Zodiac
  • products
    • Pool & Spa Cleaners
      Pool & Spa Cleaners
      Salt Chlorinators
      Salt Chlorinators
      Chemical Feeding Systems
      Chemical Feeding Systems
      Pool Pumps
      Pool Pumps
      Pool Filters
      Pool Filters
      Pool Heaters
      Pool Heaters
      Pool And Spa Controllers
      Pool And Spa Controllers
      Pool & Spa Valves
      Pool & Spa Valves
      Water Features
      Water Features
      Pool Lights
      Pool Lights
      MagnaPool® Mineral Pools
      MagnaPool® Mineral Pools
      Mineral Water Purification Systems
      Mineral Water Purification Systems
      Pool Chemicals
      Pool Chemicals
      Spa Chemicals
      Spa Chemicals
      Discontinued products
      Discontinued products
      Climate Care Certified
      Climate Care Certified
      MySustainablePool
      MySustainablePool
  • inspiration
  • support
    • contact us
      |
      warranty registration
      |
      equipment assistance
      |
      Pool pump calculator
      |
      Product Recall
  • pool & spa guides
  • promotions
  • FAQ
  • about us
    • about zodiac
      |
      research & innovation
  • Login to MyFluidra
  • Find A Dealer
Login to MyFluidra
Find A Dealer
search
< Pool & Spa Guides

Pool Professional FAQs

There are three (3) fundamentals of pool care: circulation, cleaning, and chemistry. Coincidentally, these are the three things pool owners want to know about most. That's because if one of these three areas is overlooked, problems can arise.

Below are the top three questions pool owners ask pool pros most often, along with the answers:

1. How often should I clean my pool?

If you use your pool often or if there are several trees shedding in your pool, clean skimmers and pump baskets daily to avoid poor circulation issues, which could result from the accumulation of leaves, hair and other debris. Vacuuming your pool weekly will help remove organic material that could compromise your pool's chemical balance. A weekly cleaning regimen is also best for the tiles of the pool to remove dirt and grime build-up. Depending on the media type of your pool's filter, it will be necessary to backwash/clean your filter during your swim season. Although the timing for this cleaning may be different for every filtration system and is dependent upon several factors, it can generally be indicated by and performed based on the pressure rise on the filter tank pressure gauge.

To help prevent algae, it is important to keep your pool clean, and chemically balanced and maintain proper filtration for an adequate number of hours each day. 

The easiest way to stay on top of pool cleaning is to either hire a pool maintenance pro or invest in one of our efficient automatic pool cleaners.

2. How long should you run your pool pump each day?

Your pool pump plays a major role in pool maintenance. Circulation plays a key role in all parts of the process but is often overlooked. Circulation of the pool water allows you to filter your water and helps to spread the chemicals you add to the water, like stirring a cup of coffee after adding cream and sugar. It also keeps the pool evenly heated. To figure out how many hours a day you need to run your pump, you need to know the litres per minute (LPM) of water that your pump circulates.

You can find this out by either looking in the pump manufacturer's installation and operating manual (IOM) or by calling the manufacturer. Multiply that number by 60 (minutes per hour), then divide that into the total litres in your pool.

Confused? Maybe this example will help:

150 (LPM) X 60 (minutes per hour) = 9000 litres per hour. Then, 55,000 (litres) / 9000 (litres per hour) = 6.10 hours

A generally good rule to follow is 1 hour of filtration time for every 5.5 degrees of air temperature above 15 as the minimum daily run time. Hours are generally added for increased bather load, usage, animals, or extreme heat.

3. How do you balance your pool?

When we talk about a pool being ‘balanced’ when discussing pool chemistry, we mean that as water dissolves, it holds minerals until it becomes too saturated to hold anymore. Balance is the level at which water is neither over nor under-saturated.

At this point, you’re probably wishing you would have paid more attention in chemistry class. Well, you don’t necessarily need a degree in science to keep your pool balanced. You just need to know what needs to be tested and the proper levels for balance.

The four main tests to perform with a test kit are pH, Chlorine, Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness. Cyanuric Acid levels should also be tested on outdoor pools that use chlorine.

Here’s a general guide for the results you’ll want to see when you test each of these:

Chlorine: 1.0 - 3.0ppm

pH: 7.4 - 7.6

Alkalinity: 80 - 100ppm

Calcium Hardness: 200 - 400ppm

We hope this information points you in the right direction. As always, we recommend you ask your pool professional using our Dealer Locator to clear up any confusion or to answer additional questions.

Poolside chairs

Dealer Log In | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap

© 2024 A Fluidra Brand. All Rights Reserved.

ZODIAC® is a registered trademark of Zodiac international S.A.S, used under license.

Follow Us