The five essentials of pool maintenance described here give a basic understanding of how your pool functions. For a carefree swimming season, learn about the 5 keys and visit your BioGuard Authorized Dealer any time you need advice or expert assistance.

Keep in mind . . .

Each key is important for proper pool care. Consider each key as a simple, preventative maintenance step. Pool care can be simple when you have a plan for routine maintenance and use the right products.

Circulation

Filtration

Cleaning

Chemistry

Closing your pool

Winterizing is the most important thing you can do to make your spring pool opening as easy as possible. There are enormous benefits to correctly closing your pool, including:

• Protecting your pool surfaces and equipment; protecting your investments
• Keeping water looking its best all winter long
• Protecting equipment from freeze damage
• Saving time and money on extra maintenance when you open your pool

Whether you completely cover your pool or just reduce maintenance, BioGuard® can make winterizing painless. Convenient Arctic Blue® Winter Kits include the products you need for cold weather care.

Vacation preparation

While on vacation, debris and bacteria can collect in your pool and upset the water balance. Consider a “vacation plan” to prevent problems so you can come home to a clear pool and not a messy surprise.

• Contact your BioGuard Dealer for a vacation maintenance plan. (Your dealer can give you instructions based on your specific BioGuard Program.)
• Clean your pool thoroughly, brushing and vacuuming walls and floors.
• Test pool water and make sure it’s properly balanced. Anything that’s out of balance, especially total alkalinity or pH, will likely get worse when left unattended.
• Run your pump at least eight hours a day to ensure adequate filtration. (Either set your timer or ask a neighbor to turn it on and off.)
• Upon returning, have your BioGuard Dealer perform a water analysis to ensure that your pool is properly balanced and ready for swimming.

Local climate and weather conditions have a significant impact on the energy efficiency of a pool. Evaporation is more noticeable in drier areas and climates with clear, cold nights often see reduced water temperatures due to exposed water surfaces. These two effects are interrelated as well since when pool water evaporates, heat is also lost from the pool to the air. Other environmental conditions such as humidity or strong winds can also contribute to the problem. The result is increased costs to constantly refill and reheat your pool.

To prevent evaporation and heat loss:

• The solution is to either physically cover your pool when not in use or to apply products that work to reduce the impact on the water surface.
• Add Smart Shield™ as needed to create a thin, invisible barrier that will reform after activity

Water testing is important to achieve and maintain a safer swimmer environment. Water chemistry can be quite complex with all the different factors.

We recommend you get your water tested 24-48 hours after you open the pool and about a week before you close it. In season, once the water is balanced we recommended you bring it in once a month for a full test. You should check the basics (Total Alkalinity, pH, and Chlorine) at home at least once a week, though more often with heavy use. The amount of use and environmental factors can easily change water conditions and staying on things will prevent issues that may prove troublesome to correct if neglected.

For example, if your water is out of balance or your pH isn’t in the right range it can cause problems, such as equipment damage and swimmer discomfort. Balanced water also contributes to the effectiveness of other products so it is an important start to your water care regimen.

Eyes and skin can become irritated after spending time in the pool for various reasons. Out of balance pool parameter, specifically pH, can cause eye and skin irritation in swimmers. A build up of contaminants in pool water can also create chloramines (a chlorine smell) and contribute to eye/skin irritation.

To adjust pH:

• Test water to determine current chemistry conditions
• Test water before adding product to ensure which factors need to be adjusted
• Add Lo ‘N Slo® if pH is high, Balance Pak® 200 if the pH is low
• Oftentimes, especially if the pH is low, the total alkalinity is also out of range. Alkalinity helps to buffer against pH drift, and is an essential component to pool care.

To remove contaminants:

• Add BurnOut® 3, Oxysheen, or Easy Shock & Swim to oxidize contaminants Bioguard Oxidizers
• Add Pool Tonic™, Natural Clarifier or Polysheen Blue® to enhance filtration

To prevent irritating conditions:

• Keep pool water balanced according to suggested parameters.
• Add Pool Complete™ to your weekly maintenance routine
• Backwash filter when necessary
• Shock pool weekly to destroy contaminants*

*such as perspiration, suntan lotions, hair sprays, body oils, urine, pet dander, and cosmetics.

