Whether you are a new pool owner or a seasoned pool veteran, there is one maintenance task that you should be tackling weekly, if not more often.  Your pool is quite a sensitive thing really, you might expect that keeping a large puddle in your back garden would be easy, but there is a lot of science to making sure it stays safe and a lot of work keeping it healthy.

Pool life is all about balance

The balance of the chemicals in your pool is essential to keeping it healthy and by extension anyone that swims in it.  The pH level and the alkalinity level in the water need to keep each other in check, if they are unbalanced then this can lead to anything from stinging eyes to serious illness for swimmers.  There is also the sanitiser level to monitor as well, this is the chlorine in the water that we add to the mix to ensure all the unpleasant bacteria is taken care of.

Checking the balance

Here it is, this is the task that should be done at least once a week – testing your pool water.  This is where a sample of pool water is removed and tested by one of several methods to reveal how the balance is getting on inside your pool.  The most important aspect of testing the water is not necessarily how you test it, but how you gather your sample.  Ensure that you hold your sample container with the opening pointing down towards the water and then make sure that you get it around elbow deep into the pool.  Now turn the container around so the opening points up, the air escapes and your sample fills it.  Remove it from the pool and conduct your tests or take it to your local pool store for them to test it for you.

Taking the test

There are two types of test you can conduct yourself at home, of the two the simplest to use is definitely test strips.  These are simple strips of card or plastic that you dip into your sample briefly before holding up to let the colour change and this colour gives you the result of your test.  You can also get liquid tests which you add a few drops of to your sample and then compare the colour it turns to the chats enclosed to get your result.  Whichever method you choose to try, just remember that with all products you get what you pay for and choosing cheaper but inferior products could provide a less accurate result; make sure you use a trusted retailer such as APS Rewinds for your pool products.

Maintaining the balance

Every aspect of your pool is important when it comes to keeping this balance, you need a reliable pool filter, a good cleaning and testing regime and enough knowledge to take action quickly when things are off balance so that they don’t escalate at the very least.