Pool season is rapidly approaching, and daydreams of spending relaxing summer afternoons lounging by a clear blue oasis in your backyard are about to become reality. It’s important to remember, though, that clear blue waters in your pool don’t get that way by themselves.

Pool equipment in good working order is crucial to keeping your pool clean, sanitized, and free of unsightly debris. As you get ready to open your pool this summer, you should make sure that the following equipment is in good shape, and get repairs or replacement pool equipment from a local Luzerne or Shickshinny company.

Pool Pump

Standing water is the prefect breeding ground for microbes, algae, and even some aquatic insects. It is important to keep your pool water circulating through a filtration system to keep it healthy, clean and safe. It is important to have a pump that is large enough to pump the entire volume of water in your pool through a filter at least once every 6 to 8 hours.

Pool Filter

Pumping water without a filter is just moving dirty around. A properly fitting filter with a low micron rating is necessary to sift out impurities such as bugs, debris, and some larger microbes from the water. There are three types of filters that are commercially available:

• Sand filters – These are the least expensive, but they are also the least effective filters, unable to filter anything smaller than 20 to 40 microns. They also need to be cleaned frequently throughout the pool season.
• Cartridge filters – Cartridge filters use woven fibers to filter out particles larger than 10-15 microns, much like the filters that are used in vacuums.
• Diatomaceous Earth (DE) filters – The DE filter is the most efficient filter available, filtering particles as small as 3-5 microns. It uses a powder made of the skeletons of diatoms, which are tiny ancient aquatic creatures. The particles in your pool get trapped in the voids in these skeletons.

Sanitation Chemicals

Although the pump and filter will do the majority of the work to keep your pool clean, there are many microbes that are simply too small to be filtered out even by the most efficient DE filters.

In order to kill these microbes and prevent them from clouding the water or causing health issues, a system of chlorine, chlorine balancing agents, alkaline balancing agents, and calcium balance agents are needed to keep your pool balanced. A chemical feeder can even automate this process.