It’s always a great feeling when you open that pool gate to a beautiful, crystal clear backyard pool. The hot sun rays beaming against the surface of the water making it glisten in the warm summer air. Unfortunately this is not always the case, and like most people, we don’t always have the answer.
Below, we are going to go over some excellent ways to keep your pool clean, clear, and safe to swim in for the summer months.
Possible Contaminants In Your Backyard Pool Water
Germs and foreign contaminants can enter your backyard pool from a variety of different sources.
- Trees can drop leaves into the backyard pool and other fallings such as acorns and branches.
- Dead insects can end up in the pool and cause more damage to the water quality than you think.
- People can also contaminate your backyard pool such as sweat, oils, lotions, and hair products.
By properly maintaining your backyard pool and keeping an active sanitation system, most of these contaminants won’t cause you much trouble. Follow the simple steps when it comes to keeping correct chlorine levels and the correct amount of pool chemicals and your pool should be good to go.
When it comes to chlorine levels, it’s important to understand that you may need to use a higher amount of chlorine depending on the quality and tests of your pool water. Germs and bacteria can build more and more if this is not done properly.
There is a germ called cryptosporidium that is chlorine tolerant, meaning it can survive regular amounts of chlorine and cause problems for your water quality. Without the proper treatment, Cryptosporidium can make anyone that swims in your pool sick.
For more information on Cryptosporidium and other pool germs and bacteria, please view the CDC website.
Avoiding Germs
The CDC recommends following four simple steps to keep germs from ruining your next swim session:
1. Stay out of the water if you’re sick
If you are sick and you enter a swimming pool with other swimmers, you are putting them at a great risk of infection since germs can spread easily in a swimming pool.
2. Shower before you get in the water
Showering before pool use can help prevent any spread of bacteria from your body onto others.
3. Don’t use the pool as a bathroom
As if it isn’t obvious enough, the pool is not a toilet, do not treat it as such.
4. Don’t swallow pool water
Little do people know, a small mouthful of contaminated pool water can make you sick, keep your mouth closed while swimming.
In addition to these four steps, there are some easy ways to tell how safe your pool water is. First, you should be able to see the drain at the bottom of the pool, even in the deep end.
Second, there should be little or no chemical odor; the smell of chlorine actually means that your chlorine is working overtime to kill germs and has probably lost most of its effectiveness already!
Finally, use pool water test strips, a water test kit, or take your water to be tested; these can show you at a glance how safe the water really is.
I hope this article gave you a better understanding on how to keep your backyard pool crystal clear during the hot summer months. Here at InstaSwim, we want to ensure that our students and instructors are in a safe and comfortable atmosphere and having a good water quality is super important!
