Maintaining Your Pool During The Rainy Season

There are a lot of property buyers in India seeking apartment with a swimming pool. An apartment or property with swimming pool can bring a lot of value to your home when you go to resell in the future. Whether you like to swim laps, just have pool parties or seeking a home with a swimming pool, pool maintenance is equally important. Maintaining your pool during summer or winter may be easy. But Stormy weather and rainy seasons can play havoc on your pools pH levels. Rainwater (acid rain or not) can affect your pH reading.

Pool Maintenance during rainy season

Maintaining your pool is easiest when your chemical treatment program and filtration system work together. Rainy Season will adversely affect the water’s chemical balances and rainwater brings nutrients from the air which is potential algae and Ozone which, when mixed with your pool water, alter the pH levels of your pool. This creates the ideal conditions in which algae thrive.  Following are some useful tips for swimming pool maintenance during rainy season.

• Your pool requires the proper PH level to be safe for people to swim. If you continue to monitor the PH level in your pool at prescribed time periods, it will help with maintaining proper levels.

• Rain often is slightly acidic and rain also captures pollen and other organic materials that will end up in a pool. During a prolonged rainfall, its best to check a pool’s chemical balance every few hours.

• Rainy season brings nutrients and Ozone which, when mixed with your pool water, alter the pH levels of your pool. This creates the ideal conditions in which algae thrive.  Algae may seem like it’s stuck to the sides of the pool, but it is actually free floating and will come away easily.

• Brush the walls and floor of the swimming pool to remove as much of the algae as possible. This will greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to kill and clear the algae bloom.

• Algae can grow in swimming pools if nutrients are present and a sufficient level of free chlorine is not maintained.

• Routine chlorination kills harmful microorganisms that can cause health-related problems, such as gastroenteritis, Legionnaires disease, ear infections and athlete’s foot.

• Try an algaecide for more persistent algae problems. There are two basic types of algaecide, metallic and ammonia. Both are effective, but ammonia-based algaecide is usually preferred because it’s less expensive and not as likely to leave stains in the pool.

• During rainy season the water gets colored and full of bacteria and algae. To eradicate all bacteria and algae a chlorine shock treatment is highly recommended. Shock it and double up on the chlorine after a rain. At least until the pollen count goes down.

• Your pool should be filtered daily to insure the removal of dirt and debris as well as to provide adequate circulation.

• Generally the pH should be never lower than 7.2. Work to bring the pool’s pH levels to a reading of 7.2 to 7.4. Note that chlorine dissipates quickly when the pH level reads below 7.0 and works poorly at readings exceeding 8.0.

Since it is of utmost importance to maintain the pool pristine and safe for swimmers, look for pool companies that offer weekly maintenance services. Never allow dirt and debris to remain undisturbed for long periods of time as this will promote discoloration or staining. In the rainy season, you may need to lower the water in your pool to maintain the proper level (halfway up the skimmer opening.)  Do not allow pool to overflow. It is recommended that you vacuum dead algae to waste and not through filter. The pool filter should be backwashed or cleaned to be sure that dead algae are not trapped inside the filter. If the filter is not thoroughly cleaned the algae may quickly return.