someone skims for two minutes in the evening and dips a test strip. Thursday brings a thunderstorm, so Friday's test shows chlorine down and pH up a touch, and they add a little of each. Saturday morning is the long session: full test, baskets, brush, robot in, filter gauge, top-up. Sunday the pool gets used hard, so they test before and after swimming and add chlorine at night. That is a normal week. Nothing dramatic, just small corrections before they grow.

The CDC recommends a pH of 7.2 to 7.8 in home pools, and a free chlorine level of at least 1 ppm, or at least 2 ppm if you use stabilized chlorine or cyanuric acid, because stabilizer slows how fast chlorine kills germs. Keeping pH in range also protects your pipes and keeps swimmers from getting red eyes and itchy skin.

Pentair points out that pH above 7.8 can lead to cloudy water, scaling and weaker chlorine, and that high alkalinity causes the same cloudiness and scale. Low pH and low alkalinity go the other way, and water that is too soft or too acidic is hard on surfaces and equipment. Weekly testing catches these drifts before they become problems.

One thing to watch with chlorine tablets, which contain stabilizer: cyanuric acid builds up over a season. When it gets too high, chlorine works more slowly, even if the test reads fine. If you use tablets, test cyanuric acid every few weeks.

Read the pressure gauge. When the filter is clean, note the starting pressure. As the filter catches dirt, the pressure rises. For a DE filter like the Pentair FNS Plus in our packages, Pentair says to backwash when the pressure reads about 10 psi above the original starting pressure, or when you notice the flow dropping. After backwashing, add fresh DE through the skimmer.

If the pressure is still high right after a backwash, the grids need a proper cleaning. Most owners do that a couple of times a season, including at closing. A cartridge filter works on the same pressure idea, but you pull the cartridges and hose them off rather than backwash.

Do not clean the filter more often than it needs. A DE or cartridge filter actually filters finer when it is slightly loaded, so cleaning it at the first sign of a pressure rise wastes water and DE.

After a thunderstorm. Heavy rain dilutes chlorine, knocks pH around and washes in dirt, pollen and fertilizer from the lawn. Test the day after a big storm and correct before algae gets a start. Check the water level too. A downpour can overfill a pool, and if the level rises above the skimmer the skimmer stops working.

Pollen season. In late spring, pollen forms a yellow film on the surface and settles as fine dust. Skim often, keep chlorine steady and expect to clean the filter more. The yellow dust is not algae, but it can hide it.

Heat waves. A string of 85 degree days warms the water, burns chlorine faster and invites algae. Test more often and run the pump longer.

Leaves. Oaks and maples near a pool mean daily skimming in fall. Leaves left on the floor stain surfaces and use up chlorine as they rot.

Yes. Fiberglass has a smooth gel coat that gives algae very little to hold on to, so it usually needs less brushing and fewer chemicals than the other types. Use soft brushes made for fiberglass.

A vinyl liner is also smooth, but it can be torn by sharp tools or pool toys, and it can wrinkle if the water level drops too far. Brush gently and keep the level steady.

Concrete and plaster surfaces are porous, so algae finds more places to grip. Concrete pools usually need the most brushing, and plaster chemistry needs closer attention to avoid etching or scaling.

Weekly care is not only about the water. Once a week, make sure every drain and suction cover is in place and not cracked, because the Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that drain suction can trap a swimmer. Open each gate in the pool barrier and let it go to confirm it closes and latches by itself. Move chairs, coolers and planters away from the outside of the fence so a child cannot use them to climb. Put the reaching pole and life ring back where they belong.

A salt system makes chlorine from dissolved salt in a cell on the equipment pad. It does not remove the weekly routine. You still test and balance, and you add salt now and then and clean the cell as scale builds up. What it removes is buying and handling chlorine.

A heater adds a check that it is firing and holding temperature, and warm water makes chemistry drift faster. Automation adds convenience: pump schedules, lights and heat from your phone. It does not test water for you unless you add a chemistry controller.

In June, probably nothing much. In the middle of an August heat wave after a thunderstorm, you may come back to a green pool. Algae can bloom in a few days when chlorine drops and the water is warm. Clearing it takes more chemicals, more filter cleaning and more time than the week you skipped. If you are going on vacation, raise the chlorine a little before you leave, make sure the pump schedule is running and have someone skim and look at the water once or twice.

Most owners can learn this in a season. It is routine, not hard. Where weekly service earns its keep is for people who travel in summer, who would rather spend the time swimming, or who want a trained eye on the equipment. We offer weekly cleaning and maintenance, including water testing, chemical balancing and equipment checks, alongside openings, closings and repairs. Our guide on pool service plans covers what is worth paying for and what you can easily do yourself.