APCO Pools Specialties, Inc.

Pool Service: The Best Ways to Maintain Your Inground Vinyl Pool

Having a swimming pool as part of your home offers great rewards; it keeps you and your family cool in the summertime, and makes a great spot for parties and weekend barbecues. But with great fun comes great responsibility. Maintaining your pool isn’t too difficult, but it does take a bit of regular work. And following the right steps when closing your pool down for the season is vital.

Here’s a short list of tips to remember when caring for your inground vinyl pool.

Run your filter for as long as possible. It’s great to keep your filter running whenever your pool is in use, but conserving energy is also important, and it’s not necessary to run your filter 24 hours a day. You should at least keep the filter running during daylight hours, for at least 10 to 12 hours a day. It’s best to run your filter with a timer, which will turn it on and off so you don’t need to think about it.

Keep the pH balanced. This refers to the acidity of your water. Too low, and the water is too acidic; too high, and the water is too alkaline. Your pool should have a pH of about 7; ideally, it should be somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8. If it falls outside of this region, you’ll need to add a neutralizer to your pool water.

Maintain the right amount of chlorine. And make sure you have the right type of chlorine. For the best advice, contact the experts at APCO Pool Specialties.

Make sure your skimmer baskets are clear. These are the baskets attached to the filter. These catch all the debris that fall into your pool so they don’t go into your pump. If you don’t regularly clear these out, the debris can gum up the whole works, and back up into your pool.

When fall rolls around, lower the water level. Before you close up your pool for the cooler months, make sure you lower the water level. Lower it to about a foot below its normal summertime levels before covering it up.

Drain the works for the season. You’ll need to drain all the water out of the pump, the filter, the heater and the chlorinator before the weather gets cold. If any water remains in these devices over the cold months, it can freeze and crack the machinery or housing.

At APCO, we’re experts at pool renovations, and we provide pool service to customers in Bucks County and Montgomery County. Give us a call today, and we can give you plenty of advice on pool service and pool maintenance. We’ll also provide a free estimate for any pool renovations or repairs.