Swimming Pools

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Protecting your Swimming Pool Investment

Swimming Pool Maintenance

Neglect of the swimming pool shell, the pool equipment, or even the water itself can mar the appearance of the swimming pool and ruin the interior finish and the support system in a surprisingly short time. Having invested so much in a swimming pool, you'll want to protect it by accepting maintenance responsibilities as part of your life style.

Maintenance of you swimming pool begins as soon as you fill it with water and continues the year around. Hot and cooler season, your swimming pool needs some attention to keep the equipment functioning smoothly, the water clean, and the pool shell in good condition.

Swimming pool maintenance doesn't require a great deal of backbreaking labor but rather a regular schedule of routine work intended to make your swimming pool pleasant to swim in and to ward off serious problems. In general, you can count on spending 4 to 8 hours a week working around the swimming pool during the hot season, if you do all the maintenance yourself. In the colder season chores will be far easier and may be practically nonexistent if you cover the pool during the coldest periods.

In many areas, pool service companies will maintain and chemically treat your pool. The monthly charge varies depending on the geographical area, the competition, the number of service calls, and the swimming pool's size. Most companies will visit the pool two or three times a week during the swimming season and once a week or less during the off-season.

Maintenance procedures outlined here are based on a concrete swimming pool with a plaster finish. If you have a vinyl-lined or fiberglass swimming pool, maintenance of the interior surfaces will be easier, since the nonporous finishes resists algae growth, calcium deposits, and dirt accumulations. But water treatment is about the same in all swimming pools regardless of their construction method or interior finish.