If you have properly winterized your pool then you shouldn’t be in for a surprise when you remove your pool cover for the summer. When you first peek in your pool water and you’re greeted with crystal clear waters then congratulations! But this is no time to slack off though. You will still need some chemical adjustments before your pool is truly ready for summer.
Destroy Algae before the summer rolls in
One of the biggest mistakes people can do is to skip chemical treatments for their pool when summer rolls in. They might think to themselves, “oh, I did a great job in winterizing my pool, I don’t need any more chemicals to open my pool.” This is just wrong. And 9 times out of 10 when people skip preparing their pool for summer, they’ll get a nasty algae bloom right at the start of the season. Why is this?
The reason for this is at low temperatures, algae becomes dormant, tricking you into thinking that your pool is just fine. Couple that with winterizing treatments and the UV blocking effect of pool covers, your pool will look so refreshing, but in reality, algae spores are just there sleeping, waiting for the water temperatures to go above 17C before they wreak havoc on your pool.
What to test your pool water for summer preparation
The simple answer is to test for all of them! It’s just like any other pool maintenance task. We hope you still remember your pool chemicals after the long winter break. But if you've forgotten, don't worry, just remember to check out our pool Chemistry 101 bog post for a review.
There’s really no special treatment that has to be done to prepare your pool for summer. As a quick refresher, here are the chemical levels that you should be aiming for.
- pH – 7.4 to 7.6
- Total Alkalinity – 80 to 140 ppm
- Calcium Hardness – 200 to 400 ppm
- Cyanuric acid – 25 to 50 ppm
- Free Chlorine – 1 to 3 ppm
SEE ALSO: How To Maintain Chemicals In Peak Season
For more information on testing your pool water, don’t forget to checkout our Ultimate Pool Testing Guide for up-to-the-minute and in-depth information on testing your pool. It’s great to have a refresher once in a while as it’s understandable to forget a thing or two especially if it’s not being practiced.
And if any levels are where they're not supposed to be? Check out our guide on Pool Chemical Levels and How to Correct Them.
Long-Life Algaecide, your pool’s best friend for summer
Now that your pool is balanced properly, it’s now time to add some extra protection during the hot summer months where algae thrives. We recommend using the Zodiac Long Life Pool Algaecide, we use it on our home pools, it’s metal-free, and it’s ultra-concentrated, meaning a little goes a long way!
Now this is just a rough guide for dosage and you should refer to the label for more accurate instructions. For the initial dose (after balancing your pool) add a dose of 90ml algaecide per 10,000L volume of your pool and then a monthly dose of 60ml per 10,000L of your pool and that should be more than enough to shield you from algae during the season. If you don’t have your pool volume written down somewhere, check out our how to measure your pool guide, it has all of the information you need to measure your pool and a handy calculator as well!
Conclusion
Your pool is there for summer fun and you should be there for your pool as well! A quick balance and some algaecide will go a long way in ensuring that you’ll have uninterrupted fun during the whole season. Also as an added tip, don’t forget to have a steady supply of testing kits and pool chemicals to anticipate for the heavy pool usage that comes with summer. Check out our Water TechniX Summer Bundle, it contains all of the pool chemicals you'll ever need to keep your pool sparkling clean during the summer season!
P.S. If you're wondering what a Phosphate Remover is and why it's included in our Summer Chemical Pool Pack, check out our Phosphate Remover vs Algaecide post, it's a great read and it can help save you money on pool treatments when used in conjunction with Algaecide!
Related Articles:
- Every Pool Chemical you'll Need for Winter
- A Beginner’s Guide to Pool Maintenance: Keeping Your Pool Clean and Safe
Do you have any questions about this topic or the featured products? No worries, we're here to help! Drop us a question down below and we'll get back to you ASAP.
Happy swimming :)