HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-04-27, Page 30tele 6
njoy
The two most common
uninvited guests at any
swimming pool are dirt and
bacteria. Add w these a
sprinkling of twigs, leaves,
animal fur and other air and
human borne contaminants
and you have the reasons
behind a regular program of
pool maintenance.
Pool maintenance is
relatively easy, according to
the National Swimming Pool
Institute, and most pool
owners prefer the do-it-
yourself approach. Self
servicing requires from one
Cie
rt, c
and a half w four hours a
week and keeps costs down
to an average of around $20
per month, including parts
and chemicals. for the
average unheated pool.
The main requirements
are vacuuming fur debris,
daily chemical treatment
and weekly or bi-weekly
brushdowns of pool walls.
The owner's major allies in
keeping the pool clean are
the skimmer, the filtration
system and chemical ad-
ditives. In addition, new
Innovations are appearing
lite
all the time to make the job
easier
The skimmer. built into
almost allpools, takes leaves
and other floating debris off
the top of the water A pool
vacuum cleaner, operated
by the owner, is used to pick
up debris off the bottom
Filtration systems are of
two main types. the sand
filter through which water
passes leaving dirt particles
behind, and the
diatomaceous earth (DE)
filter which uses minute
diatomes (microscopic sea
01 this sum
creatures) spread over a
membrane to entrap the
equally microscopic dirt
particles
Care of the filter is
relatively simple Both types
of filter must be back washed
approximately every two
weeks to remove dirt
clogging Although the DE
filter requires much less
water to backwash, after
each backwashtng it must be
repacked with more dirt. (A
season's supply of about 50
pounds costs around $8).
Must pool contractors
recommend that the
filtration system be in
operation at least 12 hours
out of every. 24 to insure best
results
Chemical additives are
usually a daily requirement,
depending upon the traffic in
the pool and also upon such
factors as but weather and
high winds which create
conditions calling for more
chemical purifiers.
Chlorine is the most widely
used disinfectant, although
bromine and iodine are also
used. Less than one drop of
chlorine in every 1,000,000
drops of pool water is
enough, providing the
chemicals is 100 percent
active.
Pool owners should
carefully follow the
manufacturer's directions in
both using and storing
chemicals.
The amount of chemical to
add can be determined by
testing pool water for
chlorine residue and pH or
acid -alkaline balance.
Simple testing kits are
widely available.
Alkaline salts, used in
liquid chlorine to help it
maintain its limited
stability, eventually build up
in pool water and upset the
pH balance. Periodically an
alkali -neutralizer such as
muriatic acid or sodium
bisulfate may be added to
neutralize increasing
alkalinity.
Proper pH balance is
necessary to insure that the
chemical additives react
properly, that the. proper
backteria-killing "residual"
is maintained. The ideal pH
er
range for pool water IS 7 2 to
76
A simple set of rules to
tolluw when nianuall}
cit- antng thepool ate
1 Skin the pool surla.e
with a standard leaf skins
mer.
2. Brushdown walls and
tile with stiff -bristled tile
brush;
3. Clean the skimmer's
basket and hair -lint
strainer,
4 Vacuum the pool bot -
Wm,
5 Clean the filter (when
sufficient dirt has ac-
cumulated and the recir-
culation flow has
decreased). and
6. Hose clean the pool
deck.
Daily addition of
chemicals can be avoided by
purchase of an automatic
chemical dispenser for
under $50. The automatic
dispenser eliminates the
necessity of daily testing for
pH balance and can be set to
operate at a time when the
pool is not in use.
Other automatic main-
tenance devices are also
available to make the pool
cleaning job simpler. Among
these are the automatic
cleaning systems which
operate on the principle that
agitation of the water keeps
dirt and algae from adhering
to pool walls and bottom,
thus making it easier for the
filter to process them out.
NSPI recommends that
anyone considering building
a pool should investigate
automatic cleaning equip-
ment. Although such
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