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1. Run your pump 8 to 12 hours a day. Don't be pennywise and pound-foolish. Your pool water can't be cleaned unless ALL the water runs through the filter. If you have a diving pool, It must run near the longer limit due to a larger volume of water. Depending on your electricity provider, some offer a discounted rate during off-peak hours. This can lower your pool pump electricity usage. According to our local electricity providers, the average one horsepower pool pump that is run 8 hours a day during OFF-PEAK (ususally 9pm to 9am weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday), uses approximately 50 cents per 8 hours of operation. That's $15/mo. If it is run 8 hours during PEAK, it uses approximately $1.50 per 8 hours or $45/mo. Solar heated pools must run during the day.
2. Clean your filter whenever the filter gauge pressure increases 5 PSI (pounds per square inch). If it's a sand filter, simply backwash it. For DE filters, remove the grids once or twice a season and clean them. If using a cartridge filter, clean the cartridge frequently with a forceful stream of water from the garden hose getting between all of the pleats. Inspect cartridges and DE grids for torn elements. Cartridges can also become clogged with oils and residue that require them to be soaked in a solution or replaced. Remember to empty skimmer and pump baskets regularly, especially after a storm.
3. Test your pool frequently during Arizona's swim season. Purchase a new test kit at the beginning of each season. The test solutions become unreliable after one season. New on the market are Test Strips that you just dip in the water and match up the colors on the strip to the legend on the bottle. These are available at most large chain stores & pool supply stores. Increased bather use, Monsoon storms, and wind bring in undesireables that can change your pool chemistry in a matter of hours.
4. Clean your pool as soon after a storm as possible. Dirt and leaves absorb chemicals and reduce their effectiveness. When finished, observe filter gauge for increased pressure. (The filter may be plugged with dirt requiring it to be cleaned or backwashed)
5. Shock. That means add a concentration of chlorine or a non-chlorine shock treatment to go after the newly added heavy dose of bacteria and contaminants from body oils etc. introduced by people and airborne particles. Just keeping the chlorine level in range does not prevent algae from forming. Resistance to a certain level of chlorine by algae can build up suddenly. Shocking helps break that resistance.
6. Use an algaestat. That's an algae preventative. Clarifiers help cloudy pools. A clarifier clumps the molecules together so that the dirty molecules get carried into the filter and trapped there.
7. Don't let algae get out of hand. At the first signs of algae, go after it. When you use an algaecide, it will automatically drop your chlorine level so always add a chlorine shock after using an algaecide. Follow the label instructions.
8. Adjust your chlorine dispenser or chlorine generator (salt pools) to provide the proper amount needed to maintain a 1.0 to 3.0 chlorine presence.
9. Stay ahead of problems. Pool care timing is everything. Get on a weekly schedule of maintenance that includes brushing, re-balancing if needed, maintaining a regular chlorine level and shocking.
10. Always add your necessary maintenace doses during the day. That's when the most demands are on the pool (sun, rain, people, etc.). Also make sure to circulate the water whenever you are adding chemicals to the pool.
When in doubt or if you have questions, the best tip is to call us.... we'll help you diagnose your situation and give you a FREE estimate if you wish.
AMCO Pool Service
(623) 932-9104
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