Green algae

Common “green” algae are microscopic, aquatic plant-like organisms and can be free-floating or wall clinging. Algae grows in salt or fresh water and thrives in temperatures above 85°F. In fact, it can “bloom” overnight. Algae spores constantly enter pool by rain, wind, animals, toys or swimsuits and left unchecked, can clog filters and create surface damage.

Black algae

Black algae are single-celled organisms that grow in large colonies. They contain chlorophyll like other algae, but they also contain compounds that mask the green color. It forms in cracks and crevices on pool surfaces (especially plaster finishes) and can grow somewhat protected from the surrounding environment due to the formation of a protective layer on the outside of the cell. This makes black algae more difficult to treat and it is somewhat resistant to normal chlorine levels.

Mustard algae

Mustard algae is a chlorine-resistant form of green algae that often resembles dirt or sand on bottom or sides of pool. It contains compounds that act as a defense mechanism against the oxidation efforts of sanitizers, helping it survive even in highly chlorinated conditions. This factor can even create a large chlorine demand in certain situations. Mustard algae can be brushed away very easily, but returns quickly.

5 steps to prevent algae growth:

1. Maintain a sanitizer residual of 1-3ppm
2. Do an initial and weekly application of a preventative algicide (such as Algae All 60)
3. Shock routinely
4. Make sure there is adequate circulation and filtration
5. Brushing surfaces is vital

To kill algae:

• Use Banish® or Algae Complete as they kill all types of swimming pool algae
• Spot Kill® is specifically formulated to kill black algae on walls
• Spot Kill® WP should only be used on white plaster pools.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Brushing is extremely important when treating black algae because that protective layer has to be broken in order for the sanitizer or algicide to come in contact with the cells. 

Cloudy water is a hazy, murky appearance that is caused by introduction of suspended particles that are invisible to the naked eye. A similar analogy would be the particles in air that cause smoke. These impurities are introduced to the water from a myriad of environmental sources, even bathers and source water. Particles can intensify and cause water to cloud due to improper water balance, low sanitizer levels and/or lack of routine oxidation, poor filtration or inadequate circulation.

To fix chemical causes of cloudy water:

• Test water to determine current chemistry conditions
• Add Lo ‘N Slo® if pH is high
• Add shock to oxidize contaminants

To fix equipment causes of cloudy water:

• Improper filtration is the largest cause of cloudy water
• Use Strip Kwik ® or Kleen It ® to clean dirty filter media
• Add Pool Tonic™, Natural Clarifier or Polysheen Blue® to enhance filtration
• Check pool returns and make sure they are angled properly

To prevent cloudy water:

• Add Pool Complete™ to your weekly maintenance routine to improve clarity and reduce contaminant levels
• Backwash filter when necessary
• Chemically clean filter every 4-6 weeks
• Replace filter media as directed
• Run pump at least 10-12 hours per day
• Maintain proper water balance
• Oxidize pool weekly to destroy contaminants
• Shock pool weekly to destroy contaminants*

*such as perspiration, suntan lotions, hair sprays, body oils, urine, pet dander, and cosmetics.

A greasy coating on the walls along the waterline of the pool is evidence that there is a saturation of undissolved materials in the water while a ring of rough patches may be a sign of scale. Most of the time, oils,lotions, and other organic contaminants that enter the water via swimmers cause the greasy buildup. Scale conditions are due to hard water problems or failure to correct water balance issues. Please visit the Scale troubleshooting section for more info on that problem.

To remove waterline build-up:

• Add Pool Tonic™ to remove contaminants such as oils, lotions and grease
• Add Scale Inhibitor to gradually remove scale from pool surfaces
• Use a brush and Off The Wall® to quickly clean surfaces near the waterline

To prevent waterline build-up:

• Add Pool Complete™ to your weekly maintenance routine to help keep surfaces cleaner
• Backwash filter when necessary