The warm weather is here, and you’ve looked forward to opening your pool all winter. You also know that getting your pool ready for the summer season means more than pulling the cover back, filling it up again with the garden hose, and diving in. There are a number of things you need to do to make sure the water in your pool is not only crystal clear and alluring on a scorching summer day but safe to swim in. Here are six things to do before opening up your pool for summer.
1. Replace Rubber Surfacing Around the Pool Deck
Rubber surfacing around the pool deck goes far in reducing the risk of dangerous slips and falls. If your rubber surfacing looks worn, don’t hesitate to call a professional and have it replaced before you open your pool.
2. Make Sure the Equipment is Ready
You can check the equipment yourself, or if you don’t quite know what to look for, hire a pool professional. They’ll remove the winter plugs if they’ve been added to the pool, and make sure that pumps, filters, and other pool equipment are working the way they should. If they’re not, the professional can fix them. They may even clean your pool with a pool vacuum or skimmer if any debris has fallen into it, and perform the other tasks that need to be done before your pool is ready for guests.
3. Clean, Then Remove the Pool Cover
Brush or blow off debris such as fallen leaves, twigs, nuts, seeds, and flowers from your pool cover, then take it off. If there are puddles of water on the cover, you may need to use a pump made to remove them. If it’s not one of those covers that disappears into its own compartment, take it off gently, then take it to a place where it can be opened fully. Scrub it with mild dishwashing detergent, hose it down, and let the sun dry it out. Then fold it and store it till next fall. Ideally, the cover should be stored in a container in a cool, dark, dry place.
4. Add Water to the Pool
Some water has inevitably evaporated over the winter, so the pool’s water levels are not where they should be. You can use your garden hose to fill up your pool to the waterline. You might even want to hire a truck that provides water without you having to use your own supply. It takes a far shorter time to fill your pool, but it is a little pricey.
5. Test the Water
Test the water when your pool’s water level is where it should be. This is done through test strips that let you know how hard the water is, its pH, how much chlorine it has, and its alkalinity. All of these should be in a certain range to make swimming in the water both safe and pleasurable.
6. Shock the Pool
Shocking the pool just means adding chlorine to it to kill bacteria. You’ll need to turn on the pump and filter for this, and let them run for six hours or so. Again, a pool professional can help with this.
