The good temperatures are starting to arrive and, after a long winter, what we feel like doing is having a good swim in the pool. If you are one of the lucky ones and you have a swimming pool at home or in your urbanisation, you are probably already preparing your swimming costume and towel. Unfortunately, sometimes things don’t always work out the way we want them to and, with regard to pool maintenance, problems can arise that prevent us from taking that much-desired dip.
That’s why, in this article, we want to tell you about the 3 most common problems when carrying out pool maintenance and how to solve them. So that they don’t turn into major problems and you can always have your pool ready.
3 problems in pool maintenance and how to solve them.
Green water
There is nothing more unpleasant than seeing the turquoise water in your pool turning green, like a duck pond. In addition, the walls and floor of the pool suddenly become very slippery. But what can this be due to if I am doing a correct pool maintenance?
Normally, when the water in our pool turns green it is due to the presence of algae. We must not forget that the pool, in its essence, is water that needs chemical treatment, and if we do not carry out correct pool maintenance, algae can appear.
The reason for the appearance of algae in the pool is that the PH level is lower than your pool requires. The correct pH level should be between 7.2 and 7.6. If we have a lower pH level, an excess of metals will form, mostly copper, which will encourage the presence of algae.
How can I solve this?
In the field of pool maintenance, when we have green water in a pool, the first thing we do is to clean and brush all the areas of the pool that have algae. In addition, we raise the PH level to the indicated values, carry out a shock treatment, i.e. superchlorination, and leave the water to filter for at least 24 hours. Finally, we add a good algaecide to completely eliminate the algae.
Turbidity
When we talk about the turbidity of the pool water we mean that the water is not transparent and it is difficult to see the bottom of the pool clearly. With proper pool maintenance the pool water should be crystal clear. So why does the pool water become cloudy?
Normally, when pool water becomes turbid it is because the alkalinity or pH of the water is at high levels or because of poor filtration. The ideal way to solve the problem of cloudy water is, in addition to restoring the pH and alkalinity values to those indicated (alkalinity should be between 125 and 150 ppm), to add flocculant to the pool water. What the flocculant does is to group together all the micro-particles that have been generated in the pool water and make them settle to the bottom of the pool. To carry out perfect pool maintenance, once the flocculant has been left to act, we must sweep or vacuum the bottom of the pool and remove all these particles.
Eye and skin irritation
As mentioned above, we must not forget that pool water needs chemical treatment. Sometimes, this chemical treatment can affect people’s health if pool maintenance is not carried out optimally.
In this case, irritation of the eyes and skin of bathers may be due to a very high level of chloramines. Chloramines or combined chlorine is the combination of free chlorine (the one that actually disinfects the water) with ammonia and nitrogenous organic matter contained in the water. Combined chlorine has a very low disinfecting power and its presence can cause eye and skin irritation and bad odours.
For good pool maintenance, it is recommended to carry out a shock treatment or super-chlorination and thus eliminate all the residues that have been generated in the pool water.
In this article you can find more information on pool maintenance.