6 Pool Care Essentials

Pool care and maintenance is another kind of animal; those who have an aquatics background may be familiar with more advanced aspects of pool care. However, for others, everything might seem completely foreign. Where do you even begin? Knowing what equipment is necessary and why is the best way to start learning the ins-and-outs of backyard pool care. Having these pool essentials will help you get started and keep your pool clean.

1. Vacuum

This is one I cannot emphasize enough. You can have skimmer baskets and a surface skimmer, but without that vacuum, it’s hard to get all the dirt off the bottom surface of the pool. Manual vacuums tend to be the cheapest version, but they can also be hard to use since you have to prime the hose. However, some manufacturers have created lower-cost “aquabots” that are suitable for residential pools. Using an automatic vacuum may be more expensive up front, but it can also help save some time and frustration.

2. Tile brush and cleaner

Algae is a pest in every pool, and even well-maintained pools need a good tile brushing to ward off that algae. This way, you won’t have to shock your pool too often. Scrub the tiles around the inner pool perimeter daily. It’s a tedious, yet necessary, chore for preventing algae growth and scale buildup. Look for tile brushes that have softer bristles so your pool tile stays shiny and free of scratches. While the chlorine in the water can help clean the tile, using a tile cleaning product like Bio-Dex can help get the grime off more easily.

3. Skimmer pole and net

Having organic matter on the surface of your pool may not be much of an issue if there aren’t any trees nearby, but for those who do have trees, this is a necessity. Having these skimmers will allow you to grab all the leaves, pollen, etc; easily. These are very easy to use, so even the kids can jump in on the pool care. Some of these come with short or long poles, so make sure you get one that’s suitable for your pool; a 13-yard pool, for example, will only need a 6-ft pole.

4. Test kit or test strips

If you have your own pool guy, then you won’t need your own test kit. For those who are self-managing their pool, the most basic test kit tells you what the chlorine and pH levels are (pH measures how basic or acidic the water is) . You don’t even need to know much about pool chemistry since the residential pool test kits have a user-friendly guide that comes with them. The best kits are the ones that use reagents (the bottled test indicators), but you can also use pool test strips. Those strips are actually a great choice for backyard pools since they include other factors like total alkalinity; a standard test kit requires a separate reagent for each test which is helpful for commercial pools, but backyard pools are small enough where the test strips will accomplish the task at hand.

5. Safety equipment

Unless one of your kids, or neighbors’ kids, is a certified lifeguard, your kids will only have adult supervision. The average person probably doesn’t know how to perform water rescues, which is why safety tools are great for backyard pools. The two most common types of safety equipment are double shepherd’s hooks and life rings. These are easy-to-use devices that can help any struggling swimmer in need. For instance, someone can extend the long shepherd’s hook pole to a child, or they can hold onto the life ring tow line and throw the actual ring to the child. Another very important piece of safety equipment is a safety pool gate surrounding the pool - an essential layer of protection that all home pool owners with children should have.

6. Thermometer

Sometimes, the little things count, and a thermometer is one of them. Having an ideal pool temperature is not only important for preference sake, but it’s also important to help ward off algae growth. Most pool experts agree that 77-82 is the ideal temperature range for a summer swimming pool, which is when most homeowners use their pool. Many homeowners opt to keep their pool unheated during the winter if their kids aren’t competitive swimmers and need that extra practice space (but it’s okay to keep the pool warm in the winter if you choose to heat it). Algae tends to grow at 85 degrees or higher, so keeping the temp around 80 is optimal. Having the thermometer can allow you to know what the temp is without sticking your whole arm in the water